FINITE ELEMENT STUDY OF BLAST-INDUCED VIBRATION FROM CONSTRUCTION OF TUNNELS WITH PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON ITS EFFECT TO NEARBY SLOPES

A. K. L. Kwong1 and J. Y. C. Lo2

1

Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong (e-mail of corresponding author: kwongakl@hkucc.hku.hk)
2

Maunsell Consultants Asia Ltd.

Abstract
In Hong Kong, the vibration effect of blasting from construction of rock tunnels is often limited to a defined peak particle velocity (PPV) value for each sensitive receiver affected by the blasting. Slope is considered as a sensitive receiver in Hong Kong whereby the PPV limits will continue to be the default-controlling factor over explosive charge weight and thus rates of tunnel advancement. The blast-induced vibration limits generally used in Hong Kong or issued by facility owners are prescriptive only. The adopted empirical attenuation equation was based on surface blast vibration monitoring data collected territory wide by the Mines and Quarries Division of the Hong Kong Government. It is unduly overly conservative in many cases as observed in the industry. The Department of Civil Engineering of The University of Hong Kong has collected and analyzed the blasting data from the construction of the Eagles Nest Tunnel, which is 2.1 km long connecting traffic between Sha Tin and the Kowloon area. The tunnel has an arch-shaped profile with a finished internal diameter of 15 m in span and 10 m in height. Assessment has been made on the vibration effects to nearby slope stability with the use of an advance finite element program that considers the dynamic properties of the soil material and the propagation of dynamic waves. Attenuation constants derived from the blasts in certain sections of the tunnel are reviewed, using square root scaling, along with the statistical goodness of fit tests, to determine the reliability of empirical predictor equations. From the basis of the field data and numerical simulation, it is found that vibration data from blasting must be scrutinized to take into account the geology, and the free surfaces between the source and the receivers. The attenuation law changes rapidly when data is recorded close to the source and therefore monitoring of vibration close to the blasting source is needed to better define the attenuation constants. With proper calibration of field data, a very good match can be found between the measured attenuation constant and that generated by the finite element program. Using the dynamic stresses generated by blasting at each stage of tunnel advances; finite element analysis on slope stability has been carried out using the stability factor approach. The reduction of factor of safety for slope due to tunnel blasting is small when compared to the analysis assumed in simple closed form solution that is based on greatly simplified boundary condition and elastic theory. There is a great potential to relax the vibration limits currently adopted for slope in Hong Kong, thus improving the efficiency of blasting and shortening the construction time. Keywords: Blasting induced vibration, slope stability, attenuation law, finite element analysis, rock tunnel, peak particle velocity, vibration limit.

1. Introduction 1.1. Empirical Attenuation Equation In Hong Kong, the vibration effect of blasting from construction of rock tunnels is often limited to a defined peak particle velocity (PPV) value for each sensitive receiver affected by the blasting. Slope is considered as a sensitive receiver in Hong Kong whereby the PPV limits will continue to be the default-controlling factor over explosive charge weight and thus rates of tunnel advancement. The blast-induced vibration limits generally used in Hong Kong or issued by facility owners are prescriptive only. Many empirical attenuation equations are available to estimate the PPV of ground vibration caused by blasts (Hendron [1], Wiss [2], Dowding [3,4]). However, these formulae were obtained at various sites under different blasts and geological conditions, resulting in estimates that differ by more than 100 times at the same scaled distance (Dowding [3]). In early days, Li and Ng [5] studied the effects of

blasting on many sites in Hong Kong and arrived an empirical attenuation equation that was subsequently adopted by the Mines and Quarries Division of the Hong Kong Government. The empirical Eq. (1) is now generally adopted by the industry for all projects involving blasting works.
D PPV = K 0.5 W
b

= response acceleration of the soil mass F = frequency of blast induced vibrations (Hz) K a = magnification factor
g

= 9.81 m/s2

(1)

where PPV = instantaneous resultant of three orthogonal measurements of PPV (mm/s) K , b = site-specific parameters (equal to 644 and 1.22 respectively at 84% confidence level) D = distance between the blast and the receiver W = charge weight of explosives per delay It is generally considered that this equation needs to be reviewed to examine its appropriateness for underground blasting works for different geology, given the nature of wave propagation through body waves and surface waves may not be the same and attenuation may be different in different geological mass dynamic properties. 1.2. Pseudo-static Approach in Soil Stability Subject to Blast-induced Vibration The effect of blasting in the vicinity of existing slopes is generally assessed in accordance with the methods outlined in Wong and Pang [6]. This methodology calls for the stability of the slopes to be assessed in the static state, prior to the evaluation of the allowable level of vibration. The governing equation from Wong and Pang [6] used for determining PPV for a soil slope is.
PPVc =

