Probabilistic analysis of tunnel face seismic stability in layered rock masses using Polynomial Chaos Kriging metamodel

Face stability is an essential issue in tunnel design and construction.Layered rock masses are typical and ubiquitous;uncertainties in rock properties always exist.In view of this,a comprehensive method,which combines the Upper bound Limit analysis of Tunnel face stability,the Polynomial Chaos Kriging,the Monte-Carlo Simulation and Analysis of Covariance method(ULT-PCK-MA),is proposed to investigate the seismic stability of tunnel faces.A two-dimensional analytical model of ULT is developed to evaluate the virtual support force based on the upper bound limit analysis.An efficient probabilistic analysis method PCK-MA based on the adaptive Polynomial Chaos Kriging metamodel is then implemented to investigate the parameter uncertainty effects.Ten input parameters,including geological strength indices,uniaxial compressive strengths and constants for three rock formations,and the horizontal seismic coefficients,are treated as random variables.The effects of these parameter uncertainties on the failure probability and sensitivity indices are discussed.In addition,the effects of weak layer position,the middle layer thickness and quality,the tunnel diameter,the parameters correlation,and the seismic loadings are investigated,respectively.The results show that the layer distributions significantly influence the tunnel face probabilistic stability,particularly when the weak rock is present in the bottom layer.The efficiency of the proposed ULT-PCK-MA is validated,which is expected to facilitate the engineering design and construction.

Rock mass quality prediction on tunnel faces with incomplete multi-source dataset via tree-augmented naive Bayesian network

Rock mass quality serves as a vital index for predicting the stability and safety status of rock tunnel faces.In tunneling practice,the rock mass quality is often assessed via a combination of qualitative and quantitative parameters.However,due to the harsh on-site construction conditions,it is rather difficult to obtain some of the evaluation parameters which are essential for the rock mass quality prediction.In this study,a novel improved Swin Transformer is proposed to detect,segment,and quantify rock mass characteristic parameters such as water leakage,fractures,weak interlayers.The site experiment results demonstrate that the improved Swin Transformer achieves optimal segmentation results and achieving accuracies of 92%,81%,and 86%for water leakage,fractures,and weak interlayers,respectively.A multisource rock tunnel face characteristic(RTFC)dataset includes 11 parameters for predicting rock mass quality is established.Considering the limitations in predictive performance of incomplete evaluation parameters exist in this dataset,a novel tree-augmented naive Bayesian network(BN)is proposed to address the challenge of the incomplete dataset and achieved a prediction accuracy of 88%.In comparison with other commonly used Machine Learning models the proposed BN-based approach proved an improved performance on predicting the rock mass quality with the incomplete dataset.By utilizing the established BN,a further sensitivity analysis is conducted to quantitatively evaluate the importance of the various parameters,results indicate that the rock strength and fractures parameter exert the most significant influence on rock mass quality.

Stability analysis of tunnel face reinforced with face bolts

Face bolting has been widely utilized to enhance the stability of tunnel face,particularly in soft soil tunnels.However,the influence of bolt reinforcement and its layout on tunnel face stability has not been systematically studied.Based on the theory of linear elastic mechanics,this study delved into the specific mechanisms of bolt reinforcement on the tunnel face in both horizontal and vertical dimensions.It also identified the primary failure types of bolts.Additionally,a design approach for tunnel face bolts that incorporates spatial layout was established using the limit equilibrium method to enhance the conventional wedge-prism model.The proposed model was subsequently validated through various means,and the specific influence of relevant bolt design parameters on tunnel face stability was analyzed.Furthermore,design principles for tunnel face bolts under different geological conditions were presented.The findings indicate that bolt failure can be categorized into three stages:tensile failure,pullout failure,and comprehensive failure.Increasing cohesion,internal friction angle,bolt density,and overlap length can effectively enhance tunnel face stability.Due to significant variations in stratum conditions,tailored design approaches based on specific failure stages are necessary for bolt design.

