INDOROCK 2014: Fifth Indian Rock Conference 12-14 November 2014

Back Analysis of Measured Displacements in Large Cavern

C. KUMAR1, A. USMANI1, A. NANDA1 & S. K. JAIN2
1
Sub Surface Projects Division, Engineers India Ltd., New Delhi, India.
2
Associate Professor, Deptt. of Civil Engg, Jaypee University of Information Technology, Solan, India
e-mail: chandan@eil.co.in

ABSTRACT: Information on rock mass deformation in large cavern excavations can be obtained by means of
combined repeated geodetic observations and modelling of expected deformations with numerical techniques.
Knowledge of the expected and the observed deformations of rock mass are important for reliable monitoring of
the influence of sequence of bench excavation on the surrounding rock mass. Back analysis of geotechnical
monitoring (displacements of controlled points) and numerical models of expected rock mass deformations
performed through FEM was carried out and the displacement plots of a monitoring array stations that consist of
extensometer installed downwards from a water curtain tunnel above the cavern is compared with the results of
numerical modelling. The paper discusses the geological & geotechnical conditions, results of FEM analysis and
displacement from geotechnical monitoring and the effect of successive bench excavation on the geo-mechanical
situation during excavation. The numerical modelling results were in reasonable agreement with measured
displacements which confirm the numerical modelling correctness and back analysis results. The paper also
discusses that the back analysis combined with numerical modelling and geodetic measurements can be used to
improve deformation models developed for large cavern excavation.
Key words: Back Analysis; Rock Cavern; Geotechnical Monitoring; FEM Analysis; Geological Condition.
1 INTRODUCTION
Back numerical analyses combined with geotechnical measurements provide for a safer and a more rational
approach to designing and execution of underground structures. Such analyses contribute to the development of
knowledge on rock mass behaviour and could help to verify or to modify requirements of the primary support
system. Displacements of rock masses induced by excavation can be measured to a larger extent using different
set of equipments. Therefore extensive studies have been conducted to develop different models of
displacement-based back analysis (Sakurai and Takeuchi, 1983; Swoboda et al., 1999; Sakurai, 2003).
The main purpose of this study is to use numerical analysis approach in order to evaluate the influence of
sequence of bench excavation on the surrounding rock mass and compare them with the displacement observed
through geotechnical monitoring. The instruments used for the displacement monitoring are multipoint grouted
borehole extensometers. Rock mass parameters selected for the design of cavern have been based on laboratory
tests and conventional rock mass classification methods.
2 PROJECT DESCRIPTION
2.1 Project outline
The rock cavern taken for the present case study is being used as a strategic crude oil storage project under
construction in west coast of India near Mangalore. The projects consist of caverns generally of U-shaped in
plan, D shape in cross section and are kept parallel to each other. Orientation (trend) of the underground cavern
is kept at N60°E. The underground facilities; figure 1, essentially consist of access tunnel, main cavern (30 m
height, 20m width and about 700m length) and water curtain tunnels running parallel to and 20m above each U
shaped cavern with a series of water curtain boreholes drilled perpendicular to it. The cavern gallery roof is
seated at about 60m below the ground surface with each leg having a separation distance of 30m between them.
The project consists of two U shaped caverns placed at an inter distance of about 100m.
Water curtain tunnel, which is excavated before the cavern excavation, also acts as a pilot tunnel exposing
the actual geology to be encountered during cavern excavation.

Fig. 1 Layout of project

INDOROCK 2014: Fifth Indian Rock Conference 12-14 November 2014

2.2 Geological & Geotechnical description

The project area comprises of banded and granitic gneisses, migmatites along with true intrusive granites
and few mafic intrusions. The banded gneisses consist of white bands of quartz-feldspar (felsic bands)
alternating with dark bands containing hornblende, biotite and minor accessory minerals (mafic bands). The
granites are porphyritic to granular with typical quartz vein system and at times with intrusive properties. The
mafic intrusive are in the form of doleritic dykes of varying thickness in the above parent rock.
Details of the structural discontinuities within the rock mass as determined from site investigation mapping
reveals three major discontinuities (sub-vertical) and one sub-horizontal as shown in table 1. The sub-vertical
discontinuities are persistent and oriented in almost north-south and east-west direction with a dip of about 80-85
degrees both sides. Major tectonic and geomorphic features are also aligned parallel to these discontinuities.
Mafic dykes are also found roughly oriented parallel to these discontinuities indicating these intrusions are both
syn-tectonic as well as post tectonic. Sub-horizontal joints are oriented east to N60°E and dipping about 5 - 15
degrees both ways. All the major discontinuities along with different types of dykes etc encountered in the
project area are shown in figure 2.