However, there has been no improvement in blasting assessment methods for slopes since Wong and Pang [6] was published in 1991. There is no data to support whether the methods described by Wong and Pang [6] is appropriate in routine engineering practice. This is because many implicit assumptions such as mode shape; simple harmonic ground motion; movement inphase with acceleration; response spectrum, that have been greatly simplified in the equation, have never been verified in the field. 2. Field Blast Monitoring at Eagles Next Tunnel The Department of Civil Engineering of The University of Hong Kong has collected and analyzed the blasting data from the construction of the Eagles Nest Tunnel, which comprises two 3-lane road tunnels (North Bound and South Bound), 2.1 km long connecting traffic between Sha Tin and the Kowloon area. The tunnel has an arch-shaped profile with a finished internal diameter of 15 m in span and 10 m in height. The sensitive receivers in the vicinity of the tunnelling works include existing registered features, natural terrain and underground structures. Fig. 1 shows the general location of the tunnels alignment.

g 2Fk a

(2)

where PPVc = maximum allowable peak particle velocity (mm/s)

Fig. 1. Location of Eagles Nest Tunnel.

2.1. Simplified Geological Setting Based on the available data, the principal rock type along the tunnel route is mainly coarsegrained granite, with several intrusions of quartz monzonite. Fill. From the geology interpreted in the area, it is likely that the fill material at the site is composed of completely and highly decomposed monzonite (silty sand with some fine to coarse gravel of weak rock fragments). Colluvium. The colluvium encountered at the site can be described as soft to firm clayey slit (silty clay with a little to some fine subrounded quartz gravel). Completely Decomposed Rock. The completely decomposed rock along the alignment is primarily granite and can be described as sandy clayey silt with some to much fine to medium quartz gravel. Moderately Decomposed Rock. Moderately decomposed rock or better, is generally encountered along the route at tunnel level. This rock is moderately strong to strong coarsegrained granite, with close to medium spaced, rough planar, occasionally slickensided, extremely narrow joints. A simplified geological cross section showing the tunnel depth at the South Portal, where most of the near-source vibrographs were placed, is shown in Fig. 2. 2.2. Locations of Near-source Vibrographs Because of the very low vibration limits set by facility owners and also that significant contractual arrangements are required before any site-specific attenuation equations can be

approved for construction use, the recorded PPVs are generally low, in the order of 10 to 20 mm at a distance far away from the blasting source. In order to obtain a full spectrum of vibration levels, vibrographs from The University of Hong Kong were strategically placed at locations above the blasting face of the tunnels, targeting to obtain the higher PPV values. Fig. 3 shows the plan and elevation of the near-source vibrographs, the closest one being only 5 m directly above the tunnel crown at the South Portal.

Fig. 2. Longitudinal Geological Profile at South Portal.

Fig. 3. Locations of Vibrograph (Plan and Section) at South Portal.

Fig. 4 shows the relative positions of the berm and the tunnel crown for the North Bound and South Bound Tunnels.

Fig. 5. Plot of PPV vs Scaled Distance for North Bound Tunnel (Vibrographs in Rock).

A detailed examination of the tunnel heading directions relative to the receiver and the source is carried out as shown in Fig. 6.
Fig. 4. Location of Vibrograph at the Slope Berm.

3. Scrutinizing Data for Numerical Model Calibration The recorded PPV from Eq. (1) is normally plotted against the scaled distance D in order
W 0.5

to obtain the site-specific parameters K and b, without giving further considerations to the directions of tunnel heading, the geology between the receiver and the source, and any free face between the receiver and the source (boundary conditions effects). If this normal practice is to follow, it can be seen from Fig. 5 that the coefficient of correlation for the North Bound Tunnel, where the vibrographs are placed in the rock material (see Vibrograph No. VE003 location in Figs. 2 and 3), is only 0.65.
Fig. 6. Plot of Tunnel Chainage vs Distance between Tunnel Face and Receiver.