Inverse reliability analysis and design for tunnel face stability considering soil spatial variability

The traditional deterministic analysis for tunnel face stability neglects the uncertainties of geotechnical parameters,while the simplified reliability analysis which models the potential uncertainties by means of random variables usually fails to account for soil spatial variability.To overcome these limitations,this study proposes an efficient framework for conducting reliability analysis and reliability-based design(RBD)of tunnel face stability in spatially variable soil strata.The three-dimensional(3D)rotational failure mechanism of the tunnel face is extended to account for the soil spatial variability,and a probabilistic framework is established by coupling the extended mechanism with the improved Hasofer-Lind-Rackwits-Fiessler recursive algorithm(iHLRF)as well as its inverse analysis formulation.The proposed framework allows for rapid and precise reliability analysis and RBD of tunnel face stability.To demonstrate the feasibility and efficacy of the proposed framework,an illustrative case of tunnelling in frictional soils is presented,where the soil's cohesion and friction angle are modelled as two anisotropic cross-correlated lognormal random fields.The results show that the proposed method can accurately estimate the failure probability(or reliability index)regarding the tunnel face stability and can efficiently determine the required supporting pressure for a target reliability index with soil spatial variability being taken into account.Furthermore,this study reveals the impact of various factors on the support pressure,including coefficient of variation,cross-correlation between cohesion and friction angle,as well as autocorrelation distance of spatially variable soil strata.The results also demonstrate the feasibility of using the forward and/or inverse first-order reliability method(FORM)in high-dimensional stochastic problems.It is hoped that this study may provide a practical and reliable framework for determining the stability of tunnels in complex soil strata.

Three-dimensional pseudo-dynamic reliability analysis of seismic shield tunnel faces combined with sparse polynomial chaos expansion

To address the seismic face stability challenges encountered in urban and subsea tunnel construction,an efficient probabilistic analysis framework for shield tunnel faces under seismic conditions is proposed.Based on the upper-bound theory of limit analysis,an improved three-dimensional discrete deterministic mechanism,accounting for the heterogeneous nature of soil media,is formulated to evaluate seismic face stability.The metamodel of failure probabilistic assessments for seismic tunnel faces is constructed by integrating the sparse polynomial chaos expansion method(SPCE)with the modified pseudo-dynamic approach(MPD).The improved deterministic model is validated by comparing with published literature and numerical simulations results,and the SPCE-MPD metamodel is examined with the traditional MCS method.Based on the SPCE-MPD metamodels,the seismic effects on face failure probability and reliability index are presented and the global sensitivity analysis(GSA)is involved to reflect the influence order of seismic action parameters.Finally,the proposed approach is tested to be effective by a engineering case of the Chengdu outer ring tunnel.The results show that higher uncertainty of seismic response on face stability should be noticed in areas with intense earthquakes and variation of seismic wave velocity has the most profound influence on tunnel face stability.

Analysis of tunnel face stability with advanced pipes support

To keep the tunnel face stable is very important for tunnel construction.In this paper,the tunnel face stability under the advanced pipe was analyzed using the Winkler foundation model and rigid limit equilibrium.The tunnel face deformation characteristics were also analyzed using the numerical simulation.The influence of parameters on the deflection of the pipe roof and the stability of the tunnel face were discussed.The results show that the tunnel face stability can be improved through increasing the pipe diameter,decreasing the initial displacement at the beginning of the pipe seat,and adopting the short round length and small excavation height.With the increase of tunnel burial depth,the safety factor of tunnel face stability first decreases,then increases,and then remains unchanged.The deformation at the center of the tunnel face is larger than the deformation at the surround sides and at the corner.The horizontal displacement varies little with the increasing of the pipe length.The horizontal displacement at the center of the tunnel face increases with the increase of the pipe ring spacing and the pipe longitudinal spacing.There is an optimum external angle.

