Prediction of water inflow into underground excavations in fractured rocks using a 3D discrete fracture network (DFN) model

© 2017, Saudi Society for Geosciences. Groundwater flow is a major issue in underground opening in fractured rocks. Because of finding the fracture connectivity, contribution of each fracture in flow, and fracture connectivity to excavation boundary, the prediction of water flow to underground exca...

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Main Authors: Karimzade, E., Sharifzadeh, Mostafa, Zarei, H., Shahriar, K., Cheraghi Seifabad, M.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Springer 2017
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/63490
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author Karimzade, E.
Sharifzadeh, Mostafa
Zarei, H.
Shahriar, K.
Cheraghi Seifabad, M.
author_facet Karimzade, E.
Sharifzadeh, Mostafa
Zarei, H.
Shahriar, K.
Cheraghi Seifabad, M.
author_sort Karimzade, E.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description © 2017, Saudi Society for Geosciences. Groundwater flow is a major issue in underground opening in fractured rocks. Because of finding the fracture connectivity, contribution of each fracture in flow, and fracture connectivity to excavation boundary, the prediction of water flow to underground excavations is difficult. Simulation of fracture characteristics and spatial distribution is necessary to obtain realistic estimation of inflow quantity to tunnel and underground excavations. In this research, a computer code for three-dimensional discrete fracture network modeling of water inflow into underground excavations was developed. In this code, the fractures are simulated as ellipsoid while geometrical properties of the fractures are reproduced using a stochastic method. Properties such as the size, orientation, and density of the fractures are modeled by their respective probability distributions, which are obtained from field measurements. According to the fracture condition, the flow paths in rock mass are determined. The flow paths are considered as channels with rectangular sections in which channel width and fracture aperture determine geometry of channel section. Inflow into excavation is predicted ignoring matrix permeability and considering the hydrogeological conditions. To verify presented model, simulation results were compared to a part of the Cheshmeh-Roozieh water transfer tunnel in Iran. The results obtained from this research are in good agreement with the field data. Thus, the average of the predicted inflow has just an approximation error equal to 17.8%, and its standard deviation is 8.6 l/s, which is equal to 21% of the observed value that demonstrates low dispersion of the predicted values.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-634902018-02-06T07:40:43Z Prediction of water inflow into underground excavations in fractured rocks using a 3D discrete fracture network (DFN) model Karimzade, E. Sharifzadeh, Mostafa Zarei, H. Shahriar, K. Cheraghi Seifabad, M. © 2017, Saudi Society for Geosciences. Groundwater flow is a major issue in underground opening in fractured rocks. Because of finding the fracture connectivity, contribution of each fracture in flow, and fracture connectivity to excavation boundary, the prediction of water flow to underground excavations is difficult. Simulation of fracture characteristics and spatial distribution is necessary to obtain realistic estimation of inflow quantity to tunnel and underground excavations. In this research, a computer code for three-dimensional discrete fracture network modeling of water inflow into underground excavations was developed. In this code, the fractures are simulated as ellipsoid while geometrical properties of the fractures are reproduced using a stochastic method. Properties such as the size, orientation, and density of the fractures are modeled by their respective probability distributions, which are obtained from field measurements. According to the fracture condition, the flow paths in rock mass are determined. The flow paths are considered as channels with rectangular sections in which channel width and fracture aperture determine geometry of channel section. Inflow into excavation is predicted ignoring matrix permeability and considering the hydrogeological conditions. To verify presented model, simulation results were compared to a part of the Cheshmeh-Roozieh water transfer tunnel in Iran. The results obtained from this research are in good agreement with the field data. Thus, the average of the predicted inflow has just an approximation error equal to 17.8%, and its standard deviation is 8.6 l/s, which is equal to 21% of the observed value that demonstrates low dispersion of the predicted values. 2017 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/63490 10.1007/s12517-017-2987-z Springer restricted
spellingShingle Karimzade, E.
Sharifzadeh, Mostafa
Zarei, H.
Shahriar, K.
Cheraghi Seifabad, M.
Prediction of water inflow into underground excavations in fractured rocks using a 3D discrete fracture network (DFN) model
title Prediction of water inflow into underground excavations in fractured rocks using a 3D discrete fracture network (DFN) model
title_full Prediction of water inflow into underground excavations in fractured rocks using a 3D discrete fracture network (DFN) model
title_fullStr Prediction of water inflow into underground excavations in fractured rocks using a 3D discrete fracture network (DFN) model
title_full_unstemmed Prediction of water inflow into underground excavations in fractured rocks using a 3D discrete fracture network (DFN) model
title_short Prediction of water inflow into underground excavations in fractured rocks using a 3D discrete fracture network (DFN) model
title_sort prediction of water inflow into underground excavations in fractured rocks using a 3d discrete fracture network (dfn) model
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/63490