It can be seen from Fig. 6 that the North Bound Tunnel face passes underneath Vibrograph No. VE003 (in rock) at a close distance of 10.5 m at Chainage 1155 m, therefore driving away from the receiver. The method of installation and recording were identical during all the tunnel chainages. If the recorded data where the tunnel face had passed the receiver were removed, it could be seen that the coefficient of correlation had improved

significantly to 0.89, as shown in Fig. 7.

4.1. Numerical Modeling Procedure The use of finite element models has the advantages of applying loading into the study domain with an actual non-periodic time history motion so that multiple degrees of freedom and their corresponding velocities at various locations can be generated and compared with the field measurements. GeoStudio 2004 [7] is used in this study and the computation involves two parts. The first part involves the use of Quake/W to compute the static plus dynamic ground stresses at specified intervals during the blasting at some specific nodes. The second part involves the use of Slope/W. Based on the stresses calculated from Quake/W, Slope/W uses these stresses to analyze the stability conditions of a slope by estimating its resulting permanent deformation. The approach is similar to that of Newmark where it is assumed that the factor of safety falls momentarily below 1.0 when the sliding mass experiences some permanent movement. For each trial slip surface, Slope/W determines the total mobilized shear arising from the dynamic inertial forces. This dynamically driven mobilized shear is divided by the total slide mass to obtain an average acceleration. An average acceleration for the entire sliding mass that makes the factor of safety equal to 1.0 is known as the yield acceleration. A procedure is then applied by integrating along the average acceleration versus time record to find the velocity during the times that the acceleration is greater than or equal to the yield acceleration. When the average acceleration is greater than the yield acceleration, the sliding mass will move. With this procedure, the factor of safety of critical slip surface can be calculated as a function of time. In this study, the above procedures are repeated for some of the nodes along the tunnel alignment to simulate the advance of the tunnel blasting. Review nodes are placed at strategic locations such as the toe and crest of the slope to record the velocity time-history of the nodes. The generated velocities as a function of scaled

Fig. 7. Plot of PPV vs Scaled Distance for North Bound Tunnel before the Tunnel Face Passed the Receiver.

This observation can be explained quite easily if one examines the creation of the free faces as the tunnel face approaches and departs away from the receiver, as shown in Fig. 8.

Fig. 8. Creation of a Free Face after the Tunnel passed the Receiver.

The creation of this free face has greatly disturbed the perturbation of energy transmitted between the source and the receiver, thus affecting the recorded PPV. Very similar observations can be found in other receivers and in the South Bound Tunnel and will be reported elsewhere. 4. Finite Element Modeling of Slope Stability subject to Blasting All the recorded PPVs were scrutinized in similar manner as described above. The purpose of this data reduction is to obtain good quality data for comparisons with the PPVs generated from finite element models.

distance in the model is then plotted and compared with those measured in the field. A schematic illustration of the blasting model is presented in Fig. 9. Due to a lack of site-specific dynamic properties for this study, the following properties in Table 1 have been adopted from Borden et. al. [8] and GCO [9] for similar residual soil behavior. A linear elastic model is adequate for this study because the vibration level generated in the field is very small and there were no signs of distress observed at the portal slope.

numerical model would hardly satisfy the boundary conditions and attenuation of wave through complex geological settings, not to mention the fact that the dynamic properties obtained from laboratory conditions would not resemble truly to that under free-field conditions. Rather, by carrying out sensitivity analyses of all these variables, one can understand which are the dominant parameters and how they would affect the results. For each of the blast simulation, the nodes covering an area of 2.5 m by 2.0 m (representing a real head and bench operation) was given a time-history curve 10 times higher than that obtained from the closest receiver to represent the time-history of the blasting source. The charge weight per delay was chosen as 1.0, based on the average value of all the blast. 5. Numerical Observations Based on the parameters from Table 1, a very good comparison between the measured and the simulated PPV against scaled distance (for PPV values less than 20 mm/s) is shown in Fig. 10. The site-specific parameters (K= 289 and b=1.15 at 50% confidence level) compares fairly close to that from Li and Ng [5] (K= 310 and b=1.22).

Fig. 9. Numerical Blasting Model.

Table 1. Dynamic Properties adopted in Finite Element Model. Model Poissons Ratio Youngs Modulus Damping Ratio Unit Weight Cohesion Friction Angle CDG Linear Elastic 0.33 20000 kPa 2.5% 19 kN/m3 6 kPa 38 Rock Linear Elastic 0.33 20000000 kPa 0.05% 25 kN/m3 Fig. 10. Plot of PPV vs Scaled Distance for Low PPV values.