Face stability analysis for a longitudinally inclined tunnel in anisotropic cohesive soils

A stability analysis approach of tunnel face considering a longitudinally inclined tunnel angle and anisotropic purely cohesive soils based on a continuous velocity field (CVF) is investigated in this study. Based on the kinematic approach of limit analysis and the discretization technique, an improved three-dimensional CVF model for longitudinally inclined tunnels driven by pressurized shields is proposed. With the proposed model, the critical support pressure acted on tunnel face is determined by the work-balance equation. A serial of finite element numerical models are conducted to validate the proposed model. Finally, the effects of tunnel inclination angles, several dimensionless parameters as well as soil anisotropy on the critical support pressure are investigated. The numerical results show that the effects of the soil anisotropy and the tunnel inclination angle on tunnel faces should be considered in the actual design of tunneling engineering.

An efficient probabilistic design approach for tunnel face stability by inverse reliability analysis

In order to maintain the safety of underground constructions that significantly involve geo-material uncertainties,this paper delivers a new computation framework for conducting reliability-based design(RBD)of shallow tunnel face stability,utilizing a simplified inverse first-order reliability method(FORM).The limit state functions defining tunnel face stability are established for both collapse and blow-out modes of the tunnel face failure,respectively,and the deterministic results of the tunnel face support pressure are obtained through three-dimensional finite element limit analysis(FELA).Because the inverse reliability method can directly capture the design support pressure according to prescribed target reliability index,the computational cost for probabilistic design of tunnel face stability is greatly reduced.By comparison with Monte Carlo simulation results,the accuracy and feasibility of the proposed method are verified.Further,this study presents a series of reliability-based design charts for vividly understanding the limit support pressure on tunnel face in both cohesionless(sandy)soil and cohesive soil stratums,and their optimal support pressure ranges are highlighted.The results show that in the case of sandy soil stratum,the blowout failure of tunnel face is extremely unlikely,whereas the collapse is the only possible failure mode.The parametric study of various geotechnical uncertainties also reveals that ignoring the potential correlation between soil shear strength parameters will lead to over-designed support pressure,and the coefficient of variation of internal friction angle has a greater influence on the tunnel face failure probability than that of the cohesion.

Design Theory of Full Face Rock Tunnel Boring Machine Transition Cutter Edge Angle and Its Application

At present, the inner cutters of a full face rock tunnel boring machine (TBM) and transition cutter edge angles are designed on the basis of indentation test or linear grooving test. The inner and outer edge angles of disc cutters are characterized as symmetric to each other with respect to the cutter edge plane. This design has some practical defects, such as severe eccentric wear and tipping, etc. In this paper, the current design theory of disc cutter edge angle is analyzed, and the characteristics of the rock-breaking movement of disc cutters are studied. The researching results show that the rotational motion of disc cutters with the cutterhead gives rise to the difference between the interactions of inner rock and outer rock with the contact area of disc cutters, with shearing and extrusion on the inner rock and attrition on the outer rock. The wear of disc cutters at the contact area is unbalanced, among which the wear in the largest normal stress area is most apparent. Therefore, a three-dimensional model theory of rock breaking and an edge angle design theory of transition disc cutter are proposed to overcome the flaws of the currently used TBM cutter heads, such as short life span, camber wearing, tipping. And a corresponding equation is established. With reference to a specific construction case, the edge angle of the transition disc cutter has been designed based on the theory. The application of TBM in some practical project proves that the theory has obvious advantages in enhancing disc cutter life, decreasing replacement frequency, and making economic benefits. The proposed research provides a theoretical basis for the design of TBM three-dimensional disc cutters whose rock-breaking operation time can be effectively increased.

