• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.1-17
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• 2024

Analyzing the tunnel excavation behavior and its effect on the surrounding ground involves large deformation behavior. Therefore, in order to properly simulate the tunnel excavation process and rigorously investigate the actual effect of excavation on surrounding ground and tunnel structure large deformation analysis method is required. In this study, two major numerical approaches capable of considering large deformations behavior were applied to investigate the effect of tunnel boring machine excavation on the surrounding ground: coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian (CEL) and the automatic remeshing (AR) method. Relative performance of both approaches was evaluated through the ground response due to TBM excavation. The ground response will be quantified by estimating the range of the excavation damaged zone (EDZ). By comparing the results, the range of the EDZ will be suggested on the vertical and horizontal direction along the TBM excavation surface. Based on the computed results, it was found that the size of EDZ around the excavation surface and the tendencies was in good agreement among the two approaches. Numerical results clearly show that the size of the EDZ around the tunnel tends to be larger for rock with higher RMR rating. The size of the EDZ is found to be direct proportional to the tunnel diameter, whereas the depth of the tunnel is inversely proportional due to higher confinement stress around the excavation surface.

• Explosives and Blasting
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2006

Recently, most of limestone quarries have been not mined by open-pit mining but by underground excavation to reduce environmental pollution. As a result, the size of underground galleries became bigger to maintain mass-production close to open-pit mining. However, the scale of pillars and galleries as well as the excavation methods may induce a few adverse problems for the stability of a mined gallery. In this study, the nomogram analysis and the prediction of rock damage zone induced by blasting were carried out. The testing conditions include concurrent blasting of two adjacent galleries, concurrent blasting of a transport drift and a inclined shaft, sequential blasting of two galleries, and separate blasting for each gallery. For each testing condition, blast vibration velocity was measured and analyzed. From the prediction formulas for blast vibration velocity derived in this study, the maximum depth of rock damage zone induced by blasting were also predicted.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.339-348
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• 2022

The bored tunneling method is generally preferred for urban tunnel construction, However the cut & cover tunnel is still necessary for special conditions, such as metro station and access structures. In some case, deep excavation for cut & cover construction is planed of irregular and unusual shape, as a consequence, the convex and concave corner is often encountered during that excavation. In particular, discontinuity or imbalance of the support structure in the convex corner can lead to collapse, which may result in damages and casualties. In this study, the behavior of the convex corner of retaining structure were investigated using 3-dimensional numerical models established to be able to simulate the split-shaped behavior of convex corners. To improve the stability in the vicinity of the convex corner, several stabilizing measures were proposed and estimated numerically. It is found that linking two discretized wales at the convex corner can effectively perform the control of deformation. Furthermore, it was also confirmed that the stabilizing measures can be enhanced when the tie-material linking two discretized wales is installed at the depth of the maximum wall deflection.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.179-191
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• 2023

To study the influences of tunneling on the earth pressure and ground settlement when the tunnel passes through the adjacent underground retaining structure, 30 two-dimensional model tests were carried out taking into account the ratios of tunnel excavation depth (H) to lateral width (w), excavation width (B), and excavation distance using a custom-made test device and an analogical soil. Tunnel crossing adjacent existing retaining structure (TCE) and tunnel crossing adjacent newly-built retaining structure (TCN) were simulated and the earth pressure variations and ground settlement distribution during excavation were analyzed. For TCE condition, the earth pressure increments, maximum ground settlement and the curvature of the ground settlement curve are negatively related to H/B, but positively related to H/s and H/w. For TCN condition, most trends are consistent with TCE except that the earth pressure increments and the curvature of ground settlement curve are negatively related to H/w. The maximum ground settlement is larger than that observed in tunnel crossing the existing underground structure. This study provides an assessment basis for the design and construction under confined space conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.101-109
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• 2022

This study describes the results of model experiment to analyze the effect of backfill material types on the behavior of underground facility. In the model experiment, backfill materials around the existing underground facility were applied with soil (Jumunjin standard sand) and CLSM. The displacement of underground facility was analyzed for each excavation stage considering the separation distance between the excavation surface and the backfill area based on the experimental results. When soil was applied as a backfill material, the soil on the back of the excavation surface collapsed by excavation and formed an angle of repose, and the process of slope stability was repeated at each excavation stage. In addition, the displacement of underground facility began to occur in the excavation stage that the failure line of soil passes the installation location of the underground facility. When CLSM was applied as a backfill material, there was almost no horizontal and vertical displacement of the ground regardless of the separation distance from the excavation surface even when excavation proceeded to the backfill depth. Therefore, this result showed that it can have a resistance effect against the lateral earth pressure generated and the collapse of the original ground by adjacent excavation, if a backfill material with high stiffness such as CLSM is applied.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.525-538
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• 2023

The development of a city is closely linked to the construction and operation of its subway system. However, constructing a new subway tunnel under an existing station is an extremely complex task, and the deformation characteristics and mechanical behavior of the new subway tunnel during the excavation process can greatly impact the normal operation of the existing station. Although the previous studies about the case of underpass engineering have been carried out, there is limited research on the condition of a newly-built subway tunnel that closely undercrossing an existing station with zero distance between them. Therefore, this study analyzes the deformation law and mechanical behavior characteristics of the preliminary lining of the underpass tunnel during the excavation process based on the real engineering case of Chengdu Metro Line 8. This study also makes an in-depth comparison of the influence of different excavation methods on this issue. Finally, the accuracy of numerical simulation is verified by comparing it with on-site result. The results indicate that the maximum bending moment mainly occurs at the floor slab of the preliminary lining, while that of the ceiling is small. The stress state at the ceiling position is less affected by the construction process of the pilot tunnel. Compared to the all-in-one excavation method, although the process of partial excavation method is more complicated, the deformation of preliminary lining caused by it is basically less than the upper limit value of the standard, while that of the all-in-one excavation method is beyond standard requirements.

