Seismic damage of mountain tunnels during the 5.12 Wenchuan earthquake

A number of mountain tunnels suffered significant damage to various extent during the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China.Damage ranging from small to heavy cracking was observed both at the portal and inside the tunnels,while some sections close to the faults completely collapsed.A summary of qualitative data collected from reports and papers is presented regarding the behavior of the 55 mountain tunnels near the epicenter during the earthquake.Based on the seismic investigation and data collection of mountain tunnels,the tunnel damage is classified into six most common damage models involving cracking,spalling,shear failure,dislocation,pavement uplift and collapse.Detailed study and discussion are then carried out on the damage models.In order to examine the influencing factors of the damage magnitude of the mountain tunnels,the correlations between epicentral distance,earthquake intensity,overburden depth,geological condition and damage levels are analyzed.The relationships between earthquake parameters and different damagemodels are developed and discussed.Also,suggestions are provided to improve the seismic resistance of mountain tunnels.

The lining responses for shallow mountain tunnels subjected to frost heaving

Mountain tunnels in cold regions are vulnerable to adverse effects of freezing action.Thus,it is necessary to identify the lining responses of shallow mountain tunnels subjected to freezing action.To quantify the influence of freezing action and key design parameters(such as cross-sectional shape;lining thickness;and waterproof measures)on the lining response,a thermal-hydro-mechanical coupled finite element(FE)model is established and verified.Then,specific consideration is given to the lining internal force and resulting axial stresses.And the influences of the cross-sectional shape,concrete parameters,and waterproof measures on the lining responses are investigated.Generally,the rectangular tunnel has the worst security;the circular tunnel is the safest.On the other hand,when the thermal conductivity is less than 2.2[W/(m·K)],a greater thermal conductivity will cause a greater risk of damage to the lining.Moreover,the drainage plate can reduce the value of minimum axial stresses,whether frozen or not,even eliminating the tensiondamaged area.Overall,this study helps to estimate the lining responses and prevent frost damages for shallow mountain tunnels during freezing period.

Load laws of composite lining in mountain tunnel model tests and numerical simulation validation

Currently,model tests are increasingly being used to simulate the construction of mountain tunnels,but the support structure of the model tests does not show the composite lining,and the force laws of the composite lining are not yet clear.In this research,the force variation of composite lining under three cases in model tests of deep-buried tunnels were carried out with the surrounding rock grade and installation time as the variation factors.The test results reveal that:(1)The suitable method to reduce the contact load between the secondary lining and primary support is to enhance the primary support in the soft and weak surrounding rock.Correspondingly,for ClassⅢsurrounding rock and better quality of surrounding rock,the primary support can lag behind the excavation face a certain distance.(2)The axial forces of the bolts tend to rise with concentration of 0.4 kN-0.7 kN after the secondary lining was installed.(3)With or without two to three excavation cycles delayed,the load sharing ratio of the secondary lining of the Class III surrounding rock is less than 10%.Finally,the numerical simulation verifies the feasibility of the model tests.

Seismic risk evaluation for a planning mountain tunnel using improved analytical hierarchy process based on extension theory

Seismic risk evaluation(SRE) in early stages(e.g., project planning and preliminary design)for a mountain tunnel located in seismic areas has the same importance as that in final stages(e.g.,performance-based design, structural analysis, and optimization). SRE for planning mountain tunnels bridges the gap between the planning on the macro level and the design/analysis on the micro level regarding the risk management of infrastructural systems. A transition from subjective or qualitative description to objective or quantitative quantification of seismic risk is aimed to improve the seismic behavior of the mountain tunnel and thus reduce the associated seismic risk. A new method of systematic SRE for the planning mountain tunnel was presented herein. The method employs extension theory(ET)and an ET-based improved analytical hierarchy process. Additionally, a new risk-classification criterion is proposed to classify and quantify the seismic risk for a planning mountain tunnel. This SRE method is applied to a mountain tunnel in southwest China, using the extension model based on matter element theory and dependent function operation.The reasonability and flexibility of the SRE method for application to the mountain tunnel are illustrated.According to different seismic risk levels and classification criteria, methods and measures for improving the seismic design are proposed, which can reduce the seismic risk and provide a frame of reference for elaborate seismic design.

