Deformation Analysis of the Rock Surrounding a Tunnel Excavated through a Gently Dipping Bed

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The content of the article is very interesting but I have a few remarks for the edition of the paper. There are attached below. 

1. Not all literature items are cited - no reference to items [17 - 19].
2. You should remove single letters at the end of the line and single words at the end of the paragraph, eg page 2 - 1 paragraph, page 6 - 2 paragraph or page 6 line 2 from the bottom.
3. Avoid splitting names and values and units between lines, e.g. page 3, line 6 from the top - Figure 2, e.g. page 7, line 10 from the bottom - 20 m.
4. Avoid using single-line paragraphs - e.g. page 7 - paragraphs before figures 9 and 10 can be joined. On the other hand, the description of items ①, ②, ③ and ④, in my opinion, should be included in the caption for Figure 9.
5. Insert the missing spaces - eg str 3 line 4 and 9 from the top - zones[11] and technique[12].
6. Figures 2 and 7 are hardly legible. They should be larger, especially their description.
7. Figure 16 should be placed as a whole - it is divided into pages 11 and 12.
8. In chapter 3.1. I suggest bold paragraphs (1) Elasticity and (2) Yield criterion for the weak plane and separated by line spacing from the rest of the text. Reference should also be made in the first part of chapter 3.1 to the content of paragraphs (1) and (2). Moreover, it seems that the fonts in the equations are larger than in the text, and besides, these equations should be referred to in the text - their numbers should be given.
9. On page 9 in the last paragraph, there are markings (1) and (2), the same in chapter 4.3 the markings (1), (2), (3) and (4) are used and in chapter 5 - (1), (2) and (3). Are they related to the markings in chapter 3.1 or are they only with the numbering? If not, please explain them. If so, I suggest using the Word numbering option.

After these changes are made, the article can be published.

Author Response

Dear editor and reviewers:

Thank you for your letter and the reviewers’ comments on our manuscript entitled " Deformation Analysis of the Rock Surrounding a Tunnel Excavated Through a Gently Dipping Bed " (ID：applsci-1576769). Those comments are very helpful for revising and improving our paper. We have studied the comments carefully and made corrections which we hope meet with approval. The main corrections are in the manuscript and the response to the reviewers’ comments are as follows (the replies are highlighted in blue).

COMMENTS TO THE AUTHOR:

1. COMMENT: Not all literature items are cited - no reference to items [17 - 19]

RESPONSE: Thank you for this suggestion. The order of references has been rearranged, and the references of recent international journals in related fields have been added.

2. COMMENT: You should remove single letters at the end of the line and single words at the end of the paragraph, eg page 2 - 1 paragraph, page 6 - 2 paragraph or page 6 line 2 from the bottom.

RESPONSE: Thank you for this suggestion. We had removed single letters at the end of the line and single words at end of the paragraph.

3. COMMENT: Avoid splitting names and values and units between lines, e.g. page 3, line 6 from the top - Figure 2, e.g. page 7, line 10 from the bottom - 20 m.

RESPONSE: Your suggestions are beneficial to the article. Referring to your suggestion, we have corrected this format error.

4. COMMENT: Avoid using single-line paragraphs - e.g. page 7 - paragraphs before figures 9 and 10 can be joined. On the other hand, the description of items ①, ②, ③ and ④, in my opinion, should be included in the caption for Figure 9.

RESPONSE: The suggestion is very helpful to the article. We had corrected this format error, and we have added caption for Figure 9.

5.Insert the missing spaces - eg str 3 line 4 and 9 from the top - zones[11] and technique[12].

RESPONSE: Thank you for this suggestion. We have corrected this format error, and insert the missing spaces.

6.Figures 2 and 7 are hardly legible. They should be larger, especially their description.

RESPONSE: The suggestion is very helpful to the article. We have redrawn Figure 2 and adjusted Figure 7 to make it clear. And we have added relevant description.

7.Figure 16 should be placed as a whole - it is divided into pages 11 and 12.

