Analysis of the Mechanism of Water Inrush Geohazards in Deep-Buried Tunnels under the Complex Geological Environment of Karst Cave-Fractured Zone

Abstract

To study the mechanism and evolution process of water inrush geohazards under the complex geological environment of the karst cave-fractured zone, a large-scale physical three-dimensional (3D) model test was first performed. Then the conceptual model for the evolution process of water inrush geohazards and the simplified theoretical model for the critical hydraulic pressure were both established based on the main characteristics of the water inrush geohazard in the engineering background and that in the model test. A new method was developed for modeling the geological environment of the karst cave-structural plane, and two formulae describing the critical water pressure of water inrush geohazards under two failure models of tensile-shear fracture failure and compression-shear fracture failure were also deduced based on fracture mechanics. The results showed that: (1) the evolution process of the water inrush geohazard can be divided into four stages, which include the initial balance, the propagation of original cracks, the formation of the dominant water inrush channel, and the instability of the waterproof rock mass; (2) the suddenness of water inrush geohazards becomes stronger with the increase of the hydraulic pressure; (3) the calculated critical hydraulic pressure of water inrush geohazards is similar to the measured critical hydraulic pressure in the model test, which validated the accuracies of the theoretical model, and the failure model of water inrush geohazards in this research is compression-shear fracture failure.

Keywords

karst cave / fractured zone / water inrush / mechanism / critical hydraulic pressure / model test / engineering geology

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