Back analysis of rock mass properties in the regional fault zone under Lake Mälaren

Abstract: The properties of the surrounding rock mass in underground projects have significant impacts on the design and construction. However, it is quite challenging to evaluate rock mass properties due to the great uncertainties of the geological conditions. Besides, even if techniques of field test have obtained a well development, the high expense of tests and scattering results always make it difficult to cover a large domain in a complex project. In recent years, because of the maturity of numerical analysis as well as the wide use of tunnel deformation measurements, displacement-based back analysis has become a popular and effective indirect method to estimate rock mass properties.The main purpose of this thesis was to perform a displacement-based back analysis on the in-situ stress ratio and Young’s modulus of the exploratory tunnel BP201, which constitutes the passage under the Lake Mälaren in the Stockholm Bypass project. The back analysis was carried out using the Pattern search method and the Simplex method. The error function was built according to the least square method, and the commercial finite element software Plaxis 2D was used to calculate theoretical deformations. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis was performed to study the influence of starting point and how other numerical model parameters affects the results of the back analysis.The two optimization algorithms used in this study provided an in-situ stress ratio and Young’s modulus with close estimations to the measured deformations. For the specific problem analysed in this thesis, it was found that the Simplex method was more suitable than the Pattern search method. It was also concluded that a better choice of starting point can improve the precision and efficiency of the back analysis.