Stability analysis of an underground power cavern in a bedded rock formation

An underground power cavern situated in bedded sandstone rocks was evaluated using the finite element method. The rock formation had a set of joints vertically with an opening of less than 0.1 mm. A “bedded model” was used to analyze the stability of the cavern excavation. The calculations were then checked by an “imitative model”. The results from these two models were consistent with each other. The results from the “bedded model” were similar to the displacements from the field measurements. The paper describes details of the numerical model, presents the results of the numerical calculations and discusses possible reasons for the similarities between the field measurements and results of the computations.