Issue 66

W. Frenelus et alii, Frattura ed Integrità Strutturale, 66 (2023) 56-87; DOI: 10.3221/IGF-ESIS.66.04

Towards Long-Term Monitoring of the Structural Health of Deep Rock Tunnels with Remote Sensing Techniques

Wadslin Frenelus, Hui Peng Department of Hydraulic Engineering, College of Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering, China Three Gorges University, Yichang 443002, China wadslin@ctgu.edu.cn, wadslin.frenelus@yahoo.com, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9084-2548 hpeng1976@163.com

A BSTRACT . Due to the substantial need to continuously ensure safe excavations and sustainable operation of deep engineering structures, structural health monitoring based on remote sensing techniques has become a prominent research topic in this field. Indeed, throughout their lifetime, deep tunnels are usually exposed to many complex situations which inevitably affect their structural health. Therefore, appropriate and effective monitoring systems are required to provide real-time information that can be used as a true basis for efficient and timely decision-making. Since sensors are at the heart of any monitoring system, their selection and conception for deep rock tunnels necessitates special attention. This work identifies and describes relevant structural health problems of deep rock tunnels and the applicability of sensors employed in monitoring systems, based on in-depth searches performed on pertinent research. The outcomes and challenges of monitoring are discussed as well. Results show that over time, deep rock tunnels suffer several typical structural diseases namely degradation of the excavation damaged areas, corrosion of rock bolts and cable bolts, cracks, fractures and strains in secondary lining, groundwater leaks in secondary lining, convergence deformation and damage provoked by the triggering of fires. Various types of remote sensors are deployed to monitor such diseases. For deep rock tunnels, it is suggested to adopt comprehensive monitoring systems with adaptive and robust sensors for their reliable and long-lasting performance. K EYWORDS . Deep Rock Tunnels, Structural Health Monitoring, Remote Sensors, Long-Term Monitoring, Long-Term Structural Integrity of Tunnels.

Citation: Frenelus, W., Peng, H., Towards Long-Term Monitoring of the Structural Health of Deep Rock Tunnels with Remote Sensing Techniques, Frattura ed Integrità Strutturale, 66 (2023) 56-87.

Received: 14.06.2023 Accepted: 20.07.2023 Online first: 02.08.2023 Published: 01.10.2023

Copyright: © 2023 This is an open access article under the terms of the CC-BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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