Table 1 Joint sets considered for wedge analysis

No. Joint set number Dip Direction Dip (°)
1. Joint set 1 (TD5) 250/70 85
2 Joint set 2 100 85
3 Joint set 3 (TD1) 200/20 85
4 Horizontal 150/330 15
)ori
enta
tion
)

Fig. 2 Geological model of the project

2.3 Geotechnical Parameters
Geotechnical parameters of rock mass, in-situ stresses and joint orientation etc have been derived from the
results of geotechnical investigation, surface mapping and laboratory tests performed during the site
investigation stage. The rock mass numbers i.e. Geological Strength Index, GSI, according to Hoek (1995) was
also measured from field observations of blockiness and discontinuity surface conditions. Unconfined
compressive strength values (UCS) and tensile strength are obtained from laboratory tests. Based on the above,
rock mass parameters are derived using the tool RockLab from Rocsciene Inc.
The rock mass types defined will be combined with main influence factors such as ground water conditions,
orientation of joint sets, local primary stress condition and all other relevant factor to derive relevant rock
behaviour. The rock mass has been further divided into 5 classes of very poor, poor, fair, good & very good as
per Barton’s Rock tunnelling Quality Index; Q, Barton (1974) System criteria.
Rock mass condition at the array station section which has been identified for the study may broadly be
characterized by poor to fair rock mass condition, which is moderately jointed and is intersected by few basic
intrusions and shear seam. Due to the fact that most of the geological properties could not be directly measured,
they had to be estimated by empirical and theoretical methods. For this purpose, generalized Hoek–Brown
failure criterion was utilized. Table 2 shows the mechanical characteristics of different rock types adopted from
rock mass classifications and in situ experiments.
INDOROCK 2014: Fifth Indian Rock Conference 12-14 November 2014

Table 2 Geotechnical parameter taken for the analysis

In-Situ
Bartons Rock Parameters Hoek Brown Criterion Stress
Q-value Ratio
Rock Type σci GSI mi Ei σcm Em mb s a Ko
Poor Rock 1<Q<=4 50 40 30 26250 9.1984 2330.75 2.05984 0.000456 0.511368 1
Fair Rock 4<Q<=10 80 60 30 42000 24.126 13168.5 5.03032 0.005927 0.502841 2.5
2.4 Design, Excavation and Support System
Basic design of cavern consists of essentially two parts, the one is based on Q system which is checked and
modified by Unwedge analysis (using statistical joint data) to analyze the stability of possible wedges in the
jointed rock mass & the other through finite element method to analyze the extent of rock deformation into the
tunnels and cavern due to distressing of the rock mass resulting from the excavation, Mandal, et all (2010).
Results from the wedge analyses shows that rock bolt in combination with shotcrete is essential in increasing
the factor of safety to an acceptable level. The maximum apex height of wedge formed at crown is about 4.0 m.
Therefore, minimum length of recommended rock bolt is 5.0 m i.e. at least 1 m more than the maximum wedge
apex height.
Results of the FEM analysis shows that no global failure occurs even in the case of poor and very poor rock
mass condition. The proposed rock support was found to be adequate and sufficient. Summary of recommended
rock support for the cavern are given in Table 3.
Table 3 Recommended rock support
Q-value Q>40 10<Q<40 4<Q<10 1<Q<4 Q<1
Support/Rock Type I-Very Good II-Good III-Fair IV-Poor V-Very Poor
Crown Support
Bolt length 5m 5m 5m 5m 5m
Shotcrete 50mm 50mm 75mm 100mm 150mm
Bolt spacing, m(c/c) 2.5 2.0 1.75 1.5 1.5
Sidewall Support
Bolt length 5m 5m 5m 5m 5m
Shotcrete 50mm 50mm 75mm 100mm 150mm
Bolt spacing, m(c/c) Spot Bolting 2.5 2.0 1.75 1.50

Excavation of the cavern is carried out in five stages i.e. top gallery with pilot and side slash excavation and
three benches each of about 7-8m in height.
The basic design needs to be checked, validated, updated and modified based on the actual geological,
geotechnical and hydro-geological conditions encountered during excavation, especially in areas where stability
could be critical, Nanda (2012).
2.5 Monitoring system
Stability of cavern is also being ascertained from the displacement behaviour obtained from extensive
geotechnical monitoring scheme. Monitoring array stations within the caverns are typically arranged at every
25m interval with five optical targets being placed within the top heading and two targets on either side in each
bench of excavation. In addition, some extensometers at geologically critical areas are installed in the drilled
boreholes downwards from the water curtain tunnel located above the cavern. These extensometer are a
multipoint instrument anchored at 3 points i.e. at 10m 15m and 20m measured from the top as shown in the
figure 3. These extensometers are placed into the rock mass area above the cavern crown and haunches in order
to monitor rock mass behaviour during the initial stages of cavern excavation.

