Study on the Damage Process and Numerical Simulation of Tunnel Excavation in Water-Rich Soft Rock

Abstract

The weakening effect is one of the most important causes triggering large deformation and failure of soft-rock engineering; however, few studies paid attention to damage evolution and constitutive relationship of rock in tensile damage in the excavation unloading and water-weakening process, not to mention the coupling process of unloading and water-weakening. In this paper, the mechanism and engineering characteristics of unloading softening and water-softening of water-rich soft rock are analyzed and summarized. Then with the aid of the strain equivalent principle, the damage of surrounding rock caused by unloading softening and water-softening is coupled, and the compression shear damage and the tensile damage of surrounding rock under the unloading process are analyzed. A damage constitutive model of rock subjected to excavation unloading and water-weakening is proposed considering the influence of water immersion time, and the proposed model is applied in a newly established finite element simulation method, which is suitable for excavation in the water-rich soft rock. Based on the mechanical-hydraulic-damage coupled method, the progressive failure process of surrounding rock under the dual softening effects can be reflected by the deteriorated parameters of damage elements. Finally, the field monitoring data of a typical section in the Xujiadi tunnel is used to verify the applicability and accuracy of the proposed dual softening model and simulation method.

Keywords

• weak surrounding rock
• unloading excavation
• underground water
• softening effect
• numerical simulation