Static and Dynamic Influence of the Shear Zone on Rockburst Occurrence in the Headrace Tunnel of the Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project, Pakistan

Abdul Muntaqim Naji, Hafeezur Rehman, Muhammad Zaka Emad, Saeed Ahmad, Jung-joo Kim and Hankyu Yoo
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Abdul Muntaqim Naji: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hanyang University, 55 Hanyangdaehak-ro, Sangnok-gu, Ansan 426-791, Korea
Hafeezur Rehman: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hanyang University, 55 Hanyangdaehak-ro, Sangnok-gu, Ansan 426-791, Korea
Muhammad Zaka Emad: Department of Mining Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore 54000, Pakistan
Saeed Ahmad: National Development Consultants (NDC) Pvt. Ltd., Lahore 54000, Pakistan
Jung-joo Kim: Structural and Seismic Technology Group, KEPCO Research Institute, Seoul 135-791, Korea
Hankyu Yoo: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hanyang University, 55 Hanyangdaehak-ro, Sangnok-gu, Ansan 426-791, Korea

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 11, 1-17

Abstract: Rockburst is an unstable failure of a rock mass which is influenced by many factors. During deep excavations, the presence of nearby geological structures such as minor faults, joints, and shear zones increases the likelihood of rockburst occurrence. A shear zone has been observed in the headrace tunnel in the Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project, Pakistan, which has played an important role in major rockburst events in the project’s history. A rockburst is a seismic event that involves the release of a great amount of energy as the dynamic wave radiated from the seismic source reaches the excavation boundary. In this paper, the FLAC 2D explicit numerical code has been used to simulate the dynamic phenomenon of rockburst near the shear zone in a headrace tunnel. The behavior of the rock mass around the tunnel has been studied under both static and dynamic loading. According to modeling results, rockburst significantly affected the upper left quadrant of the tunnel similar to the actual failure profile with a depth of approximately 5 m. The dynamic impact of rockburst has also affected the loading conditions of the support system in the adjacent tunnel. This study elucidates one of the most important rockburst controlling factors through numerical analysis and recommends yielding support measures that can withstand the dynamic impacts of rockburst in deep, hard rock tunnels.

Keywords: deep tunnels; shear zone; high stress; rockburst; seismic energy; support system; dynamic numerical simulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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