Determination method and engineering application of reasonable installation timing of the initial ground support

The surrounding rock support is a key issue in tunnel construction. The reasonable supporting time can not only ensure the safety of tunnel construction but also achieve the purpose of saving support costs. Currently, the support time determination mainly depends on on-site monitoring information and engineering experience, and there is still a lack of effective quantitative design methods. To overcome this deficiency, systematic research was conducted based on the case project of the Yudushan tunnel in the Yan-Chong expressway. The failure approach index was introduced in the tunnel support design, and the criterion of critical surrounding rock supporting time was defined. Based on the finite difference numerical calculation program and reasonable consideration of the post-peak strain softening characteristics of the rock mass, a method for determining an optimal tunnel supporting time was established. Through the analysis of numerical examples, the important parameters characterizing the supporting time were discussed quantitatively, and the essential significance of the supporting time was revealed from the engineering perspective. The results show that the supporting time increases by 8.32 m as the geological strength index is reduced from 75 to 25; the supporting time increases by 5.85 m as the intact rock material property, m_i, is reduced from 20 to 10; the supporting time increases 3.74 m as the uniaxial compressive strength of rock, σ_ci, is reduced from 80 to 40 MPa; the supporting time increases by 7.44 m as the engineering disturbance coefficient, D, is increased from 0 to 0.8. The proposed method was applied in the Yudushan tunnel project. The supporting time of the research section is 3.3 m. Field monitoring shows that the method is effective and feasible and provides a reference for the tunnel support system’s quantitative design.