Behavior of Sedimentary Rock Tunnel against Rigid Projectile Impact

Abstract

The tunnels in present-day cities are experiencing varying degrees of loading conditions ranging from static to extreme loading. Therefore, the stability of underground tunnels needs to be analyzed and understood for safer and strengthened design. The present study was conducted to simulate the impact loading conditions due to a missile traveling at a velocity of 5 Mach for different rock tunnels. The nonlinear continuum finite element analysis has been carried out through Abaqus and Explicit. The four different types of sandstones considered in the present study include Kota, Jamrani, Singrauli, and Jhingurda sandstones. An elastoplastic Mohr-Coulomb constitutive material model has been considered to model the behavior of rock surrounding the tunnel opening. The tunnel has an opening of 7 m in diameter (d), and 50 m in height and breadth, with 50 m of longitudinal length. The deformation and stress in the rock and the damage to the concrete lining have been compared in different cases. The Concrete-Damage-Plasticity (CDP) model and the Johnson-Cook model were considered for modelling of the RC lining and steel reinforcement. It was concluded that Jhingurda sandstone has maximum deformations due to impacts caused by missiles.