• 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.16 no.2
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• pp.193-201
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• 2014

This paper presents the development of simulation system on EPB shield TBM Hood operation. In recent, EPB shield TBM is widely used in the tunnel construction. Since the hood system of the EPB shield TBM is most important to excavate the tunnel, it is necessary to perform the simulation of hood system to investigate the design and operation parameters prior to tunnel construction. In order to carry out this study, the scaled simulation system was designed and developed. The model tests were performed to verify the developed system. During the simulation, the earth pressures developed in the chamber during tunnelling were measured to evaluate the operation technique. The test results obtained by the developed simulation system show clearly the similar behaviour of TBM hood compared with the field data. It was also found that the ground loss during tunnelling is dependent on the change of earth pressure in chamber. Therefore, the simulation system developed in this study will be very useful to evaluate the operation technique of the TBM hood prior to tunnel construction. In addition, this system will be applied in a various condition of ground to get the operating information.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2024

Geotechnical parameter estimation is critical to the design, performance, safety, and cost and schedule management in Tunnel Boring Machine projects. Since these parameters vary within a certain range, relying on mean values for evaluation introduces significant risks to the project. Due to the non-homogeneous characteristics of geological formation, data may not exhibit a normal distribution and the presence of outliers might be deceptive. Therefore, the use of reliable analyses and simulation models is inevitable in the course of the data evaluation process. Advanced modeling techniques enable comprehensive analysis of the project data and allowing to model the uncertainty in geotechnical parameters. This study involves using Monte Carlo Simulation method to predict probabilistic distributions of field data, and therefore, establish a basis for designs and in turn to minimize project risks. In the study, 166 sets of geotechnical data Obtained from 35 boreholes including Standard Penetration Test, Limit Pressure, Liquid Limit, and Plastic Limit values, which are mostly utilized parameters in estimating project requirements, were used to estimate the geotechnical data distribution of the study field. In this context, firstly, the data was subjected to multi-parameter linear regression and variance analysis. Then, the obtained equations were implemented into a Monte Carlo Simulation, and probabilistic distributions of the geotechnical data of the field were simulated and corresponding to the 90% probability range, along with the minimum and maximum values at the 5% probability levels presented. Accordingly, while the average SPT N30 value is 42.86, but the highest occurrence rate is 50.81. For Net Limit Pressure, the average field data is 17.07 kg/cm², with the maximum occurrence between 9.6 kg/cm² and 13.7 kg/cm². Similarly, the average Plastic Limit value is 22.32, while the most probable value is 20.6. The average Liquid Limit value is 56.73, with the highest probability at 54.48, as indicated in the statistical data distribution. Understanding the percentage distribution of data likely to be encountered in the project allows for accurate forecasting of both high and low probability scenarios, offering a significant advantage, particularly in ordering TBM requirements.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.64 no.4
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• pp.449-459
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• 2017

High-rise buildings are generally sensitive to strong winds. The evaluation of wind loads for the structural design, structural health monitoring (SHM), and vibration control of high-rise buildings is of primary importance. Nevertheless, it is difficult or even infeasible to measure the wind loads on an existing building directly. In this regard, a new inverse method for evaluating wind loads on high-rise buildings is developed in this study based on a discrete-time Kalman filter. The unknown structural responses are identified in conjunction with the wind loads on the basis of limited structural response measurements. The algorithm is applicable for estimating wind loads using different types of wind-induced response. The performance of the method is comprehensively investigated based on wind tunnel testing results of two high-rise buildings with typical external shapes. The stability of the proposed algorithm is evaluated. Furthermore, the effects of crucial factors such as cross-section shapes of building, the wind-induced response type, errors of structural modal parameters, covariance matrix of noise, noise levels in the response measurements and number of vibration modes on the identification accuracy are examined through a detailed parametric study. The research outputs of the proposed study will provide valuable information to enhance our understanding of the effects of wind on high-rise buildings and improve codes of practice.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.11-26
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• 2022

One of the most important issues in tunneling, is the squeezing phenomenon. Squeezing can occur during excavation or after the construction of tunnels, which in both cases could lead to significant damages. Therefore, it is important to predict the squeezing and consider it in the early design stage of tunnel construction. Different empirical, semi-empirical and theoretical-analytical methods have been presented to determine the squeezing. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the ability of each of these methods and identify the best method among them. In this study, squeezing in a part of the Alborz service tunnel in Iran was estimated through a number of empirical, semi- empirical and theoretical-analytical methods. Among these methods, the most robust model was used to obtain a database including 300 data for training and 33 data for testing in order to develop a machine learning (ML) method. To this end, three ML models of Gaussian process regression (GPR), artificial neural network (ANN) and support vector regression (SVR) were trained and tested to propose a robust model to predict the squeezing phenomenon. A comparative analysis between the conventional and the ML methods utilized in this study showed that, the GPR model is the most robust model in the prediction of squeezing phenomenon. The sensitivity analysis of the input parameters using the mutual information test (MIT) method showed that, the most sensitive parameter on the squeezing phenomenon is the tangential strain (ε_θ^α) parameter with a sensitivity score of 2.18. Finally, the GPR model was recommended to predict the squeezing phenomenon in tunneling projects. This work's significance is that it can provide a good estimation of the squeezing phenomenon in tunneling projects, based on which geotechnical engineers can take the necessary actions to deal with it in the pre-construction designs.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.299-315
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• 2013

