Impact-type vibration effects on young concrete for tunnelling

• The strive for a time-efficient construction process naturally put focus on the possibility of reducing the time of waiting between stages of construction, thereby minimizing the construction cost. If recently placed concrete, cast or sprayed, is exposed to impact vibrations at an early age while still in the process of hardening, damage that threatens the function of the hard concrete may occur. A waiting time when the concrete remains undisturbed, or a safe distance to the vibration source, is therefore needed. However, there is little, or no, fully proven knowledge of the length of this distance or time and there are no established guidelines for practical use. Therefore, conservative vibration limits are used for young and hardening concrete exposed to vibrations from e.g. blasting.As a first step in the dynamic analysis of a structure, the dynamic loads should always be identified and characterized. Here it is concluded that impact-type loads are the most dangerous of possible dynamic loads on young and hardening concrete. Shotcrete (sprayed concrete) on hard rock exposed to blasting and cast laboratory specimens subjected to direct mechanical impact loads have been investigated using finite element models based on the same analysis principles. Stress wave propagation is described in the same way whether it is through hard rock towards a shotcrete lining or through an element of young concrete.Within this project, work on evaluating and proposing analytical models are made in several steps, first with a focus on describing the behaviour of shotcrete on hard rock. It is demonstrated that wave propagation through rock towards shotcrete can be described using two-dimensional elastic finite element models in a dynamic analysis. The models must include the material properties of the rock and the accuracy of these parameters will greatly affect the results. It is possible to follow the propagation of stress waves through the rock mass, from the centre of blasting to the reflection at the shotcrete-rock interface. It is acceptable to use elastic material formulations until the strains are outside the elastic range, which thus indicates imminent material failure. Comparisons are made between numerical results and measurements from experiments in mining tunnels with ejected rock mass and shotcrete bond failure, and with measurements made during blasting for tunnel construction where rock and shotcrete remained intact. The calculated results are in good correspondence with the in situ observations and measurements, and with previous numerical modelling results. Examples of preliminary recommendations for practical use are given and it is demonstrated how the developed models and suggested analytical technique can be used for further detailed investigations.

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Samhällsbyggnadsteknik -- Infrastrukturteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Civil Engineering -- Infrastructure Engineering (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Young concrete · Shotcrete · Rock · Impact-type vibration · Finite element method · Fracture mechanics model · Crack width

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

rap (subject category)