Applying grey clustering method on evaluating water bursting risks in highway tunnels

This paper evaluates the risk of the water bursting disaster which is considered as the grey system by adopting grey clustering method, then the clustering parameters for all clustering objects are calculated. The classifications for the clustering objects are identified according to the maximum member-ship degree principle. What´s more, the water bursting problem of Damiao tunnel is evaluated by grey clustering method. The tunnel, which lies in the segment from the boundary of Inner Mongolia and Hebei province to Chengde city of Daqing-Guangzhou expressway, is a rock tunnel of 5850m with a detached cross-section. The results from the grey-clustering analysis are verified by a group of experienced senior engineers and considered to be reasonable and practical, which helps to predict the holistic risks of tunnels.