Effect of rock creep behaviour on tunnel long-term performance at CERN

Xiao, Zhipeng; Osborne, John Andrew; Li, Zili

Effect of rock creep behaviour on tunnel long-term performance at CERN

Files

ISMLG_2023_Abstract.pdf(286.45 KB)

Accepted Version

Date

2023

Authors

Xiao, Zhipeng

Osborne, John Andrew

Li, Zili

Abstract

Creep behaviour of rock acts as a crucial role in the long-term deformation of tunnel underground structures. After tunnel excavation, the surrounding rock of a tunnel usually tends to continuously deform as the rock pressure around varies with time. This is mainly since natural rocks contain pre-existing discontinuities and cracks which may be generated or exacerbated by the effect of ground excavations at the construction stage [1, 2]. The creep behaviour of rocks has an important impact on the long-term rock-structure interaction [3-5], and in turn leads to the long-term deformation of underground structures [6-8]. At CERN tunnel, field observation and measurements clearly show that substantial visible cracks, water infiltration and structural deformation have been developing with time after tunnel excavation over more than four decades. In this paper, we attempted to investigate the long-term deformation of the ageing CERN tunnel subject to the rock creep behaviour. A numerical model was developed to describe the creep behaviour of rocks based on the experimental data, and then to evaluate the long-term deformation of tunnel lining of a CERN tunnel situated in the molasse rock. The purpose of our research is to reveal the effect of creep behavior on the tunnel long-term deformation and to provide insights into the design and maintenance of underground structures.

Keywords

Rock creep , Tunnels , Long-term deformation , Numerical simulation , Tunnel lining

Citation

Xiao, Z., Osborne, J. A. and Li, Z. (2023) 'Effect of rock creep behaviour on tunnel long-term performance at CERN', Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Machine Learning and Big Data in Geoscience (ISMLG 2023), University College Cork, 29 August - 1 September, pp. 74-76.