Disturbance failure mechanism of highly stressed rock in deep excavation:Current status and prospects

This article reviews the current status on the dynamic behavior of highly stressed rocks under disturbances.Firstly,the experimental apparatus,methods,and theories related to the disturbance dynamics of deep,high-stress rock are reviewed,followed by the introduction of scholars’research on deep rock deformation and failure from an energy perspective.Subsequently,with a backdrop of highstress phenomena in deep hard rock,such as rock bursts and core disking,we delve into the current state of research on rock microstructure analysis and residual stresses from the perspective of studying the energy storage mechanisms in rocks.Thereafter,the current state of research on the mechanical response and the energy dissipation of highly stressed rock formations is briefly retrospected.Finally,the insufficient aspects in the current research on the disturbance and failure mechanisms in deep,highly stressed rock formations are summarized,and prospects for future research are provided.This work provides new avenues for the research on the mechanical response and damage-fracture mechanisms of rocks under high-stress conditions.

Opportunities and Challenges in Deep Mining： A Brief Review

Mineral consumption is increasing rapidly as more consumers enter the market for minerals and as the global standard of living increases. As a result, underground mining continues to progress to deeper levels in order to tackle the mineral supply crisis in the 21 st century. However, deep mining occurs in a very technical and challenging environment, in which significant innovative solutions and best practice are required and additional safety standards must be implemented in order to overcome the challenges and reap huge eco- nomic gains. These challenges include the catastrophic events that are often met in deep mining engineering： rockbursts, gas outbursts, high in situ and redistributed stresses, large deformation, squeezing and creeping rocks, and high temperature. This review paper presents the current global status of deep mining and high-lights some of the newest technological achievements and opportunities associated with rock mechanics and geotechnical engineering in deep mining. Of the various technical achievements, unmanned workingfaces and unmanned mines based on fully automated mining and mineral extraction processes have become important fields in the 21 st century.

Characterization of transient groundwater flow through a high arch dam foundation during reservoir impounding

Numerous deep underground projects have been designed and constructed in China, which are beyond the current specifications in terms of scale and construction difficulty. The severe failure problems induced by high in situ stress, such as rockburst, spalling, damage of deep surrounding rocks, and timedependent damage, were observed during construction of these projects. To address these problems, the dynamic design method for deep hard rock tunnels is proposed based on the disintegration process of surrounding rocks using associated dynamic control theories and technologies. Seven steps are basically employed：（i） determination of design objective,（ii） characteristics of site, rock mass and project, and identification of constraint conditions,（iii） selection or development of global design strategy,（iv）determination of modeling method and software,（v） preliminary design,（vi） comprehensive integrated method and dynamic feedback analysis, and（vii） final design. This dynamic method was applied to the construction of the headrace tunnels at Jinping II hydropower station. The key technical issues encountered during the construction of deep hard rock tunnels, such as in situ stress distribution along the tunnels, mechanical properties and constitutive model of deep hard rocks, determination of mechanical parameters of surrounding rocks, stability evaluation of surrounding rocks, and optimization design of rock support and lining, have been adequately addressed. The proposed method and its application can provide guidance for deep underground projects characterized with similar geological conditions.