Abstract: A reliable prediction of the characteristics of roof collapse in deep tunnels is still one of the most important and challenging tasks in tunnel engineering. To investigate the collapse mechanisms and possible shapes of the collapsing blocks in deep tunnels, an analytical solution of shape curves for collapsing blocks is derived based on the nonlinear Hoek-Brown failure criterion by using the functional catastrophe theory. The obtained formulas are extremely simple. Furthermore, a judging criterion is proposed to distinguish whether the roof collapses of deep tunnels will occur or not. The effects of rock mass parameters used in the proposed method on the collapsing block shapes of deep tunnels are also discussed. The proposed analytical solution is verified by both the empirical method and the model test.

Key words: Deep tunnel, Tunnel roof collapse, Functional catastrophe theory, Hoek-Brown failure criterion

Please provide your name, email address and a comment

Your Name: Affili: E-Mail Address:

Comment (Please comment in English):


Verification Code(click to change a pic):