Investigation on the evolution mechanism of water and mud inrush disaster in fractured rock mass of mountain tunnel

Water inrush is one of the major disasters during tunnel construction. Due to its characteristics of great harm and difficult prediction, it has always been the focus of research. In order to reveal the mechanism of fault water inrush, a laboratory experiment is adopted to simulate tunnel excavation. The results show, firstly, the pore water pressure and soil pressure of model are unchanged before the fault is exposed; after the fault is exposed, the pore water pressure and soil pressure of vault decrease first, followed by the arch and haunch, and the decline of arch and vault is greater than that of haunch. Secondly, excavation has the greatest impact on the displacement of rock mass directly above the tunnel axis, and the farther away from the axis, the smaller the impact. Thirdly, the seepage channel around vault begins to expand, and clear water begins to seep out after the fault exposure. As the sediment in the crack is carried out by water flow, the clear water gradually becomes turbid, seepage channel changes from pore flow to fissure flow and then to pipe flow. Finally, Comsol is used to analyze the fault water inrush mechanism from the perspective of permeability change, and the correctness of model test is verified by comparing with engineering practice.

Automated summary

Water inrush during tunnel construction is a major disaster with significant harm and difficult prediction. A laboratory experiment was conducted to simulate tunnel excavation and reveal the mechanism of fault water inrush. The results show that after the fault is exposed, the pore water pressure and soil pressure decrease, and excavation has the greatest impact on the displacement of rock mass directly above the tunnel axis. The seepage channel expands and clear water begins to seep out, gradually changing from pore flow to fissure flow and then to pipe flow.