Numerical research on four typical configurations of noise mitigation structures and their characteristics of wind loads are reported in this paper. The turbulence model as well the model parameters, the modeling of the equilibrium atmospheric boundary layer, the mesh discretization etc., were carefully considered in the numerical model to improve the numerical accuracy. Also a numerical validation of one configuration with the wind tunnel test data was made. Through detailed analyses of the wind load characteristics with the inclined part and the wind incidence angle, it was found that the addition of an inclined part to a noise mitigation structure at-grade would affect the mean nett pressure coefficients on the vertical part, and that the extent of this effect depends on the length of the inclined part itself. The magnitudes of the mean nett pressure coefficients for both the vertical part and the inclined part of noise mitigation structure at-grade tended to increase with length of inclined part. Finally, a comparison with the wind load code British/European Standard BS EN 1991-1-4:2005 was made and the envelope of the mean nett pressure coefficients of the noise mitigation structures was given for design purposes. The current research should be helpful to improve current wind codes by providing more reasonable wind pressure coefficients for different configurations of noise mitigation structures.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.81-96
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• 2020

Wind measurements were made on the Canton Tower at a height of 461 m above ground during the Typhoon Vincente, the wind-induced accelerations and displacements of the tower were recorded as well. Comparisons of measured wind parameters at upper level of atmospheric boundary layer with those adopted in wind tunnel testing were presented. The measured turbulence intensity can be smaller than the design value, indicating that the wind tunnel testing may underestimate the crosswind structural responses for certain lock-in velocity range of vortex shedding. Analyses of peak factors and power spectral density for acceleration response shows that the crosswind responses are a combination of gust-induced buffeting and vortex-induced vibrations in the certain range of wind directions. The identified modal frequencies and mode shapes from acceleration data are found to be in good agreement with existing experimental results and the prediction from the finite element model. The damping ratios increase with amplitude of vibration or equivalently wind velocity which may be attributed to aerodynamic damping. In addition, the natural frequencies determined from the measured displacement are very close to those determined from the acceleration data for the first two modes. Finally, the relation between displacement responses and wind speed/direction was investigated.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.185-197
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• 2022

This study aimed to analyze the wind-induced mechanical energy (WME) of a proposed super high-rise and long-span transmission tower-line system (SHLTTS), which, in 2021, is the tallest tower-line system with the longest span. Anew index - the WME, accounting for the wind-induced vibration behavior of the whole system rather than the local part, was first proposed. The occurrence of the maximum WME for a transmission tower, with or without conductors, under synoptic winds, was analyzed, and the corresponding formulae were derived based on stochastic vibration theory. Some calculation data, such as the drag coefficient, dynamic parameters, windshielding areas, mass, calculation point coordinates, mode shape and influence function, derived from wind tunnel testing on reducedscale models and finite element software were used in calculating the maximum WME of the transmission tower under three cases. Then, the influence of conductors, wind speed, gradient wind height and wind yaw angle on WME components and the energy transfer relationship between substructures (transmission tower and conductor) were analyzed. The study showed that the presence of conductors increases the WME of transmission towers and changes the proportion of the mean component (MC), background component (BC) and resonant component (RC) for WME; The RC of WME is more susceptible to the wind speed change. Affected by the gradient wind height, the WME components decrease. With the RC decreasing the fastest and the MC decreasing the slowest; The WME reaches the its maximum value at the wind yaw angle of 30°. Due to the influence of three factors, namely: the long span of the conductors, the gradient wind height and the complex geometrical profile, it is important that the tower-line coupling effect, the potential for fatigue damage and the most unfavorable wind yaw angle should be given particular attention in the wind-resistant design of SHLTTSs

• Wind and Structures
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.419-430
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• 2022

In wind-resistant designs, wind velocity is assumed to be a Gaussian process; however, local complex topography may result in strong non-Gaussian wind features. This study investigates the non-Gaussian wind features over complex terrain under atmospheric turbulent boundary layers by the large eddy simulation (LES) model, and the turbulent inlet of LES is generated by the consistent discretizing random flow generation (CDRFG) method. The performance of LES is validated by two different complex terrains in Changsha and Mianyang, China, and the results are compared with wind tunnel tests and onsite measurements, respectively. Furthermore, the non-Gaussian parameters, such as skewness, kurtosis, probability curves, and gust factors, are analyzed in-depth. The results show that the LES method is in good agreement with both mean and turbulent wind fields from wind tunnel tests and onsite measurements. Wind fields in complex terrain mostly exhibit a left-skewed Gaussian process, and it changes from a softening Gaussian process to a hardening Gaussian process as the height increases. A reduction in the gust factors of about 2.0%-15.0% can be found by taking into account the non-Gaussian features, except for a 4.4% increase near the ground in steep terrain. This study can provide a reference for the assessment of extreme wind loads on structures in complex terrain.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.555-566
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• 2007

In general, RMR classification system is used for the support design of a tunnel. Face mapping during excavation and RMR-based rock classifications are conducted in order to provide information for complementary changes to preliminary survey plans and for continuous geological estimations in direction of tunnel route. Although they are ever so important, there are not enough time for survey in general and sometimes even face mapping is not available. Linear regression analysis for the estimation of mediating RQD and condition of discontinuities, which require longer time and more detailed observation in RMR, was performed and optimum regression equations are suggest as the result. The geological data collected from tunnels were analyzed in accordance with three rock types as sedimentary rock, phyllite and granite to see geological effects, generally not been considered in previous researches. Parameters for the regression analysis were set another RMR factor.