• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.187-194
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• 2010

As the design of the pillar width (PW) of the parallel tunnels in downtown area, in which are located in plains zone with deep alluvium compared with mountain tunnels, is directly related with pre-compensation payment and costs of the underground area, it has to be planned as to keep minimum distance while securing the stability of the parallel tunnels. Although PW of downtown road tunnel in Korea is standardized as 1.5D(D: diameter of the tunnels), PW sometimes has to be reduced within 1.5D to adjust the tunnel lines to the city plan in the cases of the inlet and outlet of the tunnels. In this paper, the design and the analyses of optimum PW of the NATM type road tunnel in the downtown area are introduced. The relationship among the tunnel line planning and underground compensation fee, and ground characteristics are evaluated. In the determination of PW distance, the numerical analyses of underground road tunnels were performed, including the use of the strength decrease method and strength/stress ratio method. In the cases of inlet and outlet part of the tunnels where the stability of the pillars is poor due to contiguous construction of the parallel tunnels, the reinforcement methods are recommended for securing the stability. Numerical verification was performed for the reinforcement proposed.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.299-310
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• 2014

Nationally, tunnel and underground constructions are necessary for the environmental sustainability and the efficient use of land space. For the importance of eco-friendly circumstances, 2-arch or large road tunnel has been designed so far. However, such a 2-arch or large tunnel has problems in terms of cost, constructability, construction period, and maintenance. Therefore, in this study, tunnel behavior and stability of rock pillar according to the pillar width and cover depth for parallel tunnels are investigated by performing FE analysis and using empirical formula. According to the results, Rock pillar is reinforced for distributed vertical load by Tie-Bolt due to unpredicted ground deformation, and the reinforced rock pillar's behaviour from the FE analysis shows a quite good agreement with field measurement. According to ground conditions, if the pillar width of the parallel tunnels is reduced, it can be more efficient in use of the tunnel space compared to previous tunnels.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.346-355
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• 2019

When evaluating pillar stability in very closely spaced tunnels, a local safety factor (strength/stress ratio) at the minimum width has been widely used. Tension bolts have been frequently applied as reinforcement for the cases where safety factors are less than 1.0 from FEM stress analysis. However, the local safety factor shows a constant value irrespective of the change in pillar width/tunnel diameter (PW/D) and the safety factor of the pillar is underestimated because the variation of deviation stress is relatively small even when the pre-stressing is applied to the tension bolt. In addition, the average safety factor proposed by Hoek and Brown(1980) was reviewed, but the pillar safety factor was relatively overestimated when the width of the pillar was increased. As an alternative, the SRM safety factor using shear strength reduction method shows the effect of changing the safety factor in the case of no reinforcement and tension bolt reinforcement as the pillar width/tunnel diameter(PW/D) changes. The failure shape is also similar to the previous limit theory result. In this study, the safety factor was evaluated without considering rock bolt and shotcrete to distinguish reinforcing effect of tension bolt.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.53-62
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• 2014

In Korea, in general, separation distance between existing parallel tunnels was set at two to five times as distant as the diameter of the tunnels according to ground conditions. Recently, however, actual applicability of closely spaced parallel tunnels whose distance between tunnel centers was shorter than the diameter has increased due to environmental damages resulting from massive cutting, restriction in purchase of required land, and maintenance of linear continuity. In particular, when the pillar width of tunnel decreases, the safety of pillars affects behaviors of the tunnel and therefore the need for diverse relevant studies has emerged. However, research so far has been largely confined to analysis of behavior characteristics of pillars, or parameters affecting design, and actually applicable and quantitative data have not been presented. Accordingly, in order to present a stability evaluation method which may maximally reflect construction conditions of spots, this study reflected topographical and stratigraphic characteristics of the portal part with the highest closeness between the tunnels, simulated multi-layer conditions with rock mass and complete weathering, and assessed the degree of effect the stability of pillars had on the entire tunnels through numerical analysis according to changes in pillar width by ground strength. This study also presented composite analysis result on ground surface settlement rates, interference volume rates, and average strength to stress and a formula, which may be applicable to actual work, to evaluate safety rates of closely spaced parallel tunnel pillars and minimum pillar width by ground strength based on failure criteria by Hoek-Brown (1980).

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.115-131
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• 2011

Recently, considering the aspects of disaster prevention and environmental damage, the construction of a twin tunnel is increasing. When constructing a twin tunnel, the stresses are concentrated at the pillar so that stability of the tunnel is decreased. Since the previous studies on the behavior of a twin tunnel pillar are mainly restricted to the estimation of the tunnel behavior and the analysis of surface settlement, there is a limit to a quantitative stability estimation of the pillar. Therefore, it was quantitatively investigated how the pillar width of a twin tunnel affects its stability. To ensure this end, global tunnel safety factors obtained numerically using shear strength reduction technique, local safety factors of a pillar using the equation that Matsuda et al. suggested, and strength/stress ratios of the pillar were estimated and their results were analyzed for two sections with different rock covers. For a reasonable design of a twin tunnel pillar, it was turned out that strength/stress ratio, the local pillar safety factor, and global tunnel safety factor should be used interrelatedly rather than independently.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.352-359
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• 2010

