fib Symposium PRAGUE 2011 Session 2B-8: Construction Technology 8:

CRACK CONTROL ONTROLLED DESIGN OF RC PRESSURE TUNNELS SSURE CONSIDERING ROCK STRUCTURE INTERACTIO RING ROCK-STRUCTURE INTERACTION

Rui Vaz Rodrigues

Abstract
The design of circular cross-section Waterways is frequently controlled by the openings of radial section cracks that form when water pressure is installed, caused by the tensile ring forces. In order to provide economical reinforcement ratios and intelligent design of such elements, the rock rock-structure interaction must be considered along with the non linear behavior of the cracked reinforced non-linear concrete tensile ring. This is done analytically is this paper and the results are summarized in ete a design chart useful for fast and practical calculation of the required reinforcement for a given crack opening, steel stresses, rock and reinforced concrete resul resultant pressures. Keywords: Pressure tunnels and shafts, R Rock-structure interaction, Crack opening. rack

Rock Structure Interaction

The pressure tunnel is considered to be surrounded by one layer of fissured rock and a remaining he part of sound rock (Fig.1), accordingly to (ASCE 1989). This is the case if the tunnel is excavated , using drill-and-blast procedures. For design purposes the zone of the fissured rock extends out one blast tunnel radius from the rock edge point ( rock) Accordingly to the same source the radial (R displacement at the rock edge point (indicated at the radius Rrock as shown at (Fig. 1)) is given by Eq. 4. Assuming that Er1 = Er2/4 = Er (ASCE, 1989), (more accurate values can be calculated after field measurements during the drilling of the tunnel) and that RrockR, as indicated in (Fig.1), (Eq.4) , can be expressed as a function of the radial deformation of the concrete tunnel (Eq.5), rel relating it to the applied pressure on the rock, at a radius of Rrock as shown in (Fig. 1).This equation is plotted in .This top part of (Fig. 2) for various values of the sound rock elastic modulus and is a characteristic of the rock mass where the tunnel is inser inserted (the Poisson ratio of the rock r is assumed 0.20 in (Fig. 2)). The reinforced concrete tunnel carries a tensile force Nring, as shown in (Fig 1b). It can be seen from (Eqs. 1 to 3) that the tunnel has to be designed to carry the remaining part of the internal pressure that is not absorbed by the rock mass ( ring). If the contribution of the concrete in tension (p between the radial cracks is neglected, then the behavior of the concrete tunnel in tension is described by (Eq.6). In this equation = As/(bh) where As is the total amount of reinforcement in tension, b=1.0 m and h the tunnel thickness. The curves are plotted in the lower part of (Fig. 2) for Es = 200 GPa, the elastic modulus of reinforcement. The use of this chart type to design pressure tunnels follows the original idea of (Lauffer and Seeber 1961) for steel liners. ls

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fib Symposium PRAGUE 2011 Session 2B-8: Construction Technology

a)
Radial cracks Fissured Rock E r1 Sound Rock E r2

b)

d 2

Nring Rrock

vr
p rock

ds
pi

pi R rock

R.C. Linner

l = R rock
R

d 2

N ring

ds = d R -prockds + p ids - d N ring 0 = N = (pi - prock )R N = pring R

(1) (2) (3)

Fig. 1 Pressure tunnel: a) Applied loads, geometry and zone of fissured rock; b) Equilibrium along the radial direction

Rrock =

p rock

p rock Rrock (1 + r ) + 0.693 p rock Rrock Er 2 E r1 Er R = 1 + r + 2.772 R

(4) (5)

p ring = E s

h R R R

(6)

Referring to (Fig. 2), it can be seen that the internal pressure (pi) is to be shared between the rock and the reinforced concrete liner by imposing equal radial deformations (see curves (a) and (b) of the design example). The radial deformation can also be calculated by pring+prock = pi, with pring and prock given by (Eqs 5 and 6). After knowing the radial deformation then the pressures pring and prock are calculated by the same equations. The contribution of concrete between the cracks for the stiffness of the tunnel should be considered, because it increases its axial stiffness, causing the tunnel to carry more load. The equation describing the tensile behavior of the tunnel considering this contribution is given by (Eq. 7). This corresponds to a translation of (Eq. 6) by cm shown in (Fig. 2).
p ring = E s
kt f ct ,eff

h R + cm R R

(7)

cm =

p ,eff

(1 +
Es

p ,eff

)
0.4

s
Es

(8) (9)

s = Es

R + cm R

It is adopted for the mean strain of concrete between cracks (Eurocode 2, 2010) in (Eq.8). The parameters are defined in EC2 (clause 7.3.4), being kt=0.4 (long term loading) or kt=0.6 (short term loading), peff = (As/2)/(hc,effb) with hc,eff = min (2.5(h-d); h/2) and e = Es/ Ec. The total amount of reinforcement in the section is As as indicated in the top part of (Fig.2).The axial force carried by reinforcement across the cracks is given by replacing (Eq.7) in (Eq.3), which gives the expression 596

fib Symposium PRAGUE 2011 Session 2B-8: Construction Technology

indicated in (Eq.9) for the reinforcement stresses. The calculated value of the steel stress should be used to verify the inequality in (Eq.8). As identified by (Schleiss 1997), limiting the crack openings is among the design criteria. In order to estimate the crack opening under the reinforcement stresses, an indirect control based on the reinforcement spacing is performed. For this purpose the values defined by (Eurocode 2, 2010), Table 7.3N are plotted in the left lower part of (Fig. 2).
b = 1.00 m h s As 2 As 2

