Numerical Analysis of the Mud Inflow Model of Fractured Rock Mass Based on Particle Flow

Abstract

Water inrush and mud outburst are one of the crucial engineering disasters commonly encountered during the construction of many railways and tunnels in karst areas. In this paper, based on fluid dynamics theory and discrete element method, we established a fractured rock mass mud inflow model using particle flow PFC3D numerical software, simulated the whole process of fractured rock mass mud inflow, and discussed the effect of particle size and flow velocity on the change of pressure gradient. The numerical simulation results show that the movement of particles at the corner of the wall when the water pressure is first applied occurs similar to the vortex phenomenon, with the running time increases, the flow direction of particles changes, the vortex phenomenon disappears, and the flow direction of particles at the corner points to the fracture; in the initial stage, the slope of the particle flows rate curves increases in time, and the quadratic function is used for fitting. After the percolation velocity of particles reaches stability, the slope of the curve remains constant, and the primary function is used for fitting; the particle flow rate and pressure gradient are influenced by a variety of factors, and they approximately satisfy the exponential function of an “S” curve.