New Method for Detecting Risk of Tunnel Water-Induced Disasters Using Magnetic Resonance Sounding

A new method for detecting risk of tunnel water-induced disasters using magnetic resonance sounding (MRS) is proposed in this letter. The method utilizes magnetic resonance signals that are generated directly from hydrogen protons to achieve the purpose of detecting risk of tunnel water-induced disasters directly and quantitatively. This letter evaluates the potential of this method based on a systematic study involving forward modeling, numerical experiments, and a large-scale physical model test. The relationship between the magnetic resonance signal response in the tunnel and the position and water content of water-bearing structures is obtained by the forward modeling. In the numerical examples, the inversion results are in agreement with the synthetic model. In the physical model test, the inversion results can accurately locate the water-bearing structure, and the water content linearly decreases with the water level of the water-bearing structure, which verifies the feasibility and effectiveness of predictions made based on the MRS data. These results demonstrate that tunnel MRS can be used to anticipate water-induced disasters.