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Microseismic Monitoring to Characterize Structure-Type Rockbursts: A Case Study of a TBM-Excavated Tunnel

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Abstract

Numerous rockbursts controlled by small-scale structural planes have occurred frequently during tunnel boring machine (TBM) excavation in a headrace tunnel. To understand the evolutionary process of structure-type rockbursts, a real-time microseismic (MS) monitoring system was deployed during the advancement of TBM. By combination with the true reflection tomography technique, a new method is proposed to estimate the P-wave velocity for in situ hypocentral locations. A typical structure-type rockburst is investigated to study the relationship between the rockburst characteristics and microseismicity. By further analyzing the temporal–spatial distribution of microseismicity and the quantitative interpretation of the MS source parameters, the potential failure zone and the precursor features are recognized during the development of this structure-type rockburst. Based on the MS monitoring results, some proactive treatment measures are put forward for the mitigation of rockburst hazards. The results of the current research can contribute to the understanding of structure-type rockbursts and provide valuable references for rockburst forewarning and construction management in similar tunneling projects.

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Abbreviations

σ m :

Maximum principal stress

k :

Number of monitoring cross-sections

tk+1,p, tk,p :

Arrival time of P-wave at (k + 1)-th and k-th monitoring cross-section

Δt :

Arrival time differences of P-wave between monitoring cross-sections

ΔL :

Distance between the (k + 1)-th and k-th monitoring cross-sections

v p :

Velocity of P-wave

D :

Relative magnitude of P-wave velocity

v max :

Maximum relative P-wave velocity

v min :

Maximum relative P-wave velocity

v e :

Equivalent velocity of P-wave

L :

Distance from MS source to sensors

t :

Propagation time from MS source to sensors

L i :

Length of the i-th section

v pi :

P-wave velocity at the i-th section

E :

Seismic energy

E p :

Seismic energy of P-wave

E s :

Seismic energy of S-wave

M :

Seismic moment

ρ :

Rock mass density

v :

Velocity of body wave (P-wave or S-wave)

R :

Hypocentral distance from MS source to sensors

J c :

Energy flux

F c :

Average radiation coefficient

Ω oc :

Spectral level of P-wave or the vector sum of the components of S-wave

σ A :

Apparent stress

V A :

Apparent volume

K :

Stiffness of rock mass

EI:

Energy index

M 0 :

Measured seismic moment

\(\bar{E}\)(M0):

Mean radiated energy

d, c :

Fitting constants

CGIHE:

Code for geologic investigation of hydropower engineering

DAC:

Digital-to-analogue converter

DB:

Drill-and-blast

ESG:

Engineering seismology group

FFT:

Fast Fourier transform

HNAS:

Hyperion network acquisition system

MS:

Microseismic monitoring

STA/LTA:

Short time average vs. long time average

TBM:

Tunnel boring machine

TRT:

True reflection tomography

UCS:

Uniaxial compressive strength

WT:

Wavelet transform

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Acknowledgements

The support provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51978541, 41941018, 51839009) is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Safety for Geotechnical and Structural Engineering of Hubei Province, School of Civil Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China

    Quan-Sheng Liu, Jian Wu & Xiao-Ping Zhang

  2. Key Laboratory of Rock Mechanics in Hydraulic Structural Engineering of the Ministry of Education, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China

    Quan-Sheng Liu, Jian Wu & Xiao-Ping Zhang

  3. School of Mining Engineering, University of Science and Technology Liaoning, Anshan, 114051, China

    Lie-Xian Tang

  4. Sinohydro Bureau 3 Co., Ltd., Xi’an, 710000, China

    Chen Bi, Wei-Wei Li & Jin-Lin Xu

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  1. Quan-Sheng Liu
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  2. Jian Wu
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Correspondence to Xiao-Ping Zhang.

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Liu, QS., Wu, J., Zhang, XP. et al. Microseismic Monitoring to Characterize Structure-Type Rockbursts: A Case Study of a TBM-Excavated Tunnel. Rock Mech Rock Eng 53, 2995–3013 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-020-02111-5

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