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Design equation for stability of shallow unlined circular tunnels in Hoek-Brown rock masses

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Abstract

Safety assessment is one critical issue for constructions of tunnels and requires a reliable and accurate stability analysis. At present, a large number of researches in stability analyses of tunneling in rock masses have been conducted; however, a lack of an accurate and reliable design equation for the tunnel stability prediction is obvious. This paper presents a new design equation for stability analyses of shallow unlined circular tunnels in rock masses obeying the Generalized Hoek-Brown failure criterion. Because of the complexity of the problem’s nature, a closed-formed analytical solution of the problem is not possible to be achieved. Hence, the computational framework of the finite element limit analysis is selected to numerically derive the upper and lower bound solutions of the problem. A complete set of the dimensionless parameters covering the shallow cover-depth ratios of tunnels, the normalized uniaxial compressive strength of intact rocks, and the Hoek-Brown material parameters are comprehensively investigated. A new design equation for stability analyses of shallow unlined circular tunnels in rock masses is developed by employing a nonlinear regression analysis to the numerically derived average bound solutions. It is found that the proposed new design equation is highly accurate and provides a convenient and reliable tool for stability analyses of shallow unlined tunnels in rock masses in practice.

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Abbreviations

σ 1 :

the effective major principal stress

σ 3 :

the effective minor principal stress

σ ci :

the uniaxial compressive strength of intact rocks

GSI :

the Geological Strength Index of rocks

m i :

the frictional strength of intact rocks

DF :

the disturbance factor reflected by blast damage and stress relaxation

D :

the diameter of circular tunnels

C :

the cover depth of circular tunnels

γ :

the constant unit weight of rocks

σ s :

a uniform surcharge applied over the top rock surface

σ s /σ ci :

the normalized collapse surcharge

σ ci /γD :

the normalized uniaxial compressive strength

C/D :

the cover depth ratio of circular tunnels

q :

the constant vertical pressure applied on the top plane of plane strain biaxial compression

Q :

the total vertical compressive load applied to the footing

N :

the bearing capacity factor

B :

the full width of footing

Ai, Bi, Ei, Gi :

initial coefficients for design equation

ai, bi, ci, di, ei, fi, gi :

optimal constant coefficients for design equation

y i :

average computed bound solution of σs/σci

f i :

approximate solution of σs/σci

n :

number of data

R 2 :

the coefficient of determination

N c :

the factor representing the effect of the uniaxial compressive strength σci of intact rocks

N γ :

the factor representing the effect of rock unit weight γ

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Thammasat School of Engineering, Thammasat University, Pathumthani, 12120, Thailand

    Suraparb Keawsawasvong

  2. Centre of Excellence in Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand

    Boonchai Ukritchon

  3. Center of Excellence on Earthquake Engineering and Vibration, Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand

    Boonchai Ukritchon

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  1. Suraparb Keawsawasvong
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Keawsawasvong, S., Ukritchon, B. Design equation for stability of shallow unlined circular tunnels in Hoek-Brown rock masses. Bull Eng Geol Environ 79, 4167–4190 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-020-01798-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-020-01798-8

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