Numerical Study of Surrounding Rock Damage in Deep-Buried Tunnels for Building-Integrated Underground Structures

When deep-buried tunnels are excavated using the drill-and-blast method, the surrounding rock is subjected to combined cyclic blasting loads and excavation-induced stress unloading. Understanding the distribution characteristics of rock damage zones under these conditions is crucial for the design and safety of building-integrated underground structures. This study investigates the relationship between surrounding rock damage and in situ stress conditions through numerical simulation methods. A constitutive model suitable for simulating rock mass damage was developed and implemented in the LS-DYNA (version R12) code via a user-defined material model, with parameters determined using the Hoek–Brown failure criterion. A finite element model was established to analyze surrounding rock damage under cyclic blasting loads, and the model was validated using field data. Simulations were then carried out to explore the evolution of the damage zone under various stress conditions. The results show that with increasing hydrostatic pressure, the extent of the damage zone first decreases and then increases, with blasting-induced damage dominating under lower pressure and unloading-induced shear failure prevailing at higher pressure. When the hydrostatic pressure is less than 20 MPa, the surrounding rock stabilizes at a distance greater than 12.6 m from the tunnel face, whereas at hydrostatic pressures of 30 MPa and 40 MPa, this distance increases to 29.4 m. When the lateral pressure coefficient is low, tensile failure occurs mainly at the vault and floor, while shear failure dominates at the arch waist. As the lateral pressure coefficient increases, the failure mode at the vault shifts from tensile to shear. Additionally, when the horizontal stress perpendicular to the tunnel axis (σH) is less than the vertical stress (σv), variations in the axial horizontal stress (σh) have a significant effect on shear failure. Conversely, when σH exceeds σv, changes in σh have little impact on the extent of rock damage.

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Publication Details

Journal
Buildings
Published
2025-06-21
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15132168
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Rock Mechanics and Modeling
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.86
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Numerical Study of Surrounding Rock Damage in Deep-Buried Tunnels for Building-Integrated Underground Structures

Zhaofei Chu, Chunhui He, Yang Liu, Chong Zhang et al.
1 citations
Buildings
Rock Mechanics and Modeling
0.86
article

Numerical Study of Surrounding Rock Damage in Deep-Buried Tunnels for Building-Integrated Underground Structures

Zhaofei Chu, Chunhui He, Yang Liu, Chong Zhang, Weitao Chen, Penglin Zhang
article en
1 citations

Abstract

When deep-buried tunnels are excavated using the drill-and-blast method, the surrounding rock is subjected to combined cyclic blasting loads and excavation-induced stress unloading. Understanding the distribution characteristics of rock damage zones under these conditions is crucial for the design and safety of building-integrated underground structures. This study investigates the relationship between surrounding rock damage and in situ stress conditions through numerical simulation methods. A constitutive model suitable for simulating rock mass damage was developed and implemented in the LS-DYNA (version R12) code via a user-defined material model, with parameters determined using the Hoek–Brown failure criterion. A finite element model was established to analyze surrounding rock damage under cyclic blasting loads, and the model was validated using field data. Simulations were then carried out to explore the evolution of the damage zone under various stress conditions. The results show that with increasing hydrostatic pressure, the extent of the damage zone first decreases and then increases, with blasting-induced damage dominating under lower pressure and unloading-induced shear failure prevailing at higher pressure. When the hydrostatic pressure is less than 20 MPa, the surrounding rock stabilizes at a distance greater than 12.6 m from the tunnel face, whereas at hydrostatic pressures of 30 MPa and 40 MPa, this distance increases to 29.4 m. When the lateral pressure coefficient is low, tensile failure occurs mainly at the vault and floor, while shear failure dominates at the arch waist. As the lateral pressure coefficient increases, the failure mode at the vault shifts from tensile to shear. Additionally, when the horizontal stress perpendicular to the tunnel axis (σH) is less than the vertical stress (σv), variations in the axial horizontal stress (σh) have a significant effect on shear failure. Conversely, when σH exceeds σv, changes in σh have little impact on the extent of rock damage.

BuildingsVol. 15(13)
Wuhan University (CN), PowerChina (China) (CN), Southwest Jiaotong University (CN)
Openalex Percentile: Top 29%
Rock Mechanics and Modeling
0.86
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