Prediction of geomechanical parameters using a KBS system. Application to two case studies of underground structures

Abstract

In this paper the knowledge based system called GEOPAT is presented. The system calculates geomechanical parameters for modelling underground structures in rock, soil and heterogeneous formations. Specialists knowledge in this field was congregated and organized in causal nets. GEOPAT is still under developmentand aims to be an important tool for decision support. Nevertheless GEOPAT was already applied to some underground structures with success. In this work two of these applications are presented. The first is a largeunderground station of Metro of Porto and the last is the powerhouse complex composed by two caverns ofthe Venda Nova II hydroelectric scheme. Both structures were built in a granite rock mass. The geomechani-cal parameters were obtained using GEOPAT based on some information gathered in the field. Numerical models were developed and the results were compared with the monitored values. They showed in general a good agreement however it is still necessary to improve and increase the knowledge inside the system.