Shear testing on rock tunnel models under constant normal stress conditions

Large shear deformation problems are frequently encountered in geotechnical engineering. To expose the shear failure mechanism of rock tunnels, compression-shear tests for rock models with circular tunnel were carried out, including single tunnel and adjacent double tunnels. The failure process is recorded by the external video and miniature cameras around the tunnel, accompanied by real-time acoustic emission monitoring. The experiments indicate that the shearing processes of rock tunnel can be divided into four steps: (i) cracks appeared around tunnels, (ii) shear cracks and spalling ejection developed, (iii) floor warping occurred, and (iv) shear cracks ran through the tunnel model. Besides, the roughness of the sheared fracture surface decreased with the increase in normal stress. Corresponding numerical simulation indicates that there are tensile stress concentrations and compressive stress concentrations around the tunnel during the shearing process, while the compressive stress concentration areas are under high risk of failure and the existence of adjacent tunnels will increase the degree of stress concentration. (C) 2022 Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).