Cylindrical models of heat flow and thermo-elastic stresses in underground tunnels

Abstract

Purpose

The trapped geothermal heat in the infinite rock mass through which mine tunnels are excavated is a great threat to the safety of personnel and mine operating equipment in deep underground hot mines. In order to lessen the temperature inside the tunnel a considerable amount of energy is being spent by the way of using ventilation and cooling systems to dissipate the heat. However, operational costs of the system rise quite considerably, especially as the mines get deeper. Shotcrete is used both as a structural lining and as an effective insulation to reduce the heat load on the ventilation and cooling system within such tunnels. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

In order to analyse this problem of heat flow and thermal stresses and their time dependent pattern, several cylindrical models, in both analytical and numerical forms, are discussed and compared in this paper.

Findings

This study shows the validation of ABAQUS® software to predict the time dependent temperature and the thermal stresses in mine tunnels through the comparisons with the available analytical models. Further, thermal insulation effects of shotcrete are also evaluated with these theoretical models and it is found that all the models gave results in close agreements with one another.

Originality/value

Therefore, this study provides the theoretical proof for advantages in applying shotcrete as the thermal insulation layer in underground mines.

Citation

Liu, W.V., Apel, D.B. and Bindiganavile, V.S. (2016), "Cylindrical models of heat flow and thermo-elastic stresses in underground tunnels", International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, Vol. 26 No. 7, pp. 2139-2159. https://doi.org/10.1108/HFF-10-2014-0331