On the critical particle size of soil with clogging potential in shield tunneling

Shield tunneling is easily obstructed by clogging in clayey strata with small soil particles.However,soil clogging rarely occurs in strata with coarse-grained soils.Theoretically,a critical particle size of soils should exist,below which there is a high risk of soil clogging in shield tunneling.To determine the critical particle size,a series of laboratory tests was carried out with a large-scale rotary shear apparatus to measure the tangential adhesion strength of soils with different particle sizes and water contents.It was found that the tangential adhesion strength at the soilesteel interface gradually increased linearly with applied normal pressure.When the particle size of the soil specimen was less than 0.15 mm,the interfacial adhesion force first increased and then decreased as the water content gradually increased;otherwise,the soil specimens did not manifest any interfacial adhesion force.The amount of soil mass adhering to the steel disc was positively correlated with the interfacial adhesion force,thus the interfacial adhesion force was adopted to characterize the soil clogging risk in shield tunneling.The critical particle size of soils causing clogging was determined to be 0.15 mm.Finally,the generation mechanism of interfacial adhesion force was explored for soils with different particle sizes to explain the critical particle size of soil with clogging risk in shield tunneling.

Prediction of subsurface settlement induced by shield tunnelling in sandy cobble stratum

This study focuses on the analytical prediction of subsurface settlement induced by shield tunnelling in sandy cobble stratum considering the volumetric deformation modes of the soil above the tunnel crown.A series of numerical analyses is performed to examine the effects of cover depth ratio(C/D),tunnel volume loss rate(h t)and volumetric block proportion(VBP)on the characteristics of subsurface settle-ment trough and soil volume loss.Considering the ground loss variation with depth,three modes are deduced from the volumetric deformation responses of the soil above the tunnel crown.Then,analytical solutions to predict subsurface settlement for each mode are presented using stochastic medium theory.The influences of C/D,h t and VBP on the key parameters(i.e.B and N)in the analytical expressions are discussed to determine the fitting formulae of B and N.Finally,the proposed analytical solutions are validated by the comparisons with the results of model test and numerical simulation.Results show that the fitting formulae provide a convenient and reliable way to evaluate the key parameters.Besides,the analytical solutions are reasonable and available in predicting the subsurface settlement induced by shield tunnelling in sandy cobble stratum.

An improved analytical solution for solving the shield tunnel uplift problem

The problem of shield tunnel uplift is a common issue in tunnel construction.Due to the decrease in shear stiffness at the joints between the rings,uplift is typically observed as bending and dislocation deformation at these joints.Existing modeling methods typically rely on the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory,only considering the bending effect while disregarding shear deformation.Furthermore,the constraints on the shield tail are often neglected in existing models.In this study,an improved theoretical model of tunnel floating is proposed.The constraint effect of the shield machine shell on the tunnel structure is considered using the structural forms of two finite long beams and one semi-infinite long beam.Furthermore,the Timoshenko beam theory is adopted,providing a more accurate description of tunnel deformation,including both the bending effect and shear deformation,than existing models.Meanwhile,the buoyancy force and stratum resistance are calculated in a nonlinear manner.A reliable method for calculating the shear stiffness correction factor is proposed to better determination of the calculation parameters.The proposed theoretical model is validated through five cases using sitemonitored data.Its applicability and effectiveness are demonstrated.Furthermore,the influences of soil type,buried depth,and buoyancy force on the three key indicators of tunnel floating(i.e.the maximum uplift magnitude,the ring position with the fastest uplift race,and the ring position with the maximum uplift magnitude)are analyzed.The results indicate that the proposed model can provide a better understanding of the floating characteristics of the tunnel structure during construction.

Ground settlement and tunnel response due to twin-curved shield tunnelling in soft ground with small clear distance

Twin curved tunnels are often encountered in shield tunnelling,where significant complexities in densely exploited underground space are observed.In this study,the ground settlement and tunnel deformation due to twin-curved shield tunnelling in soft ground were investigated using numerical simulation and field monitoring.Different curvature radii of twin curved tunnels and subsequent effects of tunnel construction were considered to reveal the tunnelling effect on ground surface settlement and tunnel deformation.The results show that the settlement trough yields one offset towards inside of curved shield tunnelling.The location of settlement trough and maximum settlement were affected by curvature radius but except for the shape and width of settlement trough.Adjacent parallel twin-curved shield tunnelling could increase the offset of existing settlement trough and maximum settlement.Then,an empirical prediction of surface settlement trough due to twin-curved shield tunnelling with same tunnel diameters in soft clay was proposed,which was applicable to curvature radius less than 800 m.Finally,a minimum radius of 600 m of curvature tunnel was proposed in terms of allowable convergence deformation of tunnel.The result could provide guidance on safety evaluation for twin curved shield tunnelling construction.