If close-range PPVs are also plotted, the coefficient of correlation is improved and the K value increased as shown in Fig. 11.

The emphasis of this numerical modeling is not to reproduce the measured PPV at the receivers to great accuracy because a 2D

Wong and Pang [6].

Fig. 11. Plot of PPV vs Scaled Distance for All Data.

It is noted earlier that most of the data collected in Hong Kong have very low PPV values because of contractual constrains and as a result, the interpolated K value would be low when the data set contains low PPV values. The findings from this study indicate that in order to a full understanding of wave attenuation, more comprehensive set of data covering close-range measurements should be carried out in all projects. After the simulated PPVs are compared favorably with that measured, the same set of parameters (Table 1) are used to calculate the stability factor following the Newmark approach described earlier, and the results are shown in Fig. 12. It is noted that despite a relatively higher K value is obtained from the attenuation curve, its corresponding effect to slope stability is very small as it can be shown that the drop in stability factor under blasting is less than 2% in this specific case. The very small effect of blasting to slope stability can be explained by examining the displacement vectors in Fig. 13, which shows that under dynamic condition, soil mass is a compliant system whereby different points within the system move differently and out-ofphase from each other. Some displacement vectors move away from the slope but some move into the slope, balancing out the net outward movement. This observation is more realistic than the harmonic motion assumed in

Fig. 12. Plot of Stability Factor against Time at Critical Slip Surface.

Fig. 13. Plot of Displacement Vectors.

6. Summary and Conclusions Assessment has been made on the vibration effects to nearby slope stability with the use of an advance finite element program that considers the dynamic properties of the soil material and the propagation of dynamic waves. Attenuation constants derived from the blasts in certain sections of the tunnel are reviewed, using square

root scaling, along with the statistical goodness of fit tests, to determine the reliability of empirical predictor equations. From the basis of the field data and numerical simulation, it is found that vibration data from blasting must be scrutinized to take into account the geology, and the free surfaces between the source and the receivers. The attenuation law changes rapidly when data is recorded close to the source and therefore monitoring of vibration close to the blasting source is needed to better define the attenuation constants. With proper calibration of field data, a very good match can be found between the measured attenuation constant and that generated by the finite element program. Using the dynamic stresses generated by blasting at each stage of tunnel advances; finite element analysis on slope stability has been carried out using the stability factor approach. The reduction of factor of safety for slope due to tunnel blasting is small when compared to the analysis assumed in simple closed form solution that is based on greatly simplified boundary condition and elastic theory. Soil is a compliant system where different points within the system move differently and out-of-phase from each other. There is a great potential to relax the vibration limits currently adopted for slope in Hong Kong, thus improving the efficiency of blasting and shortening the construction time. Acknowledgments The authors gratefully acknowledge Highways Department of the Hong Kong SAR Government for permission to publish the collected data. References 1. Hendron, A. J. 1977. Engineering of rock blasting on civil projects. In Structural and geotechnical mechanics (ed. W. J. Hall), pp. 242277. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. 2. Wiss, J. F. 1981. Construction vibrations: state of the art. J. Geotech. Engng, ASCE 107, No. 2, 167181.

3. Dowding, C. H. 1985. Blast vibration monitoring and control. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. 4. Dowding, C. H. 1996. Construction vibrations. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall 5. Li, U. and Ng, S. 1992. Prediction of blast vibration and current practice of measurement in Hong Kong. Asia Pacific quarrying the rim: Proceedings of the Conference Asia Pacific Quarrying the Rim, held in Hong Kong between 7 and 10 April 1992. Hong Kong: Institute of Quarrying (Hong Kong branch). 6. Wong, H. N. and Pang, P. L. R. 1995. GEO Report No. 15. Assessment of stability of slopes subjected to blasting vibration. Geotechnical Engineering Office, 119 p. 7. GeoStudio 2004. Ltd. Geo-Slope International

8. Borden, R. H., Shao, L. and Gupta, A. 1996. Dynamic properties of piedmont residual soils. Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, ASCE, vol. 122, no. 10, pp. 813-821. 9. GCO. 1982. Guide to Retaining Wall Design (Geoguide 1). Geotechnical Control Office, Hong Kong, 153 p.