Sustainability Analysis and Design of water tunnel Maintenance system on Mashoorh Dam

The water tunnel at Mashooreh Dam has been constructed to supply the required water for the hydropower plant at the dam. Mangeni and Khorram-Ababd anticlines are among the most primary geological structures through which the tunnel has been built. In this research, three methods were used to propose a support system for the tunnel: empirical, analytical, and numerical methods. In the empirical method, RMR and Q techniques were employed. RocSupport Software was utilized to analyze stability of the tunnel analytically. In the numerical analysis, Phase2 Software (based on finite-element method (FEM)) was used. Results of the numerical analysis indicated total, horizontal, and vertical displacements of 11.4, 6.3, and 11.4 cm, respectively, when no support was installed. However, upon installing the proposed support, total, horizontal, and vertical displacements decreased by 4.7, 2.8, and 7.4 cm, respectively. Following the installation of the support system, safety factor enhanced to 2.21, indicating stability of the tunnel. The results of the three experimental, analytical and numerical methods of the similar maintenance system are presented.