Distribution characteristics and the evolution law of excavation damage zone in the large-span transition section of high-speed railway tunnel based on microseismic monitoring

• Published in: Railway Sciences
• Main Authors: Ao Li, Dingli Zhang, Zhenyu Sun, Jun Huang, Fei Dong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Emerald Publishing 2022-07-01
• Subjects: High-speed railway; Large-span tunnel; Excavation damage zone; Microseismic monitoring
• Online Access: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/RS-04-2022-0006/full/pdf

Purpose – The microseismic monitoring technique has great advantages on identifying the location, extent and the mechanism of damage process occurring in rock mass. This study aims to analyze distribution characteristics and the evolution law of excavation damage zone of surrounding rock based on microseismic monitoring data. Design/methodology/approach – In situ test using microseismic monitoring technique is carried out in the large-span transition tunnel of Badaling Great Wall Station of Beijing-Zhangjiakou high-speed railway. An intelligent microseismic monitoring system is built with symmetry monitoring point layout both on the mountain surface and inside the tunnel to achieve three-dimensional and all-round monitoring results. Findings – Microseismic events can be divided into high density area, medium density area and low density area according to the density distribution of microseismic events. The positions where the cumulative distribution frequencies of microseismic events are 60 and 80% are identified as the boundaries between high and medium density areas and between medium and low density areas, respectively. The high density area of microseismic events is regarded as the high excavation damage zone of surrounding rock, which is affected by the grade of surrounding rock and the span of tunnel. The prediction formulas for the depth of high excavation damage zone of surrounding rock at different tunnel positions are given considering these two parameters. The scale of the average moment magnitude parameters of microseismic events is adopted to describe the damage degree of surrounding rock. The strong positive correlation and multistage characteristics between the depth of excavation damage zone and deformation of surrounding rock are revealed. Based on the depth of high excavation damage zone of surrounding rock, the prestressed anchor cable (rod) is designed, and the safety of anchor cable (rod) design parameters is verified by the deformation results of surrounding rock. Originality/value – The research provides a new method to predict the surrounding rock damage zone of large-span tunnel and also provides a reference basis for design parameters of prestressed anchor cable (rod).