Effects of overburden, rock strength and pillar width on the safety of a three-parallel-hole tunnel

Abstract

During the excavation of three-parallel-hole tunnel, the tunnel might collapse due to over-stress as a result of inadequate rock pillar width. Treating the rock overburden depth, rock strength, and rock pillar width as variables, a series of 3D numerical analysis was carried out to examine the effect of each variable on the safety of the tunnel, in particular the rock pillar. A stress strength ratio (SSR) was used to define whether the safety of the rock pillar was exceeded. A simple design chart for the case of three-parallel-hole tunnel, which took into account the influence of overburden depth, rock pillar width, and rock strength, was also proposed for used in the preliminary design stage.