INDUCED STRESSES & DISPLACEMENTS CAUSED BY SINKHOLE DEVELOPMENT

Induced stress-strain conditions around underground spaces which could be excavated or naturally formed have their destructive influences on the surrounding rock masses. Roof and sidewall rocks surrounding these spaces are strained due to 3D induced stress fields formed just after their introductions. Cavities/excavated underground spaces have their stability difficulties due to surrounding rock masses’ strength/discontinuity features. Stable rocks around these spaces including stable pillars are candidates which supply deformations in time due to their long-term strength characteristics. Collapsing of the rock masses surrounding the underground spaces causes caving effects through the rock masses above the spaces. If the collapsed rock masses cannot support the above overburden dead-loads as fragmented rock fills in the caved spaces, progressive failures are continued upward directions to form further subsidence deformations. Underground water circulations at the caved spaces provide different circumstances including the transportations and/or solution of the caved rocks in time. These processes eventually provide progressive subsidence/sinkhole in time due to elimination of submerged caved/fragmented rocks. The procedures causing progressive roof failures were analysed here for hypothetical rock mass conditions to understand the procedures’ governing factors. Evaluating these factors supply hints about what could be the engineering manners to decrease the risk of sinkhole developments.