Rock Mech. Rock Engng.

(1997) 30 (3), 121-127

Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering 9 Springer-Verlag 1997 Printed in Austria

Effect of Tunnel Depth on Modulus of Deformation of Rock Mass

By

M. Verman 1, B. Singh 2, M. N. Viladkar 2, and J. L. Jethwa 3

l Advanced Technology and Engineering Services, AIMIL Ltd., New Delhi, India 2 Department of Civil Engineering, University of Roorkee, Roorkee, India 3 Central Mining Research Institute Regional Centre, Nagpur, India

Summary
Deformability of rock mass significantly influences its behaviour and is, tberelore, an important consideration for the design of underground openings. The modulus of deformation of rock mass is, however, normally obtained from expensive and time-consuming uniaxial jacking tests, whose results often have a large scatter. An empirical correlation has, therefore, been proposed for a quick and inexpensive preliminary estimation of the modulus of deformation of rock mass on the basis of field instrumentation carried out in tunnels in India.

1. Empirical Correlation for Modulus of Deformation

1.1 Back Analysis of Instrumentation Results
Field instrumentation was carried out in several Indian tunnels (Table 1) to obtain the data of support pressures and tunnel closures at various tunnel sections exhibiting elastic ground behaviour. The data were then back-analysed to obtain the modulus of deformation of rock mass using the following expression applicable for a circular opening driven through a homogeneous, isotropic and linearly elastic rock mass under hydrostatic stress field:

Ua/a = (1 + v)(po - p i ) / E d
where,

(1)

ua = radial tunnel closure, a = radius of tunnel opening, v = Poissoffs ratio of rock mass, Ed = modulus of deformation of rock mass, Po -= in-situ stress magnitude ( = rH, for hydrostatic stress field), r = unit weight of rock mass,

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M. Verman et al. Table 1. An overview of tunnels

Tunnel

Depth of Purpose instrumented sections (m) 225-295 197 225-467 100-200 50

Instruments used Tunnel closure Support pressure

Method of excavation

Tehri Tunnels Lower Periyar Tunnel Maneri-Uttarkashi Tunnel Maneri Stage-II Tunnel Bagur-Navile Tunnel

Hydropower Tape extensometer Loadcell Hydropower Tape extensometer Load cell Hydropower Tape extensometer Loadcell Hydropower Tape extensometer Loadcell Irrigation Tape extensometer Load cell

Drill and blast Drill and blast Drill and blast Drill and blast Drill and blast

H = height of overburden, and

Pi = support pressure (short-term).

The value of v was taken as 0.25. Assuming a hydrostatic stress field (the hydrostatic solution is being used as an average even though all of the data may not have been obtained from a hydrostatic stress field), Po was considered equal to 7H and its values for different tunnel sections were accordingly obtained. The back-analysed values of the modulus of deformation are plotted against RMR (Rock Mass Rating), proposed by Bieniawski (1973) in Fig. 1, from which the following correlation may be obtained for modulus of deformation of dry rock masses, Ed:

Ea = 10(RMR-Z0)/38GPa

(2)

(correlation coefficient = 91%). Mehrotra (1992) also obtained nearly the same correlation from uniaxial jacking tests on dry rock masses. Thus, one may use Eq. (2) with confidence in poor rock conditions also. As shown in Table 1, all the tunnel sections considered for the present study were excavated using the drill-and-blast method of excavation. The damage tendency of blasting may be different for different rock mass qualities which could be reflected by the field data. Therefore, to correlate Ed (obtained from the field data; Section 1.1) with RMR, only the post-blasting RMR was used. Thus, if the field data (used to obtain Ed) reflects the damage tendency of blasting, so does the RMR. Moreover, the damage tendency of blasting is not likely to differ significantly in various rock mass qualities as the critical blasting parameters, such as blast pattern, charge, type of explosive etc., are also changed according to the rock mass quality.

