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Tunnel Design Using Continuum and Discontinuum Approaches and the Effect of Joint Orientation on the Design
Massoud Palassi Department of Civil Engineering, University of Tehran, Iran and Pooyan Asadollahi Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering,
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In this paper, using continuum and discontinuum approaches, numerical analyses are conducted for the design of Gavoshan tunnel and the results are compared with each other. Also, in order to investigate the effect of joint orientation on the tunnel design using different approaches, joints with various orientations are analyzed using continuum and discontinuum methods.
This research shows that using continuum equivalent media for simulating the behavior of jointed rock mass may result in unsafe predictions and the use of discontinuum solutions are recommended for the proper design of tunnels in the jointed rock.
Keywords: tunnel, jointed rock, numerical simulation, distinct element method