Limiting drainage criterion for groundwater of mountain tunnel

Large amount of groundwater discharging from tunnel is likely to cause destruction of the ecological environment in the vicinity of the tunnel, thus an appropriate drainage criterion should be established to balance the tunnel construction and groundwater.To assess the related problems, an limiting drainage standard ranging from 0.5 to 2.0 m3/(m·d) was suggested for mountain tunnels based on survey and comparative analysis. After that, for the purpose of verifying the rationality of the standard, a calculated formula for dewatering funnel volume caused by drainage was deduced on the basis of the groundwater dynamics and experience method.Furthermore, the equation about the relationship between water discharge and drawdown of groundwater table was presented. The permeability coefficient, specific yield and groundwater table value were introduced, and then combined with the above equation, the drawdown of groundwater table under the proposed limiting drainage criterion was calculated. It is shown that the proposed drainage standard can reach the purpose of protecting ecological environment under the following two conditions. One is the permeability coefficient ranges from 10-4 to 10-5 m/s and the specific yield ranges from 0.1 to 0.001. The other is the permeability coefficient varies from 10-6 to 10-8 m/s and the specific yield varies from 0.1 to 0.01. In addition, a majority of common geotechnical layers are involved in the above ranges. Thus, the proposed limiting drainage standard which ranges from 0.5 to 2.0 m3/(m·d) for mountain tunnel is reasonable.

Failure mechanism and control countermeasures of surrounding rock at deep large section chamber intersection in the Wanfu Coal Mine

In order to solve the problem of large deformation at the intersection of deep large section soft rock roadway,this paper takes the intersection of kilometer-deep roadway in the Wanfu Coal Mine as an engineering example and applies Negative Poisson’s Ratio(NPR)steel anchor cable in roadway support for the first time.By combining numerical simulation indoor test,theoretical analysis and field test,the deformation mechanism of surrounding rock at the intersection of deep-buried roadway was analyzed,and the control strategy with micro NPR steel anchor cable as the core was put forward.Through numerical simulation,the numerical analysis model of roadway intersection with different intersection angles and excavation sequence was constructed,and the impact of two key variables of rake angle and excavation sequence on the stability of surrounding rock at roadway intersection was studied.The optimal dip angle is 90°and the optimal excavation sequence was determined as pump house-pump house passage-substation.The mechanical properties of the micro-NPR steel anchor cable were studied through the static tensile test in the laboratory.The results showed that the micro-NPR steel anchor cable showed high constant resistance,uniform tensile,no yield platform,and no obvious necking phenomenon during breaking.Through theoretical derivation,it was calculated that the vertical stress of roadway intersection is 45 MPa,and the bearing capacity of superposed arch composed of micro NPR steel anchor cable is 1257 kN,which is enough to guarantee the overall stability of intersection.Support application test and monitoring were carried out on site,and it was verified that the combined support strategy of short and long micro NPR steel anchor cable has a good control effect on large deformation of surrounding rock at intersection,which provides a new support material and support means for the safety and stabilization control of surrounding rock at intersection.

Multi-source data integration and multi-scale modeling framework for progressive prediction of complex geological interfaces in tunneling

A reliable geological model plays a fundamental role in the efficiency and safety of mountain tunnel construction.However,regional models based on limited survey data represent macroscopic geological environments but not detailed internal geological characteristics,especially at tunnel portals with complex geological conditions.This paper presents a comprehensive methodological framework for refined modeling of the tunnel surrounding rock and subsequent mechanics analysis,with a particular focus on natural space distortion of hard-soft rock interfaces at tunnel portals.The progressive prediction of geological structures is developed considering multi-source data derived from the tunnel survey and excavation stages.To improve the accuracy of the models,a novel modeling method is proposed to integrate multi-source and multi-scale data based on data extraction and potential field interpolation.Finally,a regional-scale model and an engineering-scale model are built,providing a clear insight into geological phenomena and supporting numerical calculation.In addition,the proposed framework is applied to a case study,the Long-tou mountain tunnel project in Guangzhou,China,where the dominant rock type is granite.The results show that the data integration and modeling methods effectively improve model structure refinement.The improved model’s calculation deviation is reduced by about 10%to 20%in the mechanical analysis.This study contributes to revealing the complex geological environment with singular interfaces and promoting the safety and performance of mountain tunneling.