1.2 Effect of Depth on Modulus of Deformation of Rock Mass

The back-analysed values of the modulus of deformation indicated its dependence on the height of overburden. To account for the effect of the height of overburden (or

Effect of Tunnel Depth on Modulus of Deformation

123

2o

a b c d e

Tehri Tunnels L o w e r Periyar T u n n e l Maneri-Uttarkashi Tunnel Maneri Stage-II Tunnel Bagur-Navile Tunnel

e u

8 N

d
~1
a 11 3~

(RMR-20)/38 Ed = 10 , (Corr. C o e f f . = 9 1 % )

4~

RMR

Fig. 1. Correlation between RMR and modulus of deformation of rock mass depth of tunnel), a correction factor, f, was introduced in Eq. (2) in the following manner: E d = f . 10(RMR-20)/38GPa. From Eq. (3), f = ~0(RMR_:0)/38 . (3)

Ed

(4)

The correction factor, f, is plotted against the height of overburden, H, in Fig. 2, from which the following correlation has been obtained: f = 0.3 H a, where o~ = 0.16 to 0.3, and H > 50m. Equation (3) may, therefore be written as: E d = 0.3 H a. 10 (RMR 2~ where H is in meters. (6) (5)

1.3 Effect of Stress-dependent Modulus of Deformation

Equation (6) has been arrived at on the basis of the linear elastic solution given by Eq. (1). Since the attempt here is to derive a depth-dependent correlation for the modulus of deformation, it would have been more appropriate to use a stress-dependent solution in place of the linear elastic solution given by Eq. 1. This is because if the modulus of deformation is proportional to the depth, then it is proportional to the stress also. A stress-dependent solution will, however, affect the absolute value in Eqs. (5) and (6) but not the main argument. A stress-dependent solution would normally require

124
z

M. Verman et al.

(RMR-20)/38 f = Ed/lO
r-

0.3 Upper b o u n d , f = 0.3H

Pz 3
r,. o

i"
.
ill I
, I t

II

P~

0.16 L o w e r b o u n d , f = 0.3H

Height

of Overburden, H,rm)

400

500

Fig. 2. Correctionfactor for effect of depth on modulusof deformationof rock mass a numerical method. The calculations, which have been performed by Referee (1995), are summarised below: Using an average value of unit weight of rock mass, ~ = 0.0255 MPa/m, Po Po Po Po Po = = = = = 1.02 MPa at H = 40 m 2.04 Mpa at H = 80 m 5.1 MPa at H = 200 m 10.2MPa at H = 4 0 0 m 12.75 MPa at H -----500m.

Referring to the subsequent Section 2, the following corresponding values of RMR and o~ have been considered: RMR = 31 and ~ = 0.3 Substituting these values in Eq. (6), E d = 584 (39.2 po) ~ MPa (7)

For the above values of the in situ stress, Eq. (1) has been used to arrive at the linear elastic displacement (as a ratio of tunnel radius), le. This is compared with the stressdependent displacement (as a ratio of tunnel radius), sd, for various tunnel depths in Table 2. The term E d . . . . (rings) indicates that the solution is calculated iteratively over several rings of radii. In this case, it has been calculated over 38 rings of radii as follows: 1713191.000 1.600 2.200 2.800 2814201.100 1.700 2.300 2.900 3915211.200 1.800 2.400 3.000 41016221.300 1.900 2.500 3.250 51117231.400 2.000 2.600 3.500 61218241,500 2.100 2,700 3,750

Effect of Tunnel Depth on Modulus of Deformation Table 2. Results of linear elastic and stress-dependent solutions
H (m) Po (MPa) E~ . . . . (rings) (MPa) sd Ej . . . . (Elast) (MPa) le le/sd 40 1 874-1770 80 2 1027-2170 200 5 1309-2850 400 10 1601-3528

125

500 12.75 1708-3771

0.94 1770

1.56 2170

2.99 2850

4.95 3528

5.79 3771

0.71 0.75

1.15 0.74

2.20 0.74

3.62 0.73

4.23 0.73

2 5 - 4.000 31 - 7.000 37 - 25.000

2 6 - 4.250 3 2 - 8.000 38 - 30.000

2 7 - 4.500 3 3 - 10.000

2 8 - 4.750 3 4 - 12.000

2 9 - 5.000 35 - 15.000

3 0 - 6.000 3 6 - 20.000

The range of values of Ed . . . . (rings) given is for the value 1.05 and 27.5 (i.e., at the centre of the inner and outer rings). These depend on the radial stress, crr, and are given by E d = 584 (39.2crr)~ MPa. It may be seen from Table 2 that the displacement obtained using a linear elastic solution is nearly 0.75 times the displacement obtained using a stress-dependent solution for various values of the in-situ stress. This means that the introduction of a correction factor, f ' , in Eq. (1) in the following manner, will take care of the stressdependency of the modulus of deformation:

Ua/a = (1 4- v)(po --Pi)/f' "Ed

where

(8)

Ed = Modulus of deformation of rock mass at a given depth far away from the opening,

f l = A/B,
A = displacement obtained from a linear elastic solution, and B = displacement obtained from a stress-dependent solution. Therefore, f~ = 0.75. Thus, f ' 9 E d represents the stress-dependent modulus of deformation. Equation (6) may, therefore, be rewritten as, f"
or,

Ed = 0.3 H a . 10 (RMR-20)/38 GPa

E d = ( 0 . 3 / f ' ) . H a - 10 (aMR-2~ Substituting, f ' = 0.75, E d = 0.4 H a - 10 (RMR-;~

GPa

GPa.

