A review of numerical analysis of tunnels in discontinuous rock masses

✍ Scribed by Kawamoto, Toshikazu; Aydan, Ömer

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 232 KB
• Volume: 23
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0363-9061
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1096-9853(199911)23:13<1377::aid-nag932>3.0.co;2-s

✦ Synopsis

Rock masses in nature contain numerous discontinuities in the form of cracks, joints, faults, bedding planes, etc. Therefore, various continuum equivalent models of discontinuum models have been proposed and used to assess the stability of rock tunnels since the beginning of 1970. In this article, a brief but comprehensive review of numerical analysis of tunnels in discontinuous rock masses is presented. Firstly, various discrete models are brie#y described and their fundamental features are summarised. Then, equivalent continuum models are described and their fundamental assumptions are presented. And then a brief outline of hybrid models proposed in literature is given. Finally, some recommendations as to how to use these models in practice are made.