= As
(a) (b)

b h

E s = 200 GPa r = 0.2

p
rock [kN/m ]
2

s [mm] p
ring [kN/m ]
2

(d)
w k= 0.2 mm
100

cm
(c)
w k= 0.3 mm
200

w k= 0.4 mm

(a) (Design example) -3 h r = 1.144 x 10

300

100

200

300

s [MPa]

s = 311 MPa

400

(Design example)

Fig. 2 Design chart for evaluating rock (prock) and reinforced concrete (pring) pressures, radial deformation(R/R) and stresses (s) and maximal crack widths (wk) in reinforced concrete linings of pressure tunnels under internal water pressure (pi)

Design Example

Consider the reinforced concrete pressure tunnel with external radius Rrock = 4.75 m, wall thickness h = 0.50 m and circumferential reinforcement composed of top and bottom layers of 20 mm bars spaced at 200 mm plus 16 mm bars spaced at 200 mm (As = 51.52 cm2/m with s=100 mm). The concrete type is C20/25 and the concrete cover 50 mm. The internal water pressure is pi= 1000 kN/m2. The rock elastic modulus is Er = 2.0 GPa.The solution should verify a maximal crack opening of wk = 0.3 mm.From (Fig. 2 see Design example (a)), the curves describing the behavior of the rock (E=2.0 GPa) and reinforced concrete tunnel without the contribution of 597

fib Symposium PRAGUE 2011 Session 2B-8: Construction Technology

concrete between the cracks ( = 1.03/100 and h/r = 1.14410-3 with r=4.50 m) are identified. The total water pressure to carry between the rock and reinforcement is 1000 kN/m2, therefore the radial deformation of the tunnel is R/R = 1.365 and the steel stresses s= 1.365/1000 200103= 273 MPa (see bottom part of Fig.2). The same result can be numerically obtained by from prock+pring = pi with prock and pring given by (Eqs. 5 and 6). Resultant rock and reinforced concrete pressures are prock= 687 kN/m2 and pring = 313 kN/m2. The contribution of concrete between the cracks by (Eq.8), assuming long term loading with kt = 0.4 is cm= 0.28 with peff = 28.78/(hc,eff100) = 1.72/100, with hc,eff= 15 cm (see EC2 clause 7.3.4(2). The load carrying behavior of the tunnel considering the additional stiffness is represented in (Fig.2), corresponding to a translation of cm = 0.28 of the original curve to the left as indicated. The total water pressure to carry between the rock and reinforcement is 1000 kN/m2, therefore the radial deformation of the tunnel is R/R = 1.28. The same result can be obtained from prock+pring = pi with prock and pring given by (Eqs. 5 and 7). Resultant rock and reinforced concrete pressures are prock= 644 kN/m2 and pring = 356 kN/m2 (see b) in (Fig.2). The stress in the reinforcement is given by (Eq. 9), which gives s= 311MPa. The same result can be obtained from (Fig. 2), see point c). Since the spacing of the reinforcement is s = 100 mm (see point d)), it can be seen that this solution verifies a maximal crack opening of wk = 0.30 mm. If the reinforcement solution does not verify the required crack opening, the amount of reinforcement should be increased or spacing reduced under reasonable limits.

Conclusions

In this paper, an analysis chart is developed for practical calculation of the reinforcement stresses, rock and reinforced concrete resultant pressures, and crack openings of circular reinforced concrete pressure tunnels considering rock-structure interaction. The following aspects should also be considered in the design: i) The tunnel should be designed to carry external loads (water, rock mass displacements), without water on the inside. ii) The overall stability of the rock mass and minimum rock cover should be verified. The author gratefully acknowledges the support of COBA, Consultores de Engenharia e Ambiente.

References
[1] [2] ASCE, P.:Civil Enginnering Guidelines for Planning and Designing Hidroelectrical Developments, Volume 2 - Waterways . ASCE, 1989. LAUFFER, H., SEEBER, G.:Design and Control of Linings of Pressure Tunnels and Shafts, Based on Measurements of the deformability of the Rock. Question 25, Report 91, Seventh Congress of Large Dams, Rome Italy, 1961. SCHLEISS, A.J.:Design of reinforced concrete linings of pressure tunnels and shafts. The International Journal on Hydropower & Dams, Issue Three, Volume Four, 1997. EUROCODE 2, Design of Concrete Structures. Part 1-1: General Rules and rules for buildings. EN 1992-1-1, 2010.

[3] [4]

Rui Vaz Rodrigues, PhD., C.Eng.

COBA Consultores para Obras, Barragens e Planeamento, S.A. Av. 5 de Outubro, 323 1649-011 Lisboa Portugal (+351) 210 125 000 (+351) 210 125 144 rvr@coba.pt URL www.coba.pt

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