Tunnels have been the necessary element of the modern construction industry. Due to their importance for the infrastructural and economic point of view, several tunneling projects are being carried out. The present numerical study investigates the response of rock tunnel under static and surface blast loading. The response of tunnel have been observed in three different types of rocks predominantly observed in Himalayan mountains, i.e. Phyllitic Quartzite, Quartzitic Phyllite and Migmatic Gneiss. The study has been carried out on a 3D numerical model of dimension 70 x 70 x 80 m. The tunnel has 11 m diameter with concrete liner of 0.45 m initial thickness and the overburden has been applied in the form of pressure initially as a height of 50 m of overburden rock. The overburden pressure and the lining thickness have been varied under static loading conditions. In addition, the shape of the tunnel cross-section has been varied as Arch, Circular, Rectangular and Horseshoe. The surrounding rocks have been modeled as a nonlinear elastoplastic constitutive material model, with concrete liner as Mohr-Coulomb (M-C) and Concrete Damage Plasticity model respectively.Initially, the response of the tunnel has been observed under static loading conditions for different overburden pressure and tunnel cross-section. Later, a surface blast analysis has been carried out using CONWEP method with source at a standoff distance of 10 m from the ground surface. The blast analysis has been carried out for initial conditions of concrete liner and overburden pressure. It has been concluded that under static loading, circular shape is the safest rock tunnel among all four shapes. However, Arch shape of rock tunnel provides maximum resistance under blast loading condition.
In the past few decade tunnels were targeted to explosives and that resulted in sizeable structural damage. The increase in the strategic importance of tunnel construction has increased the demand for the blast‐resistant design approach. The present paper considered an internal blast loading on a rock tunnel constructed in Quartzite rock. A three‐dimensional finite element model of the tunnel has been developed in Abaqus. The diameter of the tunnel has been kept constant to a two‐lane transportation tunnel. However, the thickness of the concrete liner, depth of overburden, and mass of explosive charge has been varied to understand the response in different possible conditions. The Jones‐Wilkins‐Lee, Concrete Damage Plasticity, and Mohr‐Coulomb material models have been used for the modeling of trinitrotoluene, concrete, and rock respectively. Blast has been formulated through Coupled‐Eulerian‐Lagrangian technique. The tunnel at 12.5 of the depth of overburden has been found 2.7‐times more blast resistant than 5 m. Moreover, the extent of damage in shallow depth tunnels found to be more than the tunnels at higher depth of overburden.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.