Three-dimensional pseudo-dynamic reliability analysis of seismic shield tunnel faces combined with sparse polynomial chaos expansion

To address the seismic face stability challenges encountered in urban and subsea tunnel construction,an efficient probabilistic analysis framework for shield tunnel faces under seismic conditions is proposed.Based on the upper-bound theory of limit analysis,an improved three-dimensional discrete deterministic mechanism,accounting for the heterogeneous nature of soil media,is formulated to evaluate seismic face stability.The metamodel of failure probabilistic assessments for seismic tunnel faces is constructed by integrating the sparse polynomial chaos expansion method(SPCE)with the modified pseudo-dynamic approach(MPD).The improved deterministic model is validated by comparing with published literature and numerical simulations results,and the SPCE-MPD metamodel is examined with the traditional MCS method.Based on the SPCE-MPD metamodels,the seismic effects on face failure probability and reliability index are presented and the global sensitivity analysis(GSA)is involved to reflect the influence order of seismic action parameters.Finally,the proposed approach is tested to be effective by a engineering case of the Chengdu outer ring tunnel.The results show that higher uncertainty of seismic response on face stability should be noticed in areas with intense earthquakes and variation of seismic wave velocity has the most profound influence on tunnel face stability.

Research on the design method for uniform wear of shield cutters in sand-pebble strata

During shield tunneling in highly abrasive formations such as sand–pebble strata,nonuniform wear of shield cutters is inevitable due to the different cutting distances.Frequent downtimes and cutter replacements have become major obstacles to long-distance shield driving in sand–pebble strata.Based on the cutter wear characteristics in sand–pebble strata in Beijing,a design methodology for the cutterhead and cutters was established in this study to achieve uniform wear of all cutters by the principle of frictional wear.The applicability of the design method was verified through three-dimensional simulations using the engineering discrete element method.The results show that uniform wear of all cutters on the cutterhead could be achieved by installing different numbers of cutters on each trajectory radius and designing a curved spoke with a certain arch height according to the shield diameter.Under the uniform wear scheme,the cutter wear coefficient is greatly reduced,and the largest shield driving distance is increased by approximately 47%over the engineering scheme.The research results indicate that the problem of nonuniform cutter wear in shield excavation could be overcome,thereby providing guiding significance for theoretical innovation and construction of long-distance shield excavation in highly abrasive strata.

Prediction of Disc Cutter Life During Shield Tunneling with AI via the Incorporation of a Genetic Algorithm into a GMDH-Type Neural Network

Disc cutter consumption is a critical problem that influences work performance during shield tunneling processes and directly affects the cutter change decision.This study proposes a new model to estimate the disc cutter life(Hf)by integrating a group method of data handling(GMDH)-type neural network(NN)with a genetic algorithm(GA).The efficiency and effectiveness of the GMDH network structure are optimized by the GA,which enables each neuron to search for its optimum connections set from the previous layer.With the proposed model,monitoring data including the shield performance database,disc cutter consumption,geological conditions,and operational parameters can be analyzed.To verify the performance of the proposed model,a case study in China is presented and a database is adopted to illustrate the excellence of the hybrid model.The results indicate that the hybrid model predicts disc cutter life with high accuracy.The sensitivity analysis reveals that the penetration rate(PR)has a significant influence on disc cutter life.The results of this study can be beneficial in both the planning and construction stages of shield tunneling.

Three-dimensional displacement characteristics of adjacent pile induced by shield tunneling under influence of multiple factors

Shield tunneling inevitably passes through a large number of pile foundations in urban areas.Thus,an accurate assessment of tunneling-induced pile displacement and potential damage becomes a critical part of shield construction.This study presents a mechanism research of pile-soil-tunnel interaction through Pasternak-based two-stage analysis method.In the first stage,based on Mindlin’s solution,the soil displacement fields induced by shield thrust force,cutterhead frictions,shield shell frictions and grouting pressure are derived.The analytical solution of threedimensional soil displacement field is established by introducing Pinto’s three-dimensional volume loss formula,which solves the problems that shield construction factors are not taken into account in Loganathan’s formula and only twodimensional soil displacement field can be obtained.In the second stage,based on Pasternak’s two-parameter foundation model,the analytical solution of pile displacement induced by shield tunneling in layered soil is derived.A case was found in the project of interval tunnels from Wanjiali Square to Furong District Government of Changsha Metro Line 5,where the shield tunnels were constructed near viaduct piles.The reliability of the analytical solution proposed in this study is verified by comparing with the field measured data and the results of finite element method(FEM).In addition,the comparisons of longitudinal,horizontal and vertical displacements of soil and pile foundation analyzed by the analytical solution and FEM provide corresponding theoretical basis,which has significant engineering guidance for similar projects.