Face stability of shield tunnels considering a kinematically admissible velocity field of soil arching

Existing mechanism of simulating soil movement at tunnel face is generally based on the translational or rotational velocity field,which is,to some extent,different from the real soil movement in the arching zone.Numerical simulations are carried out first to investigate the characteristics of the velocity distribution at tunnel face and above tunnel vault.Then a new kinematically admissible velocity field is proposed to improve the description of the soil movement according to the results of the numerical simulation.Based on the proposed velocity field,an improved failure mechanism is constructed adopting the spatial discretization technique,which takes into account soil arching effect and plastic deformation within soil mass.Finally,the critical face pressure and the proposed mechanism are compared with the results of the numerical simulation,existing analytical studies and experimental tests to verify the accuracy and improvement of the presented method.The proposed mechanism can serve as an alternative approach for the face stability analysis.

Wear Analysis of Disc Cutters of Full Face Rock Tunnel Boring Machine

Wear is a major factor of disc cutters’ failure. No current theory offers a standard for the prediction of disc cutter wear yet. In the field the wear prediction method commonly used is based on the excavation length of tunnel boring machine（TBM） to predict the disc cutter wear and its wear law, considering the location number of each disc cutter on the cutterhead（radius for installation）; in theory, there is a prediction method of using arc wear coefficient. However, the preceding two methods have their own errors, with their accuracy being 40% or so and largely relying on the technicians’ experience. Therefore, radial wear coefficient, axial wear coefficient and trajectory wear coefficient are defined on the basis of the operating characteristics of TBM. With reference to the installation and characteristics of disc cutters, those coefficients are modified according to penetration, which gives rise to the presentation of comprehensive axial wear coefficient, comprehensive radial wear coefficient and comprehensive trajectory wear coefficient. Calculation and determination of wear coefficients are made with consideration of data from a segment of TBM project（excavation length 173 m）. The resulting wear coefficient values, after modification, are adopted to predict the disc cutter wear in the follow-up segment of the TBM project（excavation length of 5621 m）. The prediction results show that the disc cutter wear predicted with comprehensive radial wear coefficient and comprehensive trajectory wear coefficient are not only accurate（accuracy 16.12%） but also highly congruous, whereas there is a larger deviation in the prediction with comprehensive axial wear coefficient（accuracy 41%, which is in agreement with the prediction of disc cutters’ life in the field）. This paper puts forth a new method concerning prediction of life span and wear of TBM disc cutters as well as timing for replacing disc cutters.

Tunnel face reliability analysis using active learning Kriging model——Case of a two-layer soils

This paper is devoted to the probabilistic stability analysis of a tunnel face excavated in a two-layer soil. The interface of the soil layers is assumed to be positioned above the tunnel roof. In the framework of limit analysis, a rotational failure mechanism is adopted to describe the face failure considering different shear strength parameters in the two layers. The surrogate Kriging model is introduced to replace the actual performance function to perform a Monte Carlo simulation. An active learning function is used to train the Kriging model which can ensure an efficient tunnel face failure probability prediction without loss of accuracy. The deterministic stability analysis is given to validate the proposed tunnel face failure model. Subsequently, the number of initial sampling points, the correlation coefficient, the distribution type and the coefficient of variability of random variables are discussed to show their influences on the failure probability. The proposed approach is an advisable alternative for the tunnel face stability assessment and can provide guidance for tunnel design.

Influences of anisotropy and inhomogeneity on supporting pressure of tunnel face with kinematical approach

Based on the active failure mechanism generated by a spatial discretization technique, the stability of tunnel face was studied. With the help of the spatial discretization technique, not only the anisotropy and inhomogeneity of the cohesion but also the inhomogeneity of the internal friction angle was taken into account in the analysis of the supporting forces. From the perspective of upper bound theorem, the upper bound solutions of supporting pressure were derived. The influence of the anisotropy and heterogeneity on the supporting forces as well as the failure mechanisms was discussed. The results show that the spatial discretization characteristics of cohesion and internal frictional angle impose a significant effect on the supporting pressure, which indicates that above factors should be considered in the actual engineering.

