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Chapter6 Structurally Controlled Instability

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81 views

Chapter6 Structurally Controlled Instability

Uploaded by

Tamrat Mekonnen
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
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Chapter 6.

Structurally Controlled Instability


Mechanisms and Design
Principles:
When considering different
rock mass failure
mechanisms, we generally
distinguish between those
that are primarily
structurally-controlled and
those that are stress-
controlled.

Of course some failure


modes are composites of
these two conditions, and
others may involve the effect
of time and weathering on
excavation stability.
1
Another way of viewing the
problem: Continuum vs
Discontinuum

 As a continuum, the failure path passes


through the rock mass.
 As a discontinuum, the failure surface
is dictated more directly by the
presence of specific pre-existing
discontinuities.
 It is also possible to have intermediate
cases where the failure occurs partly
along discontinuities and partly through
bridges of intact rock.
 Although most soil instabilities are of
the continuous nature, the majority of
rock mass instability are caused by
individual discontinuities.
 This is because the strength of the
intact rock can be high, with the result
that the pre-existing discontinuities are
the weakest link. 2
6.1 Mechanisms of structurally controlled instability
in tunnels

 In tunnels excavated in jointed rock masses at relatively


shallow depth, the most common types of failure are those
involving wedges falling from the roof or sliding out of the
sidewalls of the openings.

 These wedges are formed by intersecting structural features,


such as bedding planes and joints, which separate the rock
mass into discrete but interlocked pieces.
 When a free face is created by the excavation of the
opening, the restraint from the surrounding rock is
removed.

 One or more of these wedges can fall or slide from the


surface if the bounding planes are continuous or rock
bridges along the discontinuities are broken.
3
Unless steps are taken to support these loose wedges, the
stability of the back and walls of the opening may deteriorate
rapidly.

Each wedge, which is allowed to fall or slide, will cause a


reduction in the restraint and the interlocking of the rock mass
and this, in turn, will allow other wedges to fall.
 This failure process will continue until natural arching
in the rock mass prevents further unravelling or until
the opening is full of fallen material.

Falling Sliding
wedge wedge

4
6.2 Design for structurally controlled
instability

The steps which are required to deal with this problem


are:

1. Determination of average dip and dip direction of


significant discontinuity sets.

2. Identification of potential wedges which can slide or fall


from the back or walls.

3. Calculation of the factor of safety of these wedges,


depending upon the mode of failure.

4. Calculation of the amount of reinforcement required to


bring the factor of safety of individual wedges up to an
acceptable level. 5
6
6.2.1 Support to control wedge failure
 A characteristic feature of wedge failures in blocky rock
is that very little movement occurs in the rock mass
before failure of the wedge.
 In the case of a roof wedge that falls, failure can occur
as soon as the base of the wedge is fully exposed by
excavation of the opening.
 For sidewall wedges, sliding of a few millimeters along
one plane or the line of intersection of two planes is
generally sufficient to overcome the peak strength of
these surfaces.
 This dictates that movement along the surfaces
must be minimized.
 Consequently, the support system has to provide a
“Stiff response to movement”. This means that
mechanically anchored rockbolts need to be tensioned
while fully grouted rockbolts or other continuously
coupled devices can be left untensioned.
7
Rockbolt support mechanisms for wedges in the roof and sidewalls of
tunnels.

8
(a) Rock bolting wedges:
 For roof wedges the total force, which should be applied by
the reinforcement, should be sufficient to support the full
dead weight of the wedge, plus an allowance for errors and
poor quality installation.
 Hence, for the roof wedge, the total tension applied to
the rock bolts or cables should be 1.3 to 1.5 × W,
giving factors of safety of 1.3 to 1.5.

 The lower factor of safety would be acceptable in a


temporary mine access opening, such as a drilling drive,
while the higher factor of safety would be used in a more
permanent access opening such as a highway tunnel.

 When the wedge is clearly identifiable, some attempt should


be made to distribute the support elements uniformly about
the wedge centroid.
 This will prevent any rotations which can reduce the
factor of safety. 9
 In selecting the rock bolts or cable bolts to be used,
attention must be paid to the length and location of these
bolts.

 For grouted cable bolts, the length Lw through the wedge


and the length Lr in the rock behind the wedge should
both be sufficient to ensure that adequate anchorage is
available.

 In the case of correctly grouted bolts or cables, these


lengths should generally be about one meter.

 Where there is uncertainty about the quality of the grout,


longer anchorage lengths should be used.
 When mechanically anchored bolts with face plates
are used, the lengths should be sufficient to ensure
that enough rock is available to distribute the loads
from these attachments.
10
(b) Shocrete

 It is important to ensure that the shotcrete is well


bonded to the rock surface in order to prevent a
reduction in support capacity by peeling-off of the
shotcrete layer.

 Good adhesion to the rock is achieved by washing the


rock surface, using water only as feed to the shotcrete
machine, before the shotcrete is applied.

 The difficulty in using shotcrete for the support of


wedges is that it has very little strength at the time of
application and a period of several days is required
before its full strength can be relied upon.

11
 In very strong rock with large wedges, the use of shotcrete
is wasteful since only that shotcrete covering the perimeter
of the wedge is called upon to provide any resistance.

 The ideal application for shotcrete is in more closely


jointed rock masses, shown in the Figure below.

Ravelling of small
wedges in a closely
jointed rock mass.
Shotcrete can
provide effective
support in such rock
masses.

12
(c) Consideration of
excavation sequence to
control structurally
controlled instability:
 As has been emphasized,
wedges tend to fall or slide
as soon as they are fully
exposed in an excavated
face.
 Consequently, they require
immediate support in order
to ensure stability.
 Placing this support is
an important practical
question to be
addressed when
working in blocky
ground, which is prone
to wedge failure.
13
14
Factors that influence tunnel excavation
It is essential, before considering the criteria for the design of
excavation, to have a clear idea of the factors that influence it and
over which the design engineer can exercise effective control.

These are:
a. The system of excavation, which may be:
 Mechanised (full face TBMs);
 Conventional (blasting, roadheaders, hammer, ripper,
mechanical bucket, etc.);
b. Intervention to reinforce/improve or stabilize the ground, which
may be:
 conservative (reinforcement of the core-face, sub-
horizontal jetgrouting, mechanical precutting, end
anchored radial rock bolting, etc.);
 improvement (conventional injections, freezing,
truncated cone ‘umbrellas’ of drainage pipes ahead of the
face, rings of ground reinforced with fully bonded rock
bolts, etc.): 15
c. The excavation stages (full face, half face, face divided
into many sections);

d. Shaping of the face in a manner which, depending on


the characteristics of the medium tunnelled, facilitates
the formation of an arch effect in a longitudinal
direction;

e. The length of excavation steps: as a function of the


type of material excavated, its homogeneity, the
intensity of the stress states, the presence or not of
reinforcement/ ground improvement intervention, the
excavation system employed;

f. The rate of advance, i.e. the velocity and regularity of


face advance.

16

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