Machine learning-based automatic control of tunneling posture of shield machine

For a tunnel driven by a shield machine,the posture of the driving machine is essential to the construction quality and environmental impact.However,the machine posture is controlled by the experienced driver of shield machine by setting hundreds of tunneling parameters empirically.Machine learning(ML)algorithm is an alternative method that can let the computer to learn from the driver’s operation and try to model the relationship between parameters automatically.Thus,in this paper,three ML algorithms,i.e.multi-layer perception(MLP),support vector machine(SVM)and gradient boosting regression(GBR),are improved by genetic algorithm(GA)and principal component analysis(PCA)to predict the tunneling posture of the shield machine.A set of the parameters for shield tunneling is extracted from the construction site of a Shanghai metro.In total,53,785 pairwise data points are collected for about 373 d and the ratio between training set,validation set and test set is 3:1:1.Each pairwise data point includes 83 types of parameters covering the shield posture,construction parameters,and soil stratum properties at the same time.The test results show that the averaged R2 of MLP,SVM and GBR based models are 0.942,0.935 and 0.6,respectively.Then the automatic control for the posture of shield tunnel is illustrated with an application example of the proposed models.The proposed method is proved to be helpful in controlling the construction quality with optimized construction parameters.

Influence of water-rich tunnel by shield tunneling on existing bridge pile foundation in layered soils

At present,shield tunneling often needs to pass through a large number of bridge pile foundations.However,there are few studies on the influence of shield tunneling on adjacent pile foundations by combining with groundwater seepage.Based on Winkler model,the calculation equations of shield tunneling on vertical and horizontal displacement of adjacent bridge pile are derived.Meanwhile,full and part three-dimensional finite element models are established to analyze the trend of bridge pier settlement,ground surface settlement trough,vertical and horizontal displacement of the pile and pile stress under three calculation conditions,i.e.,not considering groundwater effect,considering stable groundwater effect and fluid-soil interaction.The results show that the calculated value is small when the effect of groundwater is not considered;the seepage velocity of the soil above the excavation face is faster than that of the surrounding soil under fluid-soil interaction,and after the shield passing,the groundwater on both sides shows a flow trend of“U”shape on the ground surface supplying to the upper part of the tunnel;the vertical displacement of the pile body is bounded by the horizontal position of the top of the tunnel,the upper pile body settles,and the lower pile body deforms upward.The horizontal displacement of pile body presents a continuous“S”shape distribution,causing stress concentration near the tunnel.The calculated results of fluid-soil interaction are in good agreement with the field measured data and accord with the actual situation.

Parameter identification and pressure control of dynamic system in shield tunneling using least squares method

An estimation approach using least squares method was presented for identificationof model parameters of pressure control in shield tunneling.The state equation ofthe pressure control system for shield tunneling was analytically derived based on themass equilibrium principle that the entry mass of the pressure chamber from cutting headwas equal to excluding mass from the screw conveyor.The randomly observed noise wasnumerically simulated and mixed to simulated observation values of system responses.The numerical simulation shows that the state equation of the pressure control system forshield tunneling is reasonable and the proposed estimation approach is effective even ifthe random observation noise exists.The robustness of the controlling procedure is validatedby numerical simulation results.

Impact of shield tunneling on adjacent spread foundation on sandy cobble strata

The section of shield tunnel of the Chengdu Metro line passes primarily through sandy cobble strata. There are many buildings with spread foundations along the lines. Shield tunnel construction will disturb the ground, causing displacement or stress to adjacent spread foundations. Based on the similarity theory, a laboratory model test of shield tunnel driving was carried out to study the influence of shield tunnel excavation on the displace ment of adjacent spread foundation. The results show that foundation closer to the tunnel has greater displacement or settlement than that further away. The horizontal dis placement is small and is influenced greatly by the cutting face. The displacement along the machine driving direction is bigger and is significantly affected by the thrust force. Settlement occurs primarily when shield machine passes close to the foundation and is the greatest at that time. Uneven settlement at the bottom of the spread foundation reaches a maximum after the excavation ends. In a numerical simulation, a particle flow model was con structed to study the impact of shield tunnel excavation on the stresses in the ground. The model showed stress con centration at the bottom of the spread foundation. With the increasing ground loss ratio, a loose area appears in the tunnel dome where the contact force dropped. Above the loose area, the contact force increases, forming an arch shaped soil area which prevents the loose area from expanding to the ground surface. The excavation also changed the pressure distribution around spread foundation.

