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Numerical investigation on the stability of deforming fractured rocks using discrete fracture networks: a case study of underground excavation

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A Correction to this article was published on 22 April 2021

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Abstract

The stability of a fractured rock mass around a subsurface opening is critical to tunnel excavation. The traditional underground excavation analysis is based on a continuum description of randomly distributed discrete pre-existing fractures. In contrast to this, we have developed an improved hybrid finite element method (FEM) to investigate the stability of fractured rocks around an excavation by incorporating the outputs into the FEM codes. The proposed model consists of a discrete fracture network (DFN) model and cohesive zone model (CZM). The DFN model automatically generates a fracture network with a given fracture opening distribution and provides grid generation strategy to the FEM. The CZM captures material failure and intersection and surface contacts through the fracture element with different constitutive laws. As a case study, a DFN model was formulated for the underground excavation at Jinping Hydropower Station, in light of the input requirements of our model, and its deformation analysis was performed. The comparison analysis of rock deformation was made for excavation in both intact rock mass and fractured rock mass under the same boundary conditions. The numerical results show that two different modes of rock failure exist in these two rock masses and that intense deformation at the fractures intersected by the tunnel is responsible for fractured rock mass instability. The proposed approach was verified using data from field investigations. A larger displacement can be produced if the rock mass is weakened by a key block. A sensitivity analysis was carried out to investigate the effects of different model parameters on deformation variations. This study provides an insightful understanding of the deformation of fractured rock mass during tunnel excavation.

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Change history

Abbreviations

b(i):

Fracture width

L(i):

Length of a fracture

K I,:

KII Stress intensity factor of pure tensile and shear mode

E ij :

Elastic modulus tensor of fracture elements

T 0 :

Thickness of fracture elements

D :

Damage factor of fracture elements

K in :

Stiffness for the spring in the Bandis–Barton law

H :

Depth of the tunnel

U 1 :

Displacement in the horizontal direction

U 2 :

Displacement in the vertical direction

(x 0(i),y 0(i)):

Center point coordinates of a fracture

(x 1(i),y 1(i)):

Initial endpoint coordinates of a fracture

(x 1’(i),y 1’(i)):

Translational endpoint coordinates of a fracture

(X,Y):

Coordinates on the sides of a fracture domain

φ :

Fracture geometric parameter

f(φ):

Probability density function of a fracture geometric parameter

σ :

Standard variance of a fracture geometric parameter

μ :

Expectation of a fracture geometric parameter

λ :

Horizontal stress factor

γ :

Unit weight of rock

α(i):

Dip of a fracture

σ(δ):

Traction-separation law

Γ 0 :

Dissipated energy of material failure

σ :

traction on fracture surface

δ j :

separation on fracture surface

\( {\sigma}_i^0 \) :

peak traction of fracture elements.

\( {\delta}_i^0 \) :

Critical separation at which traction reaches its peak

\( {\delta}_i^f \) :

Critical separation at which traction becomes zero

δ m :

Effective displacement of fracture surface

δ max :

Maximum deformation in the Bandis–Barton law

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the Chinese Fundamental Research (973) Program through the Grant No. 2015CB057906.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430071, China

    Luyu Wang, Weizhong Chen, Xuyan Tan, Xianjun Tan, Jianping Yang & Diansen Yang

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, 100049, China

    Luyu Wang & Xuyan Tan

  3. Research Center of Geotechnical and Structural Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, 250100, China

    Weizhong Chen

  4. CSIRO Energy, Clayton, VIC, 3168, Australia

    Xi Zhang

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  1. Luyu Wang
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Correspondence to Weizhong Chen.

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Wang, L., Chen, W., Tan, X. et al. Numerical investigation on the stability of deforming fractured rocks using discrete fracture networks: a case study of underground excavation. Bull Eng Geol Environ 79, 133–151 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-019-01536-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-019-01536-9

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