The complex mechanical behaviours of steeply inclined and layered surrounding rock in strong and active fault zones result in control measures that cannot adapt to asymmetric squeezing tunnel and are still unsolved. Hence, the Yuntunbao Tunnel was taken as an example to study this issue based on geological survey and indoor and outdoor tests. The results showed that strong geological structures and abundant groundwater undoubtedly deteriorate the mechanical properties of rocks containing many water-sensitive minerals, approximately 45%. The stepwise growth of deformation characteristics before reaching the rock peak strength and the gradient to abrupt failure characteristics after reaching the rock peak strength are determined via triaxial cyclic and static load tests. According to field test results, the unilateral squeezing deformation is severe and greater than 1.5 m, the average extent of the excavation loosening zone is approximately 10 m, and the highest deformation rate reaches 12 cm/d. The gradual and sudden changes in tunnel deformation are demonstrated to be consistent with the postpeak deformation characteristics of layered rock in indoor tests. Moreover, the steel arch exhibits composite failure characteristics of bending and torsion. Finally, reliable and practical controlling measures are suggested, including the optimised three-bench excavation method with reserved core soil, advanced parallel pilot tunnel, long and short rock bolts, and large lock-foot anchor pipe. Compared with tunnel deformation before taking measures, the maximum convergence deformation is reduced from 2.7 to 0.9 m, and the bearing force of the primary support is also reasonable and stable.

Layered rock mass is a type of engineering rock mass with sound mechanical anisotropy, which is generally unfavorable to the stability of underground works. To investigate the strength anisotropy of layered rock, the Mohr-Coulomb and Hoek-Brown criteria are introduced to establish the two transverse isotropic strength criteria based on Jaeger's single weak plane theory and maximum axial strain theory, and parameter determination methods. Furthermore, the sensitivity of strength parameters (K1, K2, and K3) that are used to characterize the anisotropy strength of non-sliding failure involved in the strength criteria and confining pressure are investigated. The results demonstrate that strength parameters K1 and K2 affect the strength of layered rock samples at all bedding angles except for the bedding angle of 90 degrees and the angle range that can cause the shear sliding failure along the bedding plane. The strength of samples at any bedding angle decreases with increasing K1, whereas the opposite is for K2. Except for bedding angles of 0 degrees and 90 degrees and the bedding angle range that can cause the shear sliding along the bedding plane, K3 has an impact on the strength of rock samples with other bedding angles that the specimens' strength increases with increase of K3. In addition, the strength of the rock sample increases as confining pressure rises. Furthermore, the uniaxial and triaxial tests of chlorite schist samples were carried out to verify and evaluate the strength criteria proposed in the paper. It shows that the predicted strength is in good agreement with the experimental results. To test the applicability of the strength criterion, the strength data of several types of rock in the literature are compared. Finally, a comparison is made between the fitting effects of the two strength criteria and other available criteria for layered rocks. (c) 2024 Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).