Exploring the feasibility of prestressed anchor cables as an alternative to temporary support in the excavation of super-large-span tunnel

Excavating super-large-span tunnels in soft rock masses presents significant challenges.To ensure safety,the sequential excavation method is commonly adopted.It utilizes internal temporary supports to spatially partition the tunnel face and divide the excavation into multiple stages.However,these internal supports generally impose spatial constraints,limiting the use of large-scale excavation equipment and reducing construction efficiency.To address this constraint,this study adopts the“Shed-frame”principle to explore the feasibility of an innovative support system,which aims to replace internal supports with prestressed anchor cables and thus provide a more spacious working space with fewer internal obstructions.To evaluate its effectiveness,a field case involving the excavation of a 24-m span tunnel in soft rock is presented,and an analysis of extensive field data is conducted to study the deformation characteristics of the surrounding rock and the mechanical behavior of the support system.The results revealed that prestressed anchor cables integrated the initial support with the shed,creating an effective“shed-frame”system,which successively maintained tunnel deformation and frame stress levels within safe regulatory bounds.Moreover,the prestressed anchor cables bolstered the surrounding rock effectively and reduced the excavation-induced disturbance zone significantly.In summary,the proposed support system balances construction efficiency and safety.These field experiences may offer valuable insights into the popularization and further development of prestressed anchor cable support systems.

Inconsistent effect of dynamic load waveform on macro-and micro-scale responses of ballast bed characterized in individual cycle:a numerical study

Cyclic load is widely adopted in laboratory to simulate the effect of train load on ballast bed.The effectiveness of such load equivalence is usually testified by having similar results of key concerns of ballast bed,such as deformation or stiffness,while the consistency of particle scale characteristics under two loading patterns is rarely examined,which is insufficient to well-understand and use the load simplification.In this study,a previous laboratory model test of ballast bed under cyclic load is rebuilt using 3D discrete element method(DEM),which is validated by dynamic responses monitored by high-resolution sensors.Then,train load having the same magnitude and amplitude as the cyclic load is applied in the numerical model to obtain the statistical characteristics of inter-particle contact force and particle movements in ballast bed.The results show that particle scale responses under two loading patterns could have quite deviation,even when macro-scale responses of ballast bed under two loading patterns are very close.This inconsistency indicates that the application scale of the DEM model should not exceed the validation scale.Moreover,it is important to examine multiscale responses to validate the effectiveness of load simplification.

Review of research on high-speed railway subgrade settlement in soft soil area

Construction issues of high-speed rail infrastructures have been increasingly concerned worldwide,of which the subgrade settlement in soft soil area becomes a particularly critical problem.Due to the high compressibility and low permeability of soft soil,the post-construction settlement of the subgrade is extremely difficult to control in these regions,which seriously threatens the operation safety of high-speed trains.In this work,the significant issues of high-speed railway subgrades in soft soil regions are discussed.The theoretical and experimental studies on foundation treatment methods for ballasted and ballastless tracks are reviewed.The settlement evolution and the settlement control effect of different treatment methods are highlighted.Control technologies of subgrade differential settlement are subsequently briefly presented.Settlement calculation algorithms of foundations reinforced by different treatment methods are discussed in detail.The defects of existing prediction methods and the challenges faced in their practical applications are analyzed.Furthermore,the guidance on future improvement in control theories and technologies of subgrade settlement for high-speed railway lines and the corresponding challenges are provided.

Macro-microscopic dynamic characteristics of the ballast bed induced by the variation of moisture content

Due to the excellent drainage performance of the ballast,existing studies mainly focus on the dynamic response of ballast under field capacity or saturation.Attention has rarely been paid to dynamic changes in moisture content and potential influences.In this article,we firstly conduct a model test to determine the variation of ballast moisture content under artificial rainfall.After that,a full-scale model test with cyclic loading is carried out to study the effect of moisture content variation on the macro-microscopic response of the ballast bed,where several wireless particle sensors are installed to obtain ballast motion characteristics at strategic locations.The results show that the moisture content increases gradually and stabilizes at a flat peak under rainfall,despite the excellent drainage performance of ballast bed.After halting rainfall,the moisture content drops back to field capacity,which indicates dynamic flowing surface water on ballast particles under rainfall.Such flowing surface water brings changes to the original dynamic equilibrium of ballast bed:macroscopically,the deformation rate of stabilized ballast bed increases significantly,reaching a local peak under field capacity;microscopically,the x-and z-angular accelerations of the ballast show positive correlation with rainfall intensity.The multiscale responses indicate that field capacity is a critical moisture content.

Characterizing dynamic load propagation in cohesionless granular packing using force chain

When dynamic load is applied on a granular assembly,the time-dependent dynamic load and initial static load(such as gravity stress)act together on individual particles.In order to better understand how dynamic load triggers the micro-structure's evolution and furtherly the ensemble behavior of a granular assembly,we propose a criterion to recognize the major propagation path of dynamic load in 2D granular materials,called the“dynamic force chain”.Two steps are involved in recognizing dynamic force chains:(1)pick out particles with dynamic load larger than the threshold stress,where the attenuation of dynamic stress with distance is considered;(2)among which quasi-linear arrangement of three or more particles are identified as a force chain.The spatial distribution of dynamic force chains in indentation of granular materials provides a direct measure of dynamic load diffusion.The statistical evolution of dynamic force chains shows strong correlation with the indentation behaviors.