The Numerical Simulation of Hard Rocks for Tunnelling Purposes at Great Depths: A Comparison between the Hybrid FDEM Method and Continuous Techniques

Figure 12

Monitoring line along the Y axis placed at the crown of the tunnel within the intact FDEM (left) and FEM (right) models for monitoring the principal stresses. The symbols (A) and (B) indicate the starting and ending point of the monitoring line, respectively. The obtained stress results are shown in Figures 11 and 13 for the major and minor principal stresses, respectively. (Left) Cohesive elements failing in tension (Mode I fractures) are coloured red, and cohesive elements failing in shear (Mode II fractures) are coloured yellow. (Right) Yielded elements in shear (×) and in tension (○) are plotted.