Energy analysis of face stability of deep rock tunnels using nonlinear Hoek-Brown failure criterion

The nonlinear Hoek-Brown failure criterion was introduced to limit analysis by applying the tangent method. Based on the failure mechanism of double-logarithmic spiral curves on the face of deep rock tunnels, the analytical solutions of collapse pressure were derived through utilizing the virtual power principle in the case of pore water, and the optimal solutions of collapse pressure were obtained by using the optimization programs of mathematical model with regard of a maximum problem. In comparison with existing research with the same parameters, the consistency of change rule shows the validity of the proposed method. Moreover, parametric study indicates that nonlinear Hoek-Brown failure criterion and pore water pressure have great influence on collapse pressure and failure shape of tunnel faces in deep rock masses, particularly when the surrounding rock is too weak or under the condition of great disturbance and abundant ground water, and in this case, supporting measures should be intensified so as to prevent the occurrence of collapse.

Seismic reliability analysis of shield tunnel faces under multiple failure modes by pseudo-dynamic method and response surface method

In order to investigate the stability problem of shield tunnel faces subjected to seismic loading,the pseudodynamic method(P-DM)was employed to analyze the seismic effect on the face.Two kinds of failure mechanisms of active collapse and passive extrusion were considered,and a seismic reliability model of shield tunnel faces under multifailure mode was established.The limit analysis method and the response surface method(RSM)were used together to solve the reliability of shield tunnel faces subjected to seismic action.Comparing with existing results,the results of this work are effective.The effects of seismic load and rock mass strength on the collapse pressure,extrusion pressure and reliability index were discussed,and reasonable ranges of support pressure of shield tunnel faces under seismic action were presented.This method can provide a new idea for solving the shield thrust parameter under the seismic loading.

Machine learning-based classification of rock discontinuity trace:SMOTE oversampling integrated with GBT ensemble learning

This paper presents a hybrid ensemble classifier combined synthetic minority oversampling technique(SMOTE),random search(RS)hyper-parameters optimization algorithm and gradient boosting tree(GBT)to achieve efficient and accurate rock trace identification.A thirteen-dimensional database consisting of basic,vector,and discontinuity features is established from image samples.All data points are classified as either‘‘trace”or‘‘non-trace”to divide the ultimate results into candidate trace samples.It is found that the SMOTE technology can effectively improve classification performance by recommending an optimized imbalance ratio of 1:5 to 1:4.Then,sixteen classifiers generated from four basic machine learning(ML)models are applied for performance comparison.The results reveal that the proposed RS-SMOTE-GBT classifier outperforms the other fifteen hybrid ML algorithms for both trace and nontrace classifications.Finally,discussions on feature importance,generalization ability and classification error are conducted for the proposed classifier.The experimental results indicate that more critical features affecting the trace classification are primarily from the discontinuity features.Besides,cleaning up the sedimentary pumice and reducing the area of fractured rock contribute to improving the overall classification performance.The proposed method provides a new alternative approach for the identification of 3D rock trace.

Thrust and Torque Characteristics Based on a New cutter-head Load Model

Full face rock tunnel boring machine（TBM） has been widely used in hard rock tunnels, however, there are few published theory about cutter-head design, and the design criteria of cutter-head under complex geological is not clear yet. To deal with the complex relationship among geological parameters, cutter parameters, and operating parameters during tunneling processes, a cutter-head load model is established by using CSM（Colorado school of mines） prediction model. Force distribution on cutter-head under a certain geology is calculated with the new established load model, and result shows that inner cutters bear more force than outer cutters, combining with disc cutters abrasion; a general principle of disc cutters＇ layout design is proposed. Within the model, the relationship among rock uniaxial compressive strength（UCS）, penetration and thrust on cutter-head are analyzed, and the results shows that with increasing penetration, cutter thrust increases, but the growth rate slows and higher penetration makes lower special energy（SE）. Finally, a fitting mathematical model of ZT（ratio of cutter-head torque and thrust） and penetration is established, and verified by TB880 E, which can be used to direct how to set thrust and torque on cutter-head. When penetration is small, the cutter-head thrust is the main limiting factor in tunneling; when the penetration is large, cutter-head torque is the major limiting factor in tunneling. Based on the new cutter-head load model, thrust and torque characteristics of TBM further are researched and a new way for cutter-head layout design and TBM tunneling operations is proposed.

