Notches formed by shear failures in tunnels (cherry pit mechanism) - advances in the progress of failure / Scherbruchkörper in der Leibung von Tunneln - neue Erkenntnisse zum Versagensablauf

Rabcewicz was the first to describe the shear failure of cavities in rock ("Cherry pit mechanism"), which he observed in detail not only in tunnelling but also in mining and described into very advanced phases. He also developed an analytical model for this mechanism according to the limit equilibrium hypothesis, which permitted the estimation of the required support resistance. On the basis of model tests, Feder developed an extensive set of formulae for the process of failure. Using the finite difference code FLAC2D and the discrete element code PFC2D, the model presented by Rabcewicz and Feder has been developed further. It will be demonstrated that the process of failure can be split into two phases. In the late failure phase (large deformations), the mechanism observed in the mathematical model differs from the descriptions of Rabcewicz and Feder. While the break surfaces according to Rabcewicz and Feder form exclusively in the area near the cavity, break surfaces form in the mathematical model starting from the interstice of the side wall and extending far into the rock mass, and lead to the formation of trapezoidal regions in the crown and in the invert, which are pressed against each other.