RESPONSE: The suggestion is very helpful to the article. We have corrected this format error, and we have placed Figure 13 in page 11.

8.In chapter 3.1. I suggest bold paragraphs (1) Elasticity and (2) Yield criterion for the weak plane and separated by line spacing from the rest of the text. Reference should also be made in the first part of chapter 3.1 to the content of paragraphs (1) and (2). Moreover, it seems that the fonts in the equations are larger than in the text, and besides, these equations should be referred to in the text - their numbers should be given.

RESPONSE: Thank you for this suggestion. We have changed the format of (1) Elasticity and (2) Yield criterion for the weak plane to three-level title, reduced the font in the formula, and corrected this format error. Besides, we have been referred in the text.

9. On page 9 in the last paragraph, there are markings (1) and (2), the same in chapter 4.3 the markings (1), (2), (3) and (4) are used and in chapter 5 - (1), (2) and (3). Are they related to the markings in chapter 3.1 or are they only with the numbering? If not, please explain them. If so, I suggest using the Word numbering option.

RESPONSE: Thank you for this suggestion. In 3.1, (1) (2) should be expressed as a three-level title, and we have corrected this format error. In page 9 and under figures 15 and 16, (1) (2) (3) are the conclusion descriptions given in the corresponding figures. And in the last paragraph, they are the descriptions of the main conclusion of the article.

Reviewer 2 Report

In the paper entitled “Deformation Analysis of the Rock Surrounding a Tunnel Excavated Through a Gently Dipping Bed”, the deformation caused by the excavation of the two-stage through a section of the Yuelongmen Tunnel of the Chengdu-Lanzhou Railway in southwestern China was compared with the deformation results of the Flac 3D numerical simulation. Based on this, the deformation caused by through excavation of the gently inclined rock was analyzed to provide a reference for the selection of reasonable construction methods for the through excavation of gently inclined foliated surrounding rock.

COMMENTS

Some editing of the English language and style or the whole paper is required.

SEE FOR EXAMPLE IN ABSTRACT: … 1 time [AND NOT “1 TIMES”].

Also, some articles (a/an/the) are missing.

SEE FOR EXAMPLE IN ABSTRACT: … (3) When two-stage through excavation is applied to gently inclined laminated rock, there will be an obvious disturbance …

ETC.

In some Figures (e.g.: 2,7) the font size is very small.

Many References are in Chinese. The Introduction and the References should be enriched with some recent international relevant References. 

Author Response

Dear editor and reviewers:

Thank you for your letter and the reviewers’ comments on our manuscript entitled " Deformation Analysis of the Rock Surrounding a Tunnel Excavated Through a Gently Dipping Bed " (ID：applsci-1576769). Those comments are very helpful for revising and improving our paper. We have studied the comments carefully and made corrections which we hope meet with approval. The main corrections are in the manuscript and the response to the reviewers’ comments are as follows (the replies are highlighted in blue).

COMMENTS TO THE AUTHOR:

1. COMMENT: Some editing of the English language and style or the whole paper is required. SEE FOR EXAMPLE IN ABSTRACT: … 1 time [AND NOT “1 TIMES”].

Also, some articles (a/an/the) are missing.

SEE FOR EXAMPLE IN ABSTRACT: … (3) When two-stage through excavation is applied to gently inclined laminated rock, there will be an obvious disturbance …

ETC.

RESPONSE: Thank you for this suggestion. We have corrected these errors, and we have tried our best to endeavor modified the language of the paper carefully for improving the fit of the paper with the journal.

2. COMMENT: In some Figures (e.g.: 2,7) the font size is very small.

RESPONSE: RESPONSE: The suggestion is very helpful to the article. We have redrawn Figure 2 and adjusted Figure 7 to make it clear.

3. COMMENT: Many References are in Chinese. The Introduction and the References should be enriched with some recent international relevant References.

RESPONSE: Thank you for this suggestion. We have added some recent international journals in related fields.