Probability-based structural design of lined rock caverns to resist high internal gas pressure

Abstract This paper describes a probability-based structural design approach to underground, lined rock caverns for the bulk storage of pressurized gas, such as compressed air, compressed natural gas, or compressed gaseous hydrogen. Our design approach is based on a combination of a point estimate method and a deterministic numerical analysis code. In the present study, we demonstrate the validity of this numerical approach in the design of underground structures by comparing it with a theoretical solution for a lined-tunnel problem. Our design approach is then applied to the preliminary structural design of a lined rock cavern for storing compressed natural gas at a high pressure of 15 MPa, where structural support for ensuring gas-tightness and the cavern's mechanical stability is supplied by both steel and concrete liners. In this application, a probability-based design chart for determining the strength and thickness of the steel liner is presented, and the structural performance of the concrete liner is evaluated in a probabilistic manner.

[1]  Pierpaolo Oreste,et al.  A probabilistic design approach for tunnel supports , 2005 .

[2]  Jérémy Rohmer,et al.  Managing expert-information uncertainties for assessing collapse susceptibility of abandoned underground structures , 2011 .

[3]  Bak Kong Low,et al.  Reliability analysis of circular tunnel under hydrostatic stress field , 2010 .

[4]  H. Hong.  An efficient point estimate method for probabilistic analysis , 1998 .

[5]  E. Rosenblueth.  Point estimates for probability moments. , 1975, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[6]  Dong-Woo Ryu,et al.  Application of a point estimate method to the probabilistic limit-state design of underground structures , 2012 .

[7]  Enrique Alarcón,et al.  A level II reliability approach to tunnel support design , 1995 .

[8]  Andrzej S. Nowak,et al.  Integration formulas to evaluate functions of random variables , 1988 .

[9]  Daniel M. Tartakovsky,et al.  Probabilistic analysis of groundwater-related risks at subsurface excavation sites , 2012 .

[10]  Peter Gergely,et al.  Maximum Crack Width in Reinforced Concrete Flexural Members , 1968 .

[11]  M. Harr.  Probabilistic estimates for multivariate analyses , 1989 .

[12]  Hongwei Huang,et al.  Probability of serviceability failure in a braced excavation in a spatially random field: Fuzzy finite element approach , 2011 .

[13]  M. Rosenblatt.  Remarks on a Multivariate Transformation , 1952 .

[14]  A. Razaqpur,et al.  Blast loading response of reinforced concrete panels reinforced with externally bonded GFRP laminates , 2007 .

[15]  Rafael Jimenez,et al.  A linear classifier for probabilistic prediction of squeezing conditions in Himalayan tunnels , 2011 .

[16]  H. Einstein,et al.  SIMPLIFIED ANALYSIS FOR TUNNEL SUPPORTS , 1979 .

[17]  Niels C. Lind,et al.  Modelling of uncertainty in discrete dynamical systems , 1983 .