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Rockfall hazard assessment at Ajanta Cave, Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India

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Abstract

The Ajanta caves are situated in Deccan Trap basalt and declared as one of the World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. The present study aims to investigate and understand the damage of caves and to protect the life of the visitors from the rockfall phenomenon at and around the caves. Information related to the detached rock mass/block was acquired by using Barton–Bandis model in Universal Distinct Element Code. Parameters for rockfall simulation were determined by rigorous field study and laboratory experiment and then calibrated some of the parameters by back analysis. RocFall 4.0 program has been used to calculate maximum bounce heights, total kinetic energies, and translational velocities of the falling blocks of different weights. The maximum bounce height varies from 14.0 to 19.0 m for the weight of the block size ranging from 500 to 2,000 kg, whereas the maximum velocity and maximum kinetic energy are 30.0 m/s and 917.66 kJ, respectively. Finally, the results of simulation have been used to find out the position of the barrier and its capacity to design the protection barrier. The barrier capacity was found to be 325 kJ for 2,000 kg of falling blocks at a height of 50.0 m.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, 400076, India

    M. K. Ansari, M. Ahmad, Rajesh Singh & T. N. Singh

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  1. M. K. Ansari
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  2. M. Ahmad
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  3. Rajesh Singh
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  4. T. N. Singh
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Correspondence to M. K. Ansari.

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Ansari, M.K., Ahmad, M., Singh, R. et al. Rockfall hazard assessment at Ajanta Cave, Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India. Arab J Geosci 7, 1773–1780 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-013-0867-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-013-0867-8

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