Conclusions
We present and validate a new analytical failure mechanism for the determination, in the framework of limit analysis, of the critical collapse pressure and of the geometry of the collapse mechanism, for the face of tunnels excavated in low quality rock masses with the HB non-linear failure criterion.
The use of a non-linear failure criterion introduces the need to consider the distribution of normal stresses along the failure surface, so that the 'local' friction angle can be computed to fulfill the assumption of associated flow that is inherent to limit analysis.
To be able to consider the non-linearity of the HB criterion, we improve an advanced, and recently proposed, failure mechanism for the tunnel face ; the mechanism, that covers the whole excavation front, is generated "Point-by-point", and it provides a rotational-type failure that is very similar to that observed in small-scale tunnel tests in the laboratory.
The mechanism makes it possible to work with variable MC materials properties, and it represents the more advanced tunnel face failure mechanism that has been proposed to this date.
The results of such simulations suggest that a linear distribution of stresses along the failure surface could be employed as an approximation to the real stress distribution in many practical applications.
The increased complexity of the stress distribution does not seem to improve the results in other cases with 'better' rock mass properties, when the computed critical pressures are almost equal to the uniform distribution case.
To validate the new failure mechanism, 22 test-cases corresponding to rock masses with low quality, as indicated by their GSI value, have been employed to compare our limit analysis results with results of three-dimensional simulations conducted with FLAC3D. Two aspects have been compared: the numerical value of the collapse pressure; and the shape of the failure mechanism.
The obtained results suggest that the limit analysis approach proposed herein successfully approximates the FLAC3D numerical results but with a significantly reduced computational cost, so that it could be applied for fast, and relatively reliable, estimations of the pressure needed for face support in shallow tunnels excavated in heavily fractured rock masses.
To limit the applicability of the approach it has be reminded that the HB failure criterion assumes an isotropic rock mass behaviour, and that it should only be applied when the structure size, relatively to the spacing between discontinuities, makes it possible to consider the rock mass as a 'continuum' instead of a blocky structure.
As solutions of the limit analysis problem, solutions presented herein do not consider the deformations at the tunnel face and they do not account for squeezing failures associated to high deformations of the material when subjected to high stresses.
Conclusions We present and validate a new analytical failure mechanism for the determination, in the framework of limit analysis, of the critical collapse pressure and of the geometry of the collapse mechanism, for the face of tunnels excavated in low quality rock masses with the HB non-linear failure criterion.The use of a non-linear failure criterion introduces the need to consider the distribution of normal stresses along the failure surface, so that the 'local' friction angle can be computed to fulfill the assumption of associated flow that is inherent to limit analysis.To be able to consider the non-linearity of the HB criterion, we improve an advanced, and recently proposed, failure mechanism for the tunnel face ; the mechanism, that covers the whole excavation front, is generated "Point-by-point", and it provides a rotational-type failure that is very similar to that observed in small-scale tunnel tests in the laboratory.The mechanism makes it possible to work with variable MC materials properties, and it represents the more advanced tunnel face failure mechanism that has been proposed to this date.The results of such simulations suggest that a linear distribution of stresses along the failure surface could be employed as an approximation to the real stress distribution in many practical applications.The increased complexity of the stress distribution does not seem to improve the results in other cases with 'better' rock mass properties, when the computed critical pressures are almost equal to the uniform distribution case.To validate the new failure mechanism, 22 test-cases corresponding to rock masses with low quality, as indicated by their GSI value, have been employed to compare our limit analysis results with results of three-dimensional simulations conducted with FLAC3D. Two aspects have been compared: the numerical value of the collapse pressure; and the shape of the failure mechanism.The obtained results suggest that the limit analysis approach proposed herein successfully approximates the FLAC3D numerical results but with a significantly reduced computational cost, so that it could be applied for fast, and relatively reliable, estimations of the pressure needed for face support in shallow tunnels excavated in heavily fractured rock masses.To limit the applicability of the approach it has be reminded that the HB failure criterion assumes an isotropic rock mass behaviour, and that it should only be applied when the structure size, relatively to the spacing between discontinuities, makes it possible to consider the rock mass as a 'continuum' instead of a blocky structure.As solutions of the limit analysis problem, solutions presented herein do not consider the deformations at the tunnel face and they do not account for squeezing failures associated to high deformations of the material when subjected to high stresses.
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