Efficient Simulation of Tunnel-Induced Failure in Brittle Rock Based on a Mesh-Independent Fracture Mechanics Approach

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-900-1_19How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Tunnel excavation; Failure mechanism; Fracture mechanics; Phase-field modelling; Case studies

Abstract

This paper provides a novel method to address the challenge of accurately modelling rock fracture and its propagation at large scale whilst maintaining computational efficiency. Current finite element methods provide a powerful approach to modelling localized failure around underground excavations. However, the results are often mesh size dependent. This is particularly the case when attempting to accurately capture stress induced crack paths in tunnel-scale problems. In these scenarios, the required mesh sizes are significantly smaller than the problem scale, leading to a huge demand for computational resources. The authors propose the use of a numerical model based on regularized smeared fractures. New scaling techniques are used to define the smeared fractures and upscale laboratory strength results to field block size. This new model can simulate rock failure caused by fracture propagation as well as the complex interactions between newly generated fractures and existing geological discontinuities. Several simulated tunnel cases are presented to demonstrate that the proposed model accurately captures the extent of any failure zone. The simulations have been demonstrated to be mesh-independent, ensuring computational efficiency for practical applications.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Penghao Zhang
AU  - Kurt Douglas
AU  - Adrian R. Russell
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/07
TI  - Efficient Simulation of Tunnel-Induced Failure in Brittle Rock Based on a Mesh-Independent Fracture Mechanics Approach
BT  - Proceedings of the Rocscience International Conference 2025 (RIC 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 205
EP  - 214
SN  - 2589-4943
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-900-1_19
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-900-1_19
ID  - Zhang2025
ER  -