(9)

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M. Verman eta|.
2. Discussion on Effect of Depth on Modulus of Deformation

The case-histories, considered to arrive at Eq. (6), pertain to poor to good rock mass quality (RMR -----31 to 68). It is quite likely that for rock masses having a higher RMR value than 68 (i.e., good to very good rock mass), the value of c~ is lower than 0.16, and for rock masses with a lesser RMR value than 31 (i.e., very poor to poor rock mass), the value of c~ is greater than 0.3. This argument originates from a growing evidence, mainly based on the laboratory experiments (Kulhawy, 1975; Santarelli and Brown, 1987; Brown et al., 1989; Duncan Fama and Brown, 1989), to suggest that a) the elasticity modulus increases with the confining pressure and has a relationship similar to Eq. (5), and b) this pressure dependency, reflected in the value of c~, of the modulus of elasticity is more pronounced in the weaker rock materials and is almost absent in strong, brittle rock materials. Kulhawy (1975), for instance, proposed the following expression for modulus of elasticity of rock material, E r, after examining a wide range of data: Er ----E 0 ~ , (10)

where 0.3 is the minor principal stress and E 0 is the Young's modulus measured in a uniaxial compression test (g3 = 0). The value of a varies between 0 and 1. A similar expression was obtained by Santarelli and Brown (1987) on the basis of triaxial compression tests on hollow cylinders of Carboniferous sandstone. This is given by:
Er

= 15.08

0"0'195

GPa

(11)

where ~3 is in MPa. Other investigators have also obtained similar or slightly different expressions. The increase with confining pressure of the modulus of elasticity is, therefore, a well documented phenomenon, largely based on the laboratory tests. It is interesting, therefore, to observe the occurrence of this phenomenon in the field as indicated by Eq. (9), which is based on the actual support pressure and tunnel closure measurements in tunnels. The form of Eq. (9) is such that Ee ~ 0 as H---* 0, making the correlation inapplicable to situations where the height of overburden is less than say 50 m. Such situations, however, are irrelevant in the context of the underground openings. 3. Conclusions Based on the results of the field instrumentation carried out in several Indian tunnels, an empirical correlation has been proposed for prediction of the deformation modulus of dry rock masses. The correlation indicates that: 1) The deformation modulus of the rock mass increases with increase in RMR and the tunnel depth. 2) This depth dependency of the deformation modulus is likely to be more pronounced in weaker rock masses and almost absent in strong, brittle rock masses, due to the effect of the confining pressure.

Effect of Tunnel Depth on Modulus of Deformation

I27

References
Bieniawski, Z. T. (1973): Engineering classification of jointed rock masses. Trans. S. Afr. Inst. Civ. Eng. 15(12), 335-344. Brown, E. T., Bray, J. W., Santarelli, F. J. (1989): Influence of stress-dependent elastic moduli on stress and strains around axisymmetric boreholes. Rock Mech. Rock Engng. 22, 189-203. Duncan Fama, M. E., Brown, E. T. (1989): Influence of stress dependent elastic moduli on plane strain solution for boreholes. In: Proc., Int. Symposium on Rock at Great Depth, Vol. 2, Pau, France, 819-826. Kulhawy, F. H. (1975): Stress deformation properties of rock and rock discontinuities. Engng. Geol. 9, 327-350. Mehrotra, V. K. (1992): Estimation of engineering parameters of rock mass. Ph.D. Thesis Department of Civil Engineering, University of Roorkee, India. Referee (1995): Personal communication, University of Roorkee, India. Santarelli, F. J., Brown, E. T. (1987): Performance of deep wellbores in rock with a confining pressure-dependent elastic modulus. In: Proc., 6th Congress Int. Society for Rock Mechanics, Vol. 2, Montreal, 1217-1222. Authors' address: Dr. Manoj Verman, Advanced Technology and Engineering Services, AIMIL Ltd., Naimex House, A-8, Mohan Cooperative Industrial Estate, Mathura Road, New Delhi, 110 044 India.