The collapse failure of rock surrounding caverns involves a progressive collapse process. Based on the nonlinear Hoek–Brown failure criterion and the upper limit theorem, the whole process curve of the progressive collapse of the surrounding rock of a large-span cavern is outlined in this paper. The progressive collapse process of the surrounding rock of the large-span cavern is experimentally studied using an independently developed visualized large-span-cavern geomechanical model test device with variable angles. The results show that, through theoretical calculation and model tests, the surrounding rock at the top of the large-span cavern undergoes three collapses. Under the condition of rock mass and the shape of the cavern, the larger the span of the cavern, the more times the surrounding rock collapses; with the increase in surrounding rock pressure, the first collapse occurs in the middle part of the arch roof. When the overlying load reaches a certain level, the arch foot becomes the weakest part, and the rock undergoes shear failure along the arch foot, gradually extending upwards, accompanied by multiple collapses, forming a progressive collapse process. The theoretical calculation results of this paper are basically consistent with the scope of the model test, and the research results can provide a basis for the construction and support design of the large-span cavern.

To address the practical problem of decreased anchoring effect due to the detachment of the exterior bolt head from the cave wall under dynamic loads, this paper developed a partially recoverable displacement energy absorption (RDEA) bolt. On the basis of preliminary static loading performance tests, a field comparative test was conducted on the blast resistance performance of the cavern reinforced by RDEA bolt. The overall damage and dynamic response of the RDEA-bolt-reinforced test section and the conventional steel-bolt-reinforced test section were compared. The research found that under the same test conditions, the macroscopic damage to the conventional steel-bolt-reinforced test section was more severe than that of the RDEA-bolt-reinforced test section. When the scaled distance was 0.93 m/kg^1/3, the ratio of the rebound displacement to the displacement peak at the arch top of the conventional steel-bolt-reinforced test section was 9.09%, while that of the RDEA-bolt-reinforced test section was 31.1%. The energy consumption characteristics of the RDEA bolt were described by the pressure peak value at the third working condition of the arch top. The pressure peak value of the RDEA-bolt-reinforced test section was 76.4%, lower than that of the conventional steel-bolt-reinforced test section. The arch top acceleration of the conventional steel-bolt-reinforced test section was about 1.35 times that of the RDEA-bolt-reinforced test section. The good blast resistance performance of the cavern reinforced by RDEA bolt was reflected from various aspects, such as macroscopic damage and the wall displacement, indicating that the RDEA bolt can not only weaken the effect of explosion load at the cavern location but also enable the reinforced cavern to have a good ability to resist deformation recovery after explosion, thereby having good application prospects.