Fig. 3 Geotechnical monitoring section

INDOROCK 2014: Fifth Indian Rock Conference 12-14 November 2014

3 BACK ANALYSIS
3.1 Section Description
Location of the monitoring section taken for the analysis is placed at about 25m from the end of cavern
PUA11 & PUA12 in the eastern side. The rock type is dominantly light to dark gray, fine to coarse grained
granitic gneiss with minor basic intrusion, intersected by shears; fresh to slightly weathered; strong to weak. The
rock mass is characterized by prominent two plus random to three plus random joint sets, which are rough (or
irregular) and planar to undulating with unaltered joint walls to softening clay mineral fillings. In general, the
rock mass is characterized by dry/damp to dripping ground water conditions. Based on the rating of importance
of rock mass quality parameters, the rock mass quality ranges from fair to poor. A minimum rock support of rock
support type III is recommended to achieve the required factor of safety with respect to wedge formations with
the realistic shape.
3.2 Numerical Modelling
The numerical modelling of the cavern was performed through finite element code Phase2.0 to analyze the
rock mass behaviour due to progressive excavation and rock support installation. The rock mass are assigned
properties obeying the linear-elastic perfectly plastic law where Generalized Hoek-Brown strength criterion is
considered. The rock mass is simulated by a fully deformable isotropic constitutive model. In order to use two-
dimensional numerical tools to realistically design, the methodology used for the analysis is based on the
softening behaviour of material with excavation. The three dimensional stress distributions at the face of a tunnel
can be interpreted in terms of material softening by reducing the deformation modulus of the excavated material,
John H. Curran, et all (2003). In the present study, deformation modulus was reduced up to 30%.

The excavation of the caverns is simulated by subdivision into an appropriate number of excavation steps:
a. Generation of initial stresses by gravity loading
b. Material softening stage of the material to be excavated within the tunnel
c. Excavation stage in which the excavation is simulated by deletion of excavated block from the model
d. Rock support installation as per the actual Rock Support Recommendation Sheet (RSRS) in the form of the
shotcrete and rock bolts
4 RESULTS & DISCUSSION
4.1 Monitoring Results
Figure 4 shows monitoring section of extensometer towards northern side showing displacement against the
actual chronological sequence of excavation i.e. pilot tunnel, side slash, bench excavation of each cavern. The
maximum deformation observed in extensometer is about 5mm. The monitoring data are evaluated and
compared with the given trigger values as per design. The monitoring data in vertical direction along the cavern
section are all in limits and are showing stable conditions. It could also be observed that the fluctuation in the
deformation diminishes after the first bench of excavation which substantiate that the vertical movement reduces
in the upper portion of cavern with the further advancement to subsequent benches. Therefore, the displacement
results up to bench 1 have only been taken for analysis and discussion.

Fig. 4 Displacement Plot of Extensometer (North Side)

 INDOROCK 2014: Fifth Indian Rock Conference 12-14 November 2014

4.2 Discussion
Figure 5* illustrates the comparison between displacement observed form field measurement by
extensometer and displacement obtained from numerical analysis.

The plot in figure 5(a) shows the displacement towards northern side i.e. cavern PUA11, the maximum
displacement observed from the field measurement is about 4.3mm & observed from numerical analysis is about
5.3mm. While the displacement towards southern side i.e. PUA1, figure 5(b), the maximum displacement from
the field measurement is 2.5mm & observed from numerical analysis is about 1.5mm.

It is to be noted that the rock mass towards the cavern PUA11 observed during excavation was of poor type
and the rock mass towards the PUA12 was of fair type. The results show that the prevailing rock mass condition
on both sides and their rock mass properties have the maximum impact on the difference in measured
displacement both from the field measurement as well as numerical analysis.

The figure also shows that the computed values from numerical analysis are in a reasonable agreement with
measured values on both plots.

* EN corresponds to displacement in extensometer; NA corresponds to displacement from Numerical analysis

Fig. 5(a) Comparison of Displacement Observed From Field Measurement Towards North & From Numerical Analysis

Fig. 5(b) Comparison of Displacement Observed From Field Measurement Towards South & From Numerical Analysis
INDOROCK 2014: Fifth Indian Rock Conference 12-14 November 2014

5.0 CONCLUSION
Following conclusions can be drawn from the present study to develop best practice to tackle the enormous
uncertainties involved in construction of underground large cavern.

 Back analysis is a practical engineering tool to evaluate geotechnical condition of underground structures
based on field measurements of displacements. These measured displacements behaviour obtained from the
geotechnical monitoring scheme are necessary parameter for the stability analysis of geostructures.
 Back analysis of large rock cavern used for the strategic crude oil storage project using finite element
method was carried out in the computer codes Phase 2. Initial values of input parameters required in the
models were based on results of geological and geotechnical investigations and estimated by empirical
methods.
 The qualitative trend of the displacements observed in cavern should be the same in the calculation as in
reality, as a confirmation of the validity of the calculation model and of the simplified assumed hypotheses.
 The results of numerical modelling are in good agreement with measured displacements which confirm the
numerical modelling correctness and back analysis results.
 The studies also indicated that cavern displacement is strongly dependent on the rock mass condition and
associated rock mass properties.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to express the appreciation and thanks to the management of Engineers Indian Limited
for granting their permission to publish the paper and JP University for their contribution to this research.

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