Pressure Regulation for Earth Pressure Balance Control on Shield Tunneling Machine by Using Adaptive Robust Control

Most current studies about shield tunneling machine focus on the construction safety and tunnel structure stability during the excavation. Behaviors of the machine itself are also studied, like some tracking control of the machine. Yet, few works concern about the hydraulic components, especially the pressure and flow rate regulation components. This research focuses on pressure control strategies by using proportional pressure relief valve, which is widely applied on typical shield tunneling machines. Modeling of a commercial pressure relief valve is done. The modeling centers on the main valve, because the dynamic performance is determined by the main valve. To validate such modeling, a frequency-experiment result of the pressure relief valve, whose bandwidth is about 3 Hz, is presented as comparison. The modeling and the frequency experimental result show that it is reasonable to regard the pressure relief valve as a second-order system with two low corner frequencies. PID control, dead band compensation control and adaptive robust control（ARC） are proposed and simulation results are presented. For the ARC, implements by using first order approximation and second order approximation are presented. The simulation results show that the second order approximation implement with ARC can track 4 Hz sine signal very well, and the two ARC simulation errors are within 0.2 MPa. Finally, experiment results of dead band compensation control and adaptive robust control are given. The results show that dead band compensation had about 30° phase lag and about 20% off of the amplitude attenuation. ARC is tracking with little phase lag and almost no amplitude attenuation. In this research, ARC has been tested on a pressure relief valve. It is able to improve the valve＇s dynamic performances greatly, and it is capable of the pressure control of shield machine excavation.

Energy saving analysis of segment positioning in shield tunneling machine considering assembling path optimization

A motion parameter optimization method based on the objective of minimizing the total energy consumption in segment positioning was proposed for segment erector of shield tunneling machine. The segment positioning process was decomposed into rotation, lifting and sliding actions in deriving the energy calculation model of segment erection. The work of gravity was taken into account in the mathematical modeling of energy consumed by each actuator. In order to investigate the relationship between the work done by the actuator and the path moved along by the segment, the upward and downward directions as well as the operating quadrant of the segment erector were defined. Piecewise nonlinear function of energy was presented, of which the result is determined by closely coupled components as working parameters and some intermediate variables. Finally, the effectiveness of the optimization method was proved by conducting a case study with a segment erector for the tunnel with a diameter of 3 m and drawing comparisons between different assembling paths. The results show that the energy required by assembling a ring of segments along the optimized moving path can be reduced up to 5%. The method proposed in this work definitely provides an effective energy saving solution for shield tunneling machine.

Experimental study on the pressure control of soil chamber in shield tunneling

A mathematical model of the soil pressure system in shield tunneling was proposed to optimize soil pressure control in the soil chamber, based on the constitutive relationship between strain and stress. The desired pressure is determined by using the finite element method. A linear quadratic constant state tracking problem was considered over an infinite time interval. The optimal control law was derived by differentiating the Hamilton function with respect to system input. In order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed mathematical model and optimal control law, an experimental study on the pressure control of the soil chamber in shield tunneling was conducted in a laboratory. The experiment results show that soil pressure in the soil chamber in shield tunneling can be accurately controlled.

Determination of minimum overburden depth for underwater shield tunnel in sands:Comparison between circular and rectangular tunnels

With the development of global urbanization,the utilization of underground space is more critical and attractive for civil purposes.Various shapes of shield tunnels have been gradually proposed to cope with different geological conditions and service purposes of underground structures.Generally,reducing the burial depth of shield tunnel is conducive to construction and cost saving.However,extremely small overburden depth cannot provide sufficient uplift resistance to maintain the stability and serviceability of the tunnel.To this end,this paper firstly reviewed the status of deriving the minimum sand over-burden depth of circular shield tunnel using mechanical equilibrium(ME)method.It revealed that the estimated depth is rather conservative.Then,the uplift resistance mechanism of both circular and rectangular tunnels was deduced theoretically and verified with the model tests.The theoretical uplift resistance is consistent with the experimental values,indicating the feasibility of the proposed equations.Furthermore,the determination of the minimum soil overburden depth of rectangular shield tunnel under various working conditions was presented through integrated ME method,which can provide more reasonable estimations of suggested tunnel burial depth for practical construction.Additionally,optimizations were made for calculating the uplift resistance,and the soil thickness providing uplift resistance is suggested to be adjusted according to the testing results.The results can provide reference for the design and construction of various shapes of shield tunnels in urban underground space exploitation.

