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Effects of overburden, rock strength and pillar width on the safety of a three-parallel-hole tunnel

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Abstract

During the excavation of three-parallel-hole tunnel, the tunnel might collapse due to over-stress as a result of inadequate rock pillar width. Treating the rock overburden depth, rock strength, and rock pillar width as variables, a series of 3D numerical analysis was carried out to examine the effect of each variable on the safety of the tunnel, in particular the rock pillar. A stress strength ratio (SSR) was used to define whether the safety of the rock pillar was exceeded. A simple design chart for the case of three-parallel-hole tunnel, which took into account the influence of overburden depth, rock pillar width, and rock strength, was also proposed for used in the preliminary design stage.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei, Taiwan

    Shong-loong Chen & Meen-wah Gui

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, National Chiao-Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan

    Guo-wei Li

Authors
  1. Shong-loong Chen
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  2. Guo-wei Li
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  3. Meen-wah Gui
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Correspondence to Meen-wah Gui.

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Chen, Sl., Li, Gw. & Gui, Mw. Effects of overburden, rock strength and pillar width on the safety of a three-parallel-hole tunnel. J. Zhejiang Univ. Sci. A 10, 1581–1588 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.A0920040

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.A0920040

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