• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.19 no.6
• /
• pp.39-47
• /
• 2003

Rockbursts are mainly caused by a sudden release or the stored strain energy in the rock mass. They have been the major hazard in deep hard rock mines but rarely occur in tunnels. Due to the short history and limited information on rockbursts, the topic has rarely been studied in Korea. Some cases of rockbursts, however, have been reported during construction of a mountain tunnel for waterway. This study focuses on analyzing data on rockbursts obtained from a TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) tunnel and suggests methods for a comprehensive understanding on rockbursts. From the analysis of the field data of rockbursts, it was found that most rockbursts mainly occurred at the section between the tunnel face and the TBM operating room, and the rock bursting phenomena lasted up to 20 days after excavation in certain areas. The data also show that the bursting spots are located all around the tunnel surface including the face, the wall, and the roof, The maximum size of bursting spots is usually less than 100cm. This study also suggests new scale systems of brittleness and uniaxial compressive strength to evaluate the possible tendency for a rockburst. These systems are scaled based on the scale system of strain energy density. In addition, with these scale systems, this research shows that there are potentially higher tendencies for rockbursts in this specific tunnel. Moreover this research suggests that properties of rock and rock mass, RMR (Rock Mass Rating) value, tunneling method, excavating speed, and depth of tunnel have a strong correlation with rockbursts.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.15 no.6
• /
• pp.1153-1160
• /
• 2018

Rockbursts, catastrophic events involving the violent release of elastic energy stored in rock features, remain a worldwide challenge for geoengineering. Especially at deep-mining sites, rockbursts can occur in hard, high-stress, brittle rock zones, and the associated risk depends on such factors as mining activity and the stress on surrounding rocks. Rockbursts are often sudden and destructive, but there is still no unified standard for predicting them. Based on previous studies, a new Bayesian multi-index model was introduced to predict and evaluate rockbursts. In this method, the rock strength index, energy release index, and surrounding rock stress are the basic factors. Values from 18 rock samples were obtained, and the potential rockburst risks were evaluated. The rockburst tendencies of the samples were modelled using three existing methods. The results were compared with those obtained by the new Bayesian model, which was observed to predict rockbursts more effectively than the current methods.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.21-27
• /
• 2019

Rockburst disasters pose serious threat to mining safety and underground excavation, especially in China, resulting in massive life-wealth loss and even compulsive closed-down of some coal mines. To investigate the mechanism of rockbursts that occur under a state of static forces, a stress model with sidewall as prototype was developed and verified by a group of laboratory experiments and numerical simulations. In this model, roadway sidewall was simplified as a square plate with axial compression and end (horizontal) restraints. The stress field was solved via the Airy stress function. To track the "closeness degree" of the stress state approaching the yield limit, an unbalanced force F was defined based on the Mohr-Coulomb yield criterion. The distribution of the unbalanced force in the plane model indicated that only the friction angle above a critical value could cause the first failure on the coal in the deeper of the sidewall, inducing the occurrence of rockbursts. The laboratory tests reproduced the rockburst process, which was similar to the prediction from the theoretical model, numerical simulation and some disaster scenes.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.215-231
• /
• 1995

The key concepts of seismic moment tensor are introduced in a 'physicist - oriented' style. The theory and application of seismic moment tensor which have been developed since the 1970s have become one of the most important branches in modern seismology. The description of earthquake sources in the modern seismology have led to much deeper understanding of the physics of indigenous earthquakes as well as various kinds of artificial seismic events, such as underground explosions, mining rockbursts, and reservoir induced tremors. Furthermore, with the development of digital seismological observation, some concepts, which were not included in 'classical' seismology, or not so important in 'classical' seismology, has become more and more important. It seems that it has been the time to have a new look at the fundamentals of seismology as a branch of applied physics, especially the part dealing with the physics of earthquake sources. Also in this field it may be important to clarify some fundamental concepts which, unexpectedly, have caused confusions even among professionals.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.18 no.5
• /
• pp.481-492
• /
• 2019