Mechanical performances of shield tunnel segments under asymmetric unloading induced by pit excavation

To explore the stress and deformation responses,as well as the failure characteristics of the shield tunnel segment of Hangzhou Metro under the influences of pit excavation and other surrounding projects,a self-developed“shield tunnel segment hydraulic loading system”was used to carry out full-scale loading tests on the three-ring staggered assembled segments.The structural performances and failure process of the tunnel segment under step-by-step asymmetric unloading were studied.A safety index was proposed to describe the bearing capacity of the segment.Next,a finite element model(FEM)was established to analyze the bearing capacity of segment using the test results.Finally,the effect of reinforcement with a steel plate on the deformation and bearing capacity of the segment was analyzed.The results showed that under asymmetric unloading,the peak value and amplitude of the bending moment on the near unloading side converged with a greater value than those on the far side.The concrete internal force exhibited a directional transformation at different load stages.Cracks first appeared at the 180inner arc surface of the bottom standard block and then expanded to both sides,while the rate of crack propagation of the outer arc surface was relatively lower.The bearing capacity of the segments can be evaluated by the combination of the factors,e.g.the residual bearing capacity coefficient,moment transfer coefficient,and characterization coefficient.The segments approaching failure can facilitate the increase in the residual bearing capacity coefficient by more than 50%.This can provide guidance for the service assessment of metro tunnel operations.

Analytical solution for longitudinal deformation of shield tunnel induced by overcrossing tunnelling considering circumferential joints

This paper presents a new analytical solution for assessing the longitudinal deformation of shield tunnel associated with overcrossing tunnelling in consideration of circumferential joints.A simplified longitudinal beam-spring model(SLBSM)is established to model the longitudinal behaviours of shield tunnel,which can consider the opening and dislocation between segmental rings simultaneously.Then,the existing tunnel is treated as the SLBSM resting on the elastic foundation.The state equations including tunnel displacements and internal forces are constructed to solve the discontinuous deformation of circumferential joint-segmental ring.The feasibility of the proposed solution is verified through three well-documented cases.The predictions from the proposed method are also compared with other analytical methods.It is found that the proposed method can well capture the deformation of tunnel segmental rings and joints,where the rigid displacement mainly occurs in the segmental rings while the rotation and dislocation occur in the circumferential joints.Some dominant parameters are also analysed to explore the effects on existing tunnel deformation,including the rotation stiffness and shearing stiffness of joints,the skew angle and the clearance between new and old tunnels.

Dynamic response analysis of liquefiable ground due to sinusoidal waves of different frequencies of shield construction

Vibration induced by shield construction can lead to liquefaction of saturated sand.Based on FLAC3D software,a numerical model of tunnel excavation is established and sinusoidal velocity loads with different frequencies are applied to the excavation face.The pattern of the excess pore pressure ratio with frequency,as well as the dynamic response of soil mass under different frequency loads before excavation,is analyzed.When the velocity sinusoidal wave acts on the excavation surface of the shield tunnel with a single sand layer,soil liquefaction occurs.However,the ranges and locations of soil liquefaction are different at different frequencies,which proves that the vibration frequency influences the liquefaction location of the stratum.For sand-clay composite strata with liquefiable layers,the influence of frequency on the liquefaction range is different from that of a single stratum.In the frequency range of 5-30 Hz,the liquefaction area and surface subsidence decrease with an increase in vibration frequency.The research results in this study can be used as a reference in engineering practice for tunneling liquefiable strata with a shield tunneling machine.

Mechanical behavior of segment rebar of shield tunnel in construction stage

In this paper, a 3D finite element （FE） program ADINA was applied to analyzing a tunnel with 9 segment tings. The loads acting on these segment tings included the squeezing action of tail brush of shield machine under attitude deflection, the jacking forces, the grouting pressure and the soil pressure. The analyses focused on the rebar stress in two statuses： （1） normal construction status without shield machine squeezing; （2） squeezing action induced by shield machine under attitude deflection. The analyses indicated that the rebar stress was evidently affected by the construction loads. In different construction status, the rebar stress ranges from -80 MPa to 50 MPa, and the rebar is in elastic status. Even some cracks appear on segments, the stress of segment rebar is still at a low level. It is helpful to incorporate a certain quantity of steel fiber to improve the anti-crack and shock resistance performance.