TO MAKE A TUNNEL. ULTRASONICS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

A brief description is given of work being carried out by The Transport and Road Research Laboratory on the effect of discontinuities within a rock mass on the propagation of ultrasonic waves. It was found that for a tunnel face in an area of discontinuous rock the relation between the pulse transit time and the frequency of open discontinuities will be of a statistical form related to the number, size, shape and disposition of the discontinuities relative to the transducers. The relations between pulse velocity and normal stress were found for discontinuous chalk and sandstorn samples obtained from tunnel sites at Chinnor, Oxfordshire and Warrington, Cheshire. From the results it appears unlikely that ultrasonic techniques will be used for large scale rock evaluation purposes in Britain in the near future but that for site investigation or probing ahead measurements on a small scale, e.g. Borehole or tunnel sidewall scans, it is possible that ultrasonic techniques could have a useful role to play. /TRRL/

• Corporate Authors:

  IPC Science and Technology Press Limited

  IPC House, 32 High Street
  Guildford, Surrey  England 
• Publication Date: 1976-11

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Photos;
• Pagination: p. 243-244
• Serial:
  • Ultrasonics
  • Volume: 14
  • Issue Number: 6
  • Publisher: Butterworth Scientific Limited

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Chalks; Discrete systems; Mass; Measurement; Rocks; Sandstones; Test procedures; Transducers; Tunnels; Ultrasonics
• Uncontrolled Terms: Discontinuity; Discontinuous; Rock mass; Site investigation
• ITRD Terms: 4120: Chalk; 9015: Discontinuous; 6136: Measurement; 4154: Rock; 4104: Sandstone; 5722: Site investigation; 6288: Test method; 6140: Transducer; 6739: Ultrasonic
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Construction; Geotechnology; Highways; I41: General Soil Surveys; I43: Rock Mechanics; I54: Construction of Tunnels;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00149097
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL)
• Report/Paper Numbers: Analytic
• Files: ITRD, TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 2 1977 12:00AM