Due to the underground openings, the tangentially concentrated stress of the tunnel remains larger at excavation boundary and decreases toward the interior of the surrounding rock with a certain gradient. In order to study the effect of different gradient stress on rockburst, the true-triaxial gradient and hydraulic-pneumatic combined test apparatus were carried out to simulate the rockburst processes. Under the different gradient stress conditions, the rock-like specimen (gypsum) was tested independently through three principal stress directions loading--fast unloading of single surface--top gradient and hydraulic-pneumatic combined loading, which systematically analyzed the macro-mesoscopic damage phenomena, force characteristics and acoustic emission (AE) signals of the specimen during rockburst. The experimental results indicated that the rockburst test under the gradient and hydraulic-pneumatic combined loading conditions could perfectly reflect the rockburst processes and their stress characteristics; Relatively high stress loading could cause specimen failure, but could not determine its mode. The rockburst under the action of gradient stress suggested that the failure mode of specimen mainly depended on the stress gradient. When the stress gradient was lower, progressive and static spalling failure occured and the rockburst grades were relatively slight. On the other hand, shear fractures occurred in rockbursts accounted for increasingly large proportion as the stress gradient increased and the rockburst occurred more intensely and suddenly, the progressive failure process became unconspicuous, and the rockburst grades were moderate or even stronger.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.255-264
• /
• 2020

With the ongoing development of deep mining of coal resources, some coal mine dynamic disasters have exhibited characteristics of both coal-gas outbursts and rockbursts. Therefore, research is required on the mechanism of rockburst-outburst coupling disaster. In this study, the failure characteristics of coal-rock combination structures were investigated using lab-scale physical simulation experiments. The energy criterion of the rockburst-outburst coupling disaster was obtained, and the mechanism of the disaster induced by the gas-solid coupling instability of the coal-rock combination structure was determined. The experimental results indicate that the damage of the coal-rock structure is significantly different from that of a coal body. The influence of the coal-rock structure should be considered in the study of rockburst-outburst coupling disaster. The deformation degree of the roof is controlled by the more significant main role of the gas pressure and the difference in the strength between the rock body and the coal body. The outburst holes and spall characteristics of the coal body after the failure of the coal-rock structure are strongly affected by the difference in strength between the roof and the coal body. The research results provide an in-depth understanding of the mechanism of rockburst-outburst coupling disasters in deep mining.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.29 no.2
• /
• pp.113-131
• /
• 2022

A rockburst is a common disaster in deep-tunnel excavation engineering, especially for high-geostress areas. An anomalously low friction effect is one of the most important inducements of rockbursts. To elucidate the correlation between an anomalously low friction effect and a rockburst, we establish a two-dimensional prediction model that considers the discontinuous structure of a rock mass. The degree of freedom of the rotation angle is introduced, thus the motion equations of the blocks under the influence of a transient disturbing force are acquired according to the interactions of the blocks. Based on the two-dimensional discontinuous block model of deep rock mass, a rockburst prediction model is established, and the initiation process of ultra-low friction rockburst is analyzed. In addition, the intensity of a rockburst, including the location, depth, area, and velocity of ejection fragments, can be determined quantitatively using the proposed prediction model. Then, through a specific example, the effects of geomechanical parameters such as the different principal stress ratios, the material properties, a dip of principal stress on the occurrence form and range of rockburst are analyzed. The results indicate that under dynamic disturbance, stress variation on the structural surface in a deep rock mass may directly give rise to a rockburst. The formation of rockburst is characterized by three stages: the appearance of cracks that result from the tension or compression failure of the deformation block, the transformation of strain energy of rock blocks to kinetic energy, and the ejection of some of the free blocks from the surrounding rock mass. Finally, the two-dimensional rockburst prediction model is applied to the construction drainage tunnel project of Jinping II hydropower station. Through the comparison with the field measured rockburst data and UDEC simulation results, it shows that the model in this paper is in good agreement with the actual working conditions, which verifies the accuracy of the model in this paper.