No abstract

We conducted a field test on Huitougou (HTG) Tunnel, which is a typical shallow-buried and unsymmetrically loaded tunnel. The on-site monitoring data indicated that the surrounding rock pressure and lining stress on both sides of the tunnel were indeed asymmetrical and that the pressure ratios (original unsymmetrical coefficient) of each corresponding monitoring point were different. According to the tunnel design principle, we proposed the unsymmetrical coefficient (UC) to characterize the asymmetrical degree of the tunnel, and verified and compared the UC of the field test and numerical simulation results. The effects of different factors on the UC such as the slope angle of the ground, the thickness of the overburden cover, the physical and mechanical properties of the surrounding rock, and the construction method were studied and analyzed. The research results reveal that the bias coefficient calculated by the numerical simulation was close to the monitoring results. The results of the factor analysis indicate that the slope angle, overburden thickness, and elastic modulus significantly affected the bias degree, while other factors had little effect. The concise and clear UC accurately described the unsymmetrical degree of any unsymmetrical-loaded tunnel and provided more accurate judgment regarding the safety of the tunnel design phase and construction phase.

In recent decades, numerous tunnels have been built in the cold region of China. However, the temperature field of topographically biased tunnels in the monsoon freeze zone has not been sufficiently studied. In this study, we monitored the temperature of the surrounding rock in two topographic bias sections of the Huitougou Tunnel and analyzed the results by fitting them to the monitoring results. The results showed that the temperature of the surrounding rock on both sides after tunnel excavation varied periodically in an approximate triangular function. As the distance from the cave wall increased, the annual average temperature of the surrounding rock did not change significantly, the amplitude decreased, and the delay time increased, while the annual maximum temperature decreased, and the annual minimum temperature increased. The heat generated by blasting, the heat of hydration of the primary and secondary lining, and the decorated concrete all caused a significant increase in the temperature of the surrounding rock within 4 m for a short period of time. Both construction and topographic factors led to asymmetry in the distribution of the surrounding rock temperature in different ways. The results of this paper are intended as a reference for other studies on temperature in deviated tunnels.

Debris flows are among the most frequent and hazardous disasters worldwide. Debris flow hazard prediction is an important and effective means of engineering disaster mitigation, and rainfall threshold is the core issue in debris flow prediction. This study selected the Laomao Mountain debris flow in Dalian as the research object and explored the relationship among the percentage of coarse sand content of soil, rainfall conditions and the critical rainfall values that induce debris flows on the basis of field investigation data, combined with the results of a flume test, soil suction measurement and geomechanical analysis. The new multi-parameter debris flow initiation warning models were obtained through the mathematical regression analysis method. The critical rainfall values of debris flows in this area were calculated by the previous research on the mechanism of hydraulic debris flow initiation (HIMM). Lastly, the multi-parameter debris flow initiation warning models were compared and analyzed with the critical rainfall values obtained using the HIMM method and the rainfall information available in historical rainfall data, and the reliability of the models was verified. The comparison results showed that the new multi-parameter debris flow initiation warning models can effectively modify the traditional intensity–duration model and have certain reliability and practical values. They can provide an effectual scientific basis for future work on the monitoring and prediction of debris flow disasters.

The research on geological landscape has received more and more attention worldwide. The National Geological Park of Qian-an mud forest, located in Qian-an Country, Songyuan City (Jilin Province, China) is a rare natural geological landscape formed by erosion. Mud forest landscape has undergone long-term geological processes, and it is still in continuous evolution due to subsurface erosion. In the process of the mud forest landscape formation and evolution, distinct stages have been recognized. The subsurface erosion factors of the mud forest area were identified by groundwater and soil samples characterization, and the mechanism of the formation of the mud forest is studied. Results show that the occurrence of subsurface erosion is controlled by four factors: (1) The head difference of terrace increases due to geological structure, (2) The dry and cold paleoclimate increases the accumulation of soluble salts. Concentrated precipitation in the short term also promotes subsurface erosion. (3) The high content of sodium ions in groundwater promotes the dispersion of soil, and (4) Loess-like soil is characterized by high porosity, low plasticity, and dispersibility.