Impact of Shear Zone on Rockburst in the Deep Neelum-Jehlum Hydropower Tunnel: A Numerical Modeling Approach

Rockburst is a hazardous phenomenon in deep tunnels influenced by geological structural planes like faults, joints, and shear planes. Small-scale shear-plane-like structures have damaging impact on the boundaries of the tunnel, which act as barrier and accumulate high stresses. A shear plane combined with high stress conditions is very dangerous in deep excavations. Such a shear plane exposed in the side wall of the right headrace tunnel in the Neelum-Jehlum Hydropower Project. This project is constructed in the tectonically active Himalayas under high stress conditions. The influence of a shear zone on rockburst occurrence near the tunnel is studied. The FLAC(3D) explicit code simulated the shear zone in the right tunnel, revealing that the stresses are concentrated near the shear zone, while no such stress concentration is present in the left tunnel. The Rock mass got displaced near this shear zone. Modeling results confirm that the presence of shear zone in side wall of the right tunnel has a major influence on rockburst occurrence. A shear slip along this plane released huge amounts of accumulated energy, causing human fatalities and property damage. A comparison of numerical simulation with empirical rockburst criteria validates the actual conditions and help us to understand the phenomenon of stress concentration near the shear zone and its impact during deep tunneling.