Limit analysis of supporting pressure in tunnels with regard to surface settlement

The proliferation of Hoek-Brown nonlinear failure criterion and upper bound theorem makes it possible to evaluate the stability of circular tunnels with an original curved collapsing mechanism. The arch effect of shallow circle tunnel is not taken into consideration so that the mechanical characteristics can be easily described. Based on the mechanism, the upper bound solution of supporting pressure of tunnels under the condition of surface settlements and overloads on the ground surface is derived. The objective function is formed from virtual work equations under the variational principle, and solutions are presented by the optimum theory. Comparisons with previous works are made. The numerical results of the present method show great agreement with those of existing ones. With regard to the surface settlement and overloads, the influence of different rock parameters on the collapsing shape is analyzed.

Tunnel face stability and ground settlement in pressurized shield tunnelling

An analysis of the stability of large-diameter circular tunnels and ground settlement during tunnelling by a pressurized shield was presented. An innovative three-dimensional translational multi-block failure mechanism was proposed to determine the face support pressure of large-shield tunnelling. Compared with the currently available mechanisms, the proposed mechanism has two unique features:(1) the supporting pressure applied to the tunnel face is assumed to have a non-uniform rather than uniform distribution, and(2) the method takes into account the entire circular excavation face instead of merely an inscribed ellipse. Based on the discrete element method, a numerical simulation of the Shanghai Yangtze River Tunnel was carried out using the Particle Flow Code in two dimensions. The immediate ground movement during excavation, as well as the behaviour of the excavation face, the shield movement, and the excavated area, was considered before modelling the excavation process.

Study on Ground Deformation during Shield Tunnel Construction

Through the systematic analysis of the ground settlement generated by the process of shield tunneling,the relationships between ground deformation and construction parameters are studied in this paper.Based on the assumption of linear small deformation,a mathematical model of the relationship between ground deformation and construction parameters is set up.The principle and method of optimization for estimating ground deformation is studied.The actual measured data are compared with the results of theoretical analysis in a case.Considering different ground formations in different construction sites with different adverse effects on surface and underground structures,the ground surface deformations caused by shield tunneling is an aimed topic in this paper.The contributions and research implications are the revealed relationships between the ground deformation and the shield tunneling parameters during construction.

Response of operating metro tunnels to compensation grouting of an underlying large-diameter shield tunnel:A case study in Hangzhou

Due to the shield tunneling underneath,long-term settlements may develop in the existing metro tunnels.The compensation grouting is applied worldwide to stabilize the settlement of ground and existing structures.Few field studies concerning large-diameter shield pass-ing tunnel from below have analyzed the interaction between the compensation grouting and the existing tunnel.This paper presents a case study on the response of the operating metro tunnels to the compensation grouting of an underlying large-diameter tunnel in muddy clay stratum.The tunnel deformations before,during,and after the compensation grouting were monitored and analyzed.The long-term tunnel settlements were mitigated and stabilized by the timely compensation grouting.Smaller settlement rates were observed during the grouting treatment,and the settlement was gradually stabilized three months after the grouting.The grouting holes at the tunnel invert were used initially for better grouting efficiency.The horizontal displacement and convergence developed during the grouting construc-tion and remained stable after the grouting process.Moreover,some limitations of the grouting treatment were discussed.The tunnel settlement in the section close to the center-line of the south-line tunnel cannot be prevented effectively.The differential displacement cannot be reduced by this grouting program.

Evaluation of train-induced settlement for metro tunnel in saturated clay based on an elastoplastic constitutive model

In this study,a two-dimensional(2D)soil–water coupling dynamicfinite element(FE)analysis is conducted to investigate the effect of repeated train vibrations on the long-term settlement of a metro tunnel in saturated clay.Particular attention is paid to the leakage prob-lem of the metro tunnel by assuming different permeability conditions,namely fully permeable,fully impermeable,and partially perme-able,on the periphery of the tunnel for simplicity.The train vibration load isfirst evaluated using a rail–fastener–tunnel–subgrade model and averaged over a characteristic length for 2D numerical analysis.Cyclic Mobility model is used to simulate the mechanical behaviors of saturated soft clay in the FE analysis.Excess pore water pressure(EPWP)and associated tunnel settlement in trial operation and normal operation are calculated using the FE code DBLEAVES for different permeability conditions.It is found that a very low EPWP is generated in the trial operation,which then increases rapidly to peak values at the early days of normal operation.Afterward,the EPWP diminishes gradually as the train vibration continues.The permeability of the tunnel lining plays a significant role in the distri-bution of EPWP around the tunnel but produces a minor influence on the development of tunnel settlement.The train-induced tunnel settlement is mainly caused by the static settlement resulting from the EPWP dissipation during train interval,while the dynamic settle-ment arising from dynamic consolidation in each train vibration only accounts for a small portion.According to the 2D dynamic FE analysis,thefinal train-induced settlement of the metro tunnel in saturated clay is estimated to reach 160 mm while the peak EPWP value can reach 26.55 kPa.The settlement discrepancies between the numerical method and empirical method are discussed in detail.

Influence of adjacent shield tunneling construction on existing tunnel settlement: field monitoring and intelligent prediction

Urban subway tunnel construction inevitably disturbs the surrounding rock and causes the deformation of existing subway structures. Dynamic predictions of the tunnel horizontal displacement, tunnel ballast settlement, and tunnel differential settlement are important for ensuring the safety of buildings and tunnels. First, based on the Hangzhou Metro project, we analyzed the influence of construction on the deformation of existing subway structures and the difficulties and key points in monitoring. Then, a deformation prediction model, based on a back propagation(BP) neural network, was established with massive monitoring data. In particular, we analyzed the influence of four structures of the BP neural network on prediction performance, i.e., single input–single hidden layer–single output, multiple inputs–single hidden layer–single output, single input–double hidden layers–single output, and multiple inputs–double hidden layers–single output, and verified them using measured data.