Volume 1, Number 1, October 2005, pp.

29-32

[SUMMARY]

Micromechanics-based continuum model for a jointed rock mass and excavation analysis of Shiobara powerhouse
Hidenori YOSHIDA* & Hideyuki HORII**
* Member of ISRM: Dept. of Safety Systems Construction Engineering, Faulty of Engineering, Kagawa University, Takamatsu 761-0396 Japan ** Member of ISRM: Dept. of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656 Japan Received 15 August 2005

ABSTRACT Mechanical behaviors of rock mass with discontinuities are of great concern. To find solutions to engineering problems such as a design of a large-scale cavern in jointed rock mass, a well-defined mathematical model must be settled. The number of joint involved in the rock mass is, however, so enormous that it is almost impossible to treat them individually. Hence, the jointed rock mass is replaced with an equivalent continuum. The point is how to ensure the equivalence between the two problems. Micromechanics-Based Continuum (MBC) Modeling provides a constitutive equation in the equivalent continuum problem with using an average operation of strain and stress over a representative volume element (R.V.E). In this article, the joints involved in the rock mass are regarded as microstructure and the MBC approach for the jointed rock mass is resented. To examine the performance of the proposed method, the excavation of the Shiobara powerhouse constructed by the Tokyo Electric Power Co., Ltd. is analyzed and it is demonstrated how successfully the MBC approach answers the engineering problems. Keywords: Large-scale cavern, Excavation, Joints, Undulation, Micromechanics, Continuum model lot of microstructures. It is assumed that the relationship is satisfied at each point in the introduced equivalent continuum body. For the derivation of the overall constitutive relationship, the behaviors of each microscopic element are estimated, and the solution of each microscopic element is derived from averaging scheme. It should be emphasized that evolution of inelastic behaviors of microstructural elements plays dominant roles in most cases. Therefore, it is not sufficient to consider only the overall modulus, but the change in the microstructures must be treated in the derivation of constitutive equations. In this summary, the details of the MBC model are ommitted since they are exlained in the article (Yohsida and Horii(2004)). 2. MBC ANALYSIS OF SHIOBARA POWER HOUSE A reliable analysis is required to predict the complicated behaviors for a jointed rock mass during a large-scale cavern excavation. To examine the performance of the MBC model, the analysis of the Shiobara powerhouse constructed by the Tokyo Electric Power Co., Ltd. was carried out, and numerical results are compared with measurement data, which are introduced in the article (Yohsida and Horii(2004)). 2.1 Outline of the Shiobara powerhouse The Shiobara power station is located in Tochigi prefecture, about 130 km north of Tokyo, Japan, and has a large

1. MICROMECHANICS-BASED CONTINUUM MODEL The establishment of an analytical method for a rock mass with discontinuities is one of the most important issues in rock mechanics. The rock mass usually includes a great number of joints, which makes the mechanical behaviors of the rock mass complicated. The existences and behaviors of joints in the rock mass govern the mechanical behaviors of jointed rock mass. The number of joints is, however, so large that it is almost impossible to deal with each joint individually. Thus, it is necessary to replace the jointed rock mass with an equivalent continuum for the analysis reflecting the behaviors of joints. Micromechanics-Based Continuum (MBC) Modeling is suitable for the mechanical behaviors of the material governed by the existence of initial defects and microstructures or their growth and propagation. The MBC modeling is indispensable when the number of involved mircoscopic elements is enoumous, and each element can not be treated independently. In the MBC modeling, the problem with microscopic elements is replaced by an equivalent continuum problem. The behaviors of microstructures are modeled and the constitutive equation of an equivalent continuum is derived from a relationship between average stress and average strain over a representative volume element (R.V.E) containing a
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H. Yoshida and H. Horii / Intl. Journal of the JCRM vol.1 (2005) pp.29-32 set to be 2,040 GPa and 8.34 cm2, respectively. The elastic modulus and Poissons ratio of the arch concrete are set to be 204 GPa and 0.25, respectively. The PS anchors are fixed by concrete grout after each step (bench) of excavation in the construction. Nodal force is then applied at two points, at the end of the PS anchors in the cavern wall and at the internal end, and a truss element is added between these points as a PS anchor. Similar to the installation of the arch concrete and PS anchors, all input parameters follow the construction. In the computation, nodal forces corresponding to initial stresses around the power station cavern are applied to the outer boundary of the analysis area. After that, displacements on the outer boundary are fixed and elements in the excavation area are removed. At this point, nodal forces acting on the excavation boundary points before excavation are applied to those points in the opposite direction. After excavation of the whole arch part, the arch concrete is installed. The main cavern is then excavated. The excavation of the main cavern is described as bench excavation. The depth of excavation is 2.5 m per bench. In total, 14 steps are needed in the bench excavation. The PS anchors are installed on the sidewalls. This process is repeated for each bench excavation. Table 1. Mechanical properties of distributed joints. Distributed Joints Effective length Average distance Frictional angle Undulation N30E30N 0.5 m 1.0 m 50 degrees 5 degrees N40E60N 0.5 m 1.0 m 50 degrees 5 degrees N25E60S 2.0 m 0.3 m 35 degrees 5 degrees

Figure 1. Cross-section of the powerhouse.