Stability of twin tunnels depends on the pillar width and the ground condition. In this study, large scale model tests were conducted for investigating the influence of the pillar width of twin tunnels on their behavior in the regular horizontal jointed rock mass. Jointed rocks was composed of concrete blocks. Pillar width of twin tunnels varied in 0.29D, 0.59D, 0.88D and 1.18D, where D is the tunnel width. During the test, pillar stress, lining stress, tunnel distortion, and ground displacement were measured. Lateral earth pressure coefficient was kept in a constant value 1.0. As a result, it was found that the pillar stress and the displacement of the ground and tunnel were increased by decreasing pillar width. The maximum displacement rate was measured just after the upper excavation in each construction sequence. And the maximum influence position was the right shoulder of the preceeding tunnel at the pillar side. It was also found that for the stability assessment the inner displacement was more critical than the crown displacement. The influence zone was formed at the pillar width 0.59D~0.88D that was smaller than 0.8D~2.0D, which was proposed by experience for a good ground condition. And it would be concluded that horizontal joints could also influence on the stability of the twin tunnels.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.537-546
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• 2013

Traffic congestion in existing tunnels has increased due to increased traffic volume and enlarged vehicles. Enlarging existing tunnels has advantages over constructing new tunnels by reducing land purchasing costs as well as minimizing natural environment destruction. In fact, many overseas projects for enlarging existing tunnels have been reported. Thus, it appears that the demand on enlarging existing tunnels continues to rise in Korea in near future. Nonetheless, the studies related to the enlarged tunnels have been relatively rare since there have been few tunnel enlargement projects in Korea. In the present study, the tunnel behavior and the stability of rock pillar when enlarging existing parallel tunnels were investigated by performing FE analysis and using existing theory and empirical relationships. Four different enlarging cases, depending on the enlargement types and directions, were examined in the study. According to the results, for the tunnels with the same pillar width after enlarged, the uni-laterally enlarged tunnel indicated 5 to 20% higher crown settlement compared to the bi-laterally enlarged tunnel, and for the tunnel with the narrowest pillar, the highest shotcrete stress was observed. Also, the strength/stress ratio for rock pillar was more than 1.0 for all four enlargement cases, and the Matsuda's method was found to give higher strength/stress ratio by about 50% compared to the Peck's method.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.393-404
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• 2018

The tunnel can be planned to connect to underground roadway and surface road. The large tunnel and branch section are made when the ramp tunnel access to the main tunnel. In the branch section, stress concentration can be assigned and it can be very important for the stability of the tunnel. This study assessed the behavior of rock pillar in double deck tunnel diverging area by using a two dimensional numerical analysis. This study evaluated different safety factors according to pillar width and the ramp tunnel position in branch. By the assessment of the strength-stress ratio, tunnel pillar width is suggested in order to secure the safety factor 1.5.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.109-119
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• 2017

A lot of twin tunnels were modelled with different pillar widths, rock mass classes and stress ratios in order to consider various site conditions, and the stabilities of the pillars were estimated by numerical analyses and scaled model tests. The strength-stress ratios of the pillar were obtained from three different methods which were using the stresses appeared at the middle point, the whole average and the left/right edges of the pillar. The strength-stress ratio of the pillar edges showed relatively conservative values among them, and it was also practically consistent with the tunnel excavating steps comprising the construction sequence analyses which included the partial excavation and the support system. Scaled model tests were also performed to investigate the tunnel stability, where it was found that cracks were progressively generated from the pillar edges toward the middle point of the pillar. Therefore, in order to both prevent the local damage of pillar and conservatively estimate the tunnel stability, it was thought to be an appropriate method using the strength-stress ratio obtained from the left/right edges of the pillar.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.170-185
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• 2018

The effect of fault on the stability of the closely-spaced twin tunnels located in fault zones was investigated by numerical analyses and scaled model tests on condition of varying widths, inclinations and material properties of fault. When obtaining the strength/stress ratios of pillar between twin tunnels, three different stresses were used which were measured at the middle point of pillar, calculated to whole average along the pillar section and measured at the left/right edges of pillar. Among them, the method by use of the left/right edges turned out to be the most conservative stability estimation regardless of the presence of fault and reflected the excavating procedures of tunnel in real time. It was also found that the strength/stress ratios of pillar were decreased as the widths and inclinations of fault were increased and as the material properties of fault were decreased on condition using the stresses measured at the left/right edges of pillar. As a result of scaled model tests, it was found that the model with fault showed less crack initiating pressure than the model without fault. As the width of fault was larger, tunnel stability was decreased. The fault had also a great influence on the failure behavior of tunnels, such as the model without fault showed failure cracks generated horizontally at the left/right edges of pillar and at the sidewalls of twin tunnels, whereas the model with fault showed failure cracks directionally generated at the center of pillar located in the fault zone.