Analytical algorithm for longitudinal deformation profile of a deep tunnel

To investigate the longitudinal deformation profile(LDP)of a deep tunnel in non-hydrostatic condition,an analytical model is proposed in our study.In this model,the problem is considered as a superposition of two partial models,and the displacement field of the second partial model is the same as that of the concerned problem.Therefore,the problem can be solved by a model with simple boundary conditions.We obtain the solutions for the stress and displacement fields of an infinite body caused by arbitrary surface tractions on the boundary of the coming tunnel(zone inside the tunnel before excavation)by integrating the extended Kelvin solution over the boundary.The obtained stress solution is used to solve the specific surface tractions,which can satisfy the boundary conditions of the second partial model,on the boundary of the coming tunnel in an infinite body.Then,the specific surface tractions are substituted into the obtained displacement solution to solve the displacement on the wall and face of the tunnel.Therefore,the LDP can also be calculated.The proposed solution is verified by both numerical simulation and the LDP functions recommended by other researchers.The major advantage of our analytical model is that it can consider the effects of the axial and horizontal lateral pressure coefficients.It is revealed that the horizontal lateral pressure coefficient majorly affects the LDP behind the tunnel face,while the axial lateral pressure coefficient dominates the LDP ahead of the tunnel face.Furthermore,the deformation characteristics of the LDPs ahead of the face and the unexcavated core are investigated.The axial displacements of the excavation face can be used to predict the crown displacements ahead of the face.

The three-dimension model for the rock-breaking mechanism of disc cutter andanalysis of rock-breaking forces

To study the rock deformation with three- dimensional model under rolling forces of disc cutter, by car- rying out the circular-grooving test with disc cutter rolling around on the rock, the rock mechanical behavior under rolling disc cutter is studied, the mechanical model of disc cutter rolling around the groove is established, and the the- ory of single-point and double-angle variables is proposed. Based on this theory, the physics equations and geometric equations of rock mechanical behavior under disc cutters of tunnel boring machine （TBM） are studied, and then the bal- ance equations of interactive forces between disc cutter and rock are established. Accordingly, formulas about normal force, rolling force and side force of a disc cutter are de- rived, and their validity is studied by tests. Therefore, a new method and theory is proposed to study rock- breaking mech- anism of disc cutters.

Application study on complex wetting agent for dust-proof after gas drainage by outburst seams in coal mines

After gas drainage, the outburst seam is dry and, consequently, during subsequent mechanized mining, unwanted dust production is extensive. Because the hard dustfall typically has a small particle size it contains a high percentage of respirable dust. Considering these factors, this paper improved the efficiency of dustfall by reducing the surface tension of the liquid used as a wetting agent, then configuring five kinds of wetting agents by adopting various doses and types of surfactants, neutral inorganic salts and chemical additives, etc. After purchasing DA-85 and SRJ-1 wetting agent, the surface tension and critical micelle concentration of seven kinds of wetting agents were measured using the capillary rise method. Wetting agent A was confirmed to have the best comprehensive effect. The experiments were optimized by measuring and comparatively analyzing contact angles of pure water, SRJ-1 wetting agent and wetting agent A on the surface of different coal samples using a contact angle measurement instrument （HARKE- SPCA）. By comparative analysis, dust-proof effects of seam, dynamic pressure water infusion and high- pressure spray in the tunneling face at the Daning coal mine using pure water, wetting agent SRJ-1 and A, it was determined that after using wetting agent A, the average dust concentration in the place of the mining machine driver, 10 m and 110 m away from the tunneling front is approximately 300 rag/ m^3, 240 mg/m^3 and 100 mg/m^3, respectively, This practice increased the dust-proof efficiency dramati- cally and achieved a good comprehensive dust-proof effect.