• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.71-82
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• 2006

One of the most popular pre-reinforcement methods of tunnel heading in cohesionless soils would be the fore-polling of grouted pipes, known as RPUM (reinforced protective umbrella method) or UAM (umbrella arch method). This technique allows safe excavation even in poor ground conditions by creating longitudinal arch parallel to the tunnel axis as the tunnel advances. Some previous studies on the reinforcing effects have been performed using numerical methods and/or laboratory-based small scale model tests. The complexity of boundary conditions imposes difficulties in representing the tunnelling procedure in laboratory tests and theoretical approaches. Full-scale study to identify reinforcing effects of the tunnel heading has rarely been carried out so far. In this study, a large scale model testing for a tunnel in granular soils was performed. Reinforcing patterns considered are four cases, Non-Reinforced, Crown-Reinforced, Crown & Face-Reinforced, and Face-Reinforced. The behavior of ground and pipes as reinforcing member were fully measured as the surcharge pressure applied. The influences of reinforcing pattern, pipe length, and face reinforcement were investigated in terms of stress and displacement. It is revealed that only the Face-Reinforced has decreased sufficiently both vertical settlement in tunnel heading and horizontal displacement on the face. Vertical stresses along the tunnel axis were concentrated in tunnel heading from the test results, so the heading should be reinforced before tunnel advancing. Most of maximum axial forces and bending moments for Crown-reinforced were measured at 0.75D from the face. Also it should be recommended that the minimum length of the pipe is more than l.0D for crown reinforcement.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.30 no.3A
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• pp.201-209
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• 2010

Generally, PSC girder bridge uses total gross cross section to resist applied loads unlike reinforced concrete member. Also, it is used as short and middle span (less than 30 m) bridges due to advantages such as ease of design and construction, reduction of cost, and convenience of maintenance. But, due to recent increased public interests for environmental friendly and appearance appealing bridges all over the world, the demands for longer span bridges have been continuously increasing. This trend is shown not only in ordinary long span bridge types such as cable supported bridges but also in PSC girder bridges. In order to meet the increasing demands for new type of long span bridges, PSC hollow box girder with H-type steel as compression reinforcements is developed for bridge with a single span of more than 50 m. The developed PSC girder applies compressive prestressing at H-type compression reinforcements using unbonded PS tendon. The purpose of compressive prestressing is to recover plastic displacement of PSC girder after long term service by releasing the prestressing. The static test composed of 4 different stages in 3-point bending test is performed to verify safety of the bridge. First stage loading is applied until tensile cracks form. Then in second stage, the load is removed and the girder is unloaded. In third stage, after removal of loading, recovery of remaining plastic deformation is verified as the compressive prestressing is removed at H-type reinforcements. Then, in fourth stage, loading is continued until the girder fails. The experimental results showed that the first crack occurs at 1,615 kN with a corresponding displacement of 187.0 mm. The introduction of the additional compressive stress in the lower part of the girder from the removal of unbonded compressive prestressing of the H-type steel showed a capacity improvement of about 60% (7.7 mm) recovery of the residual deformation (18.7 mm) that occurred from load increase. By using prestressed H-type steel as compression reinforcements in the upper part of cross section, repair and rehabilitation of PSC girders are relatively easy, and the cost of maintenance is expected to decrease.