Integration of three dimensional discontinuous deformation analysis (DDA) with binocular photogrammetry for stability analysis of tunnels in blocky rockmass

• An integrated system coupling 3D photogrammetry and DDA.
• 3D binocular images reconstruction for obtaining the data of rock surfaces and joints.
• 3D discontinuous models built with Boolean operations.
• Application study of the integrated system on a highway tunnel.

This paper demonstrates and evaluates an integrated system coupling 3-dimensional binocular photogrammetry and discontinuous deformation analysis (DDA) for stability analysis of tunnels in blocky rockmass. 3D DDA is an effective numerical method for discontinuous and large displacement problems. In stability analysis of rockmass, especially for tunnels, one of the primary bottlenecks in 3D DDA is generating discontinuous models. For tunnel constructions requiring small interval time for blasting, traditional geotechnical data collection approaches such as hand-mapping and geologic compass are always lacking in efficiency and accuracy. 3D photogrammetry is an economical and efficient method for collecting geometric features and surface data. An integrated system connecting geometrical data acquisition and discontinuous numerical analysis automatically, is valid for improving safety in tunnel construction. This system includes photogrammetry module, modeling module and analysis module. In the photogrammetry module, binocular photogrammetry devices and image reconstruction technique are implemented for geometric data of rockmass. Then location, dip direction and dip angle of joints as well as other geometric information of tunnels are input into the modeling module to generate 3-dimensional discontinuous models. The analysis module using 3-dimensional DDA to evaluate the stability of the surrounding rock in tunnels. The integrated system is implemented in an engineering instance, Suocaopo Tunnel in Guizhou, China.