• Journal of Industrial Technology
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• v.25 no.B
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• pp.55-62
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• 2005

This paper is the results of experimental and numerical works on analyzing the geotechnical engineering behavior and characteristics of excavated clay slope formed by the method of excavated replacement which is one of treatments in soft soil ground. For the centrifuge model tests, models of excavated clay slope were prepared by remolding the marine clayey soil sampled from the field. Tests were performed with changing the slope to investigate the behavior of them. On the other hand, numerical analyses were carried out to analyze the change of safety factor against instability of slope with time. Changes of pore water pressure, shear strength and displacement were also investigated. As results of centrifuge model tests with slopes of 1:1.5 and 1:3 using the confining body of simulating the effect of excavation, for the case of 1:1.5, slope failure occurred right after remove the confining body whereas relatively small displacements within the range of 3.2mm, implying to maintain the stability of slope, were observed for the case of 1:3 slope. From the results of numerical analyses using the software of PLAXIS to investigate the stability of slope after excavation, the minimum safety factor against slope failure was 1.28 for the case of 1:3 slope. The further researches in the future are required with considerations of build up of static pore water pressures during acceleration of centrifuge, depth of excavation influencing the behavior of the slope and permeability of the slope since excavation of the slope was not simulated well resulted from the limitations of apparatus at the stage of excavation during the centrifuge tests.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.115-124
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• 2023

By conducting three-dimensional simulation with consideration of small-strain characteristics of soil stiffness, the effects of excavation geometry and tunnel cover to diameter ratio on deformation mechanisms of an existing tunnel located either at a side of basement or directly underneath the basement were systematically studied. Field measurements were used to verify the numerical model and model parameters. For basement excavated at a side of an existing tunnel, the maximum settlement and horizontal displacement of the tunnel are always observed at the tunnel springline closer to basement and tunnel crown, respectively, regardless of basement geometry. By increasing basement length and width by five times, the maximum movements of tunnel located at the side of basement and directly underneath the basement increase by 450% and 186%, respectively. Obviously, tunnel movements are more sensitive to basement length rather than basement width. For basement excavated at a side of an existing tunnel, tunnel movements at basement centerline become stable when basement length reaches 10 H_e (i.e., final excavation depth). Moreover, tunnel heaves due to overlying basement excavation become stable when the normalized basement length (L/H_e) is larger than 8.0. As tunnel cover to diameter ratio varies from 2.5 to 3.0, the maximum heave and tensile strain of tunnel due to overlying basement excavation decrease by up to 41.0% and 44.5%, respectively. If basement length is less than 8 H_e, the assumption of plane strain condition of basement-tunnel interaction grossly overestimates tunnel movements, and ignores tensile strain of tunnel along its longitudinal direction. Thus, three-dimensional numerical analyses are required to obtain a reasonable estimation of tunnel responses due to adjacent and overlying basement excavations in clay.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.1105-1123
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• 2018

The main risk factors of tunnel excavation through urban areas are ground settlement and surface sink which caused by ground conditions, excavation method, groundwater condition, excavation length, support method, etc. In the process of ground settlement assessment, the numerical analysis should be conducted considering the displacement and stress due to tunnel excavation. Therefore a technique that can simplify such process and easily evaluate the influence of tunnel excavation is needed. This study focused on the tunnelling-induced ground settlement which is main consideration of underground safety impact assessment. The parametric numerical analyses were performed considering such parameters as ground conditions, tunnel depth, and lateral distance from tunnel center line, etc. A simplified ground settlement evaluation chart was suggested by analyzing tendency of ground subsidence, lateral influence area and character by depth. The applicability of the suggested settlement evaluation chart was verified by comparative numerical analysis of settlement characteristics.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.395-409
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• 2022

To overcome the limitation of conventional rock excavation methods, the excavation with abrasive waterjet has been actively developed. The abrasive waterjet excavation method has the effect of reducing blasting vibration and enhancing the excavation efficiency by forming a continuous free surface on the rock. However, the waterjet cutting performance varies with rock fracturing characteristics. Thus, it is necessary to analyze the cutting performance for various rocks in order to effectively utilize the waterjet excavation. In this study, cutting experiments with the high pressure waterjet system were performed for basalt and granite specimens. Water pressure, standoff distance, and traverse speed were determined as effective parameters for the abrasive waterjet cutting. The cutting depth and width of basalt specimens were analyzed to compare with granite results. The averaged cutting depth of basalt was shown in 41% deeper than granite; in addition, the averaged cutting width of basalt was formed by 18.5% narrower than granite. The results of this study are expected to be useful basic data for applying rock excavation site with low strength and high porosity such as basalt.