Application of magnetic resonance sounding to tunnels for advanced detection of water-related disasters: A case study in the Dadushan Tunnel, Guizhou, China

The Dadushan Tunnel, which is located in the southwestern karst region of China in Guizhou Province, is one of the key elements of the Hukun High-Speed Railway. Cavities occur unpredictably in the tunnel, and well-developed karst conduits are frequently encountered. These features result in safety problems, such as water gushing and rapid flooding. In this paper, on the theoretical basis of the surface Magnetic Resonance Sounding (MRS) method, we propose Tunnel Magnetic Resonance Sounding (TMRS) in the tunnel space model and derive the expression of the MRS response signal with a vertical antenna. A direction angle formula is then created to calculate the perpendicular component of the transmitting field at arbitrary geomagnetic field and antenna directions. In addition, we present a comprehensive study on the TMRS based on forward modeling and numerical experiments. The relationship between the magnetic resonance signal response and the position and water content of water-bearing structures is obtained by forward modeling. In the numerical examples, the inversion results agree with the numerical model. The application of the method to a case study involving the Dadushan Tunnel indicates that the prediction results agree well with the excavation results. This paper establishes a theoretical basis for the development of a magnetic resonance sounding instrument for use in tunnels for the advanced detection of water-rich geological structures that can produce tunnel disasters.