Figure 2. Stereo plots of main joint system (Lower hemisphere). cavern for the pumped up storage power station. The cavern shown in Figure1 has a width of 28 m, a height 51 m, a length of 161 m, and an excavation volume of more than 190,000 m3. The powerhouse is located at about 200 m depth, and the three principal stresses are 5.0, 3.9 and 2.8 MPa. The elastic modulus of the rock mass is 2900 - 5100 MPa and strength parameters are c=1.02 MPa and =43 degrees. Axial compressive strength is 58.8-137.2 (ave. 83.3) MPa The rock mass surrounding the powerhouse is mainly rhyolite that contains platy and columnar joints. A joint set having strike perpendicular to the cavern axis (N40E) is considered to be less important for the deformation of side cavern walls. Joint sets having their strikes relatively parallel to the cavern axis, N30E30N, N40E60N and N25E60S shown in Figure 2, are considered to be dominant joint sets in two-dimensional analysis. The average distance between joints is reported as 0.3 - 1.0 m. The parameters of the distributed joint sets are listed in Table 2 (Yamamoto & Maejima (1990), Hayashi & Yamamoto (1991), Maejima & Ito (1991)). The support systems of the cavern consist of prestressed (PS) anchors, rock bolts, arch concrete and shotcrete. The PS anchors and the arch concrete are considered in the analysis. The elastic modulus and nominal area of the PS anchors are

Figure 3. Location of measurement facilities.

2.2 Numerical results In order to grasp the behavior of rock mass around the cavern during the excavation process, displacement at cavern wall and displacement in the rock mass are measured in the construction site. The measurement data are compared with the numerical results by the MBC approach. The measured displacements at all measurement points or lines shown in Figure 3 are compared with numerical results. In this summary, some numerical results are plotted together with measurement data due to limitations of space. The time history of relative displacement at the end of the displacement transducers (see Figure 3) near the cavern wall is plotted in Figures 4 - 7. Furthermore, the distributions of displacement along each measurement line at the completion

H. Yoshida and H. Horii / Intl. Journal of the JCRM vol.1 (2005) pp.29-32 of the entire excavation are plotted in Figures 8 - 11. The numerical results have good accordance with the measurement data. One of the distinctive features of the MBC approach is to obtain the distribution of joint shear and opening displacement at each excavation step. In the case of cavern excavation, deformation of the joints (shear sliding and opening) occurs due to stress relaxation around the cavern, with the amount of deformation increasing as excavation proceeds. The deformation of all sets of joints around the cavern is large. The time at which the joints start to deform and opening and sliding regions appears depends on a combination of joint dip and direction relative to the initial stress. Moreover, the deformation of a rock mass is strongly related to joint deformation. In this summary, the distributions of joint opening displacements are plotted in Figures 12 - 14 after 14th bench excavation (last bench excavation) for all sets of joints, N30E30N, N40E60N and N25E60S. Figures indicate that large opening displacement is distributed around the cavern where stress re-distribution due to the excavation occurs. 3. CONCLUDING REMARKS In this summary, some parts of the achievements presented in the article (Yoshida and Horii (2004) are introduced. They indicate the effectiveness of the MBC analysis to the analysis of cavern excavation. Such achievements and effectiveness are highly valued in the Japanese Committee for Rock Mechanics (JCRM), and the article (Yoshida and Horii (2004) was selected as one of the most excellent paper in 2004 of the JCRM. The authors would like to extend their deepest appreciation to the JCRM. REFERENCES
Yoshida, H. & Horii, H., 2004. Micromechanics-based continuum model for a jointed rock mass and excavation analysis of a large-scale cavern, International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Science, Vol.41, Issue 1, pp.119-145. Yamamoto, Y. & Maejima, T., 1990. The information-oriented system for design and control management of the Sabigawa pumped up storage power station, Electric Power Civil Engineering, No225, pp.39-53 (in Japanese). Hayashi, S. & Yamamoto, Y., 1991. Excavation of a large underground rock cavern - Observational construction method at the Sabigawa pumped up storage plant, Cement & Concrete, No.527, pp.21-29 (in Japanese). Maejima, T. & Ito, M., 1991. The Sabigawa pumped up storage power station - Design and management of underground power station cavern, Electric Power Civil Engineering, No.232, pp.25-35 (in Japanese). Maejima, T. & Ito, M., 1991. 150,000 m3 excavation of large-scale cavern, Tunnel & Underground, Vol.22, No.8, pp.7-15 (in Japanese).

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Figure 4. Displacement at cavern wall (BI10).

Figure 5. Displacement at cavern wall (BI11).

Figure 6. Displacement at cavern wall (BI14).

Figure 7. Displacement at cavern wall (BI15).

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H. Yoshida and H. Horii / Intl. Journal of the JCRM vol.1 (2005) pp.29-32

Figure 8. Displacement of rock mass (BI10).

Figure 12. Joint opening displacement (N30E30N).

Figure 9. Displacement of rock mass (BI11).

Figure 13. Joint opening displacement (N40E60N). Figure 10. Displacement of rock mass (BI14).

Figure 11. Displacement of rock mass (BI15).

Figure 14. Joint opening displacement (N25E60S).