Research on the Prediction of the Time of Initial Support of Soft Rock Tunnel Based on the Optimized Longitudinal Deformation Profile

Abstract

The longitudinal deformation profile (LDP) of the surrounding rock can intuitively and effectively reflect that the deformation of the surrounding rock of the tunnel wall is affected by the “spatial effect” at the front end of the excavation face during the tunnel excavation process, and provides a theoretical basis for the best time for the construction of the supporting structure. Taking a large-section tunnel of soft rock as an example, the LDP equation (displacement release coefficient) of the surrounding rock is derived based on Unlu and Gercek, and the optimization and improvement are proposed after comprehensively considering Poisson’s ratio, the elastic modulus, cohesion, internal friction angle, blasting parameters, etc., using FLAC3D to analyze the rationality and validity of improving the LDP equation of the surrounding rock. The results show that: (1) by adding the “expanded convergent function” in the x ≥ 0 section, the LDP equation of surrounding rock is optimized and improved, and the correlation coefficient of the data is increased from the original R-square = 0.8 to R-square = 0.95; (2) by comparing with the numerical simulation data, the improved LDP equation of the surrounding rock can better match it, which confirms that the improved LDP equation of surrounding rock is more reasonable and practical; (3) it is proposed that the displacement release coefficient value is the best time to apply support when the displacement increment of the surrounding rock has a sharp increase point, and it is concluded that when the Class-III surrounding rock is constructed by the long step method, it is best to start supporting at about x = 2.24 m from the tunnel face. When the Class-IV surrounding rock is constructed by the reserved core soil method, it is best to start supporting at about x = 1.47 m from the face of the tunnel.

Numerical Simulation Method for Tunnel Excavation Considering Mechanical Characteristic Variation of Soft Rock with the Confining Pressure Influence

“…Large deformations in tunnels easily cause support structure failure and endanger the safety of construction personnel [1][2][3]. To effectively address the large deformation problem of tunnels, there are two fundamental problems to solve in advance: the confining pressure influence on the soft rock mechanical characteristics and the displacement field prediction and evaluation of surrounding rock considering the confining pressure influence [4,5]. These two problems are the current research hotspots, which have significant meaning for the large deformation problem of tunnels [6,7].…”