• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.315-327
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• 2019

Deep excavations for development of subway systems in metropolitan regions surrounded by adjacent buildings is an important geotechnical problem, especialy in Tabriz city, where is mostly composed of young alluvial soils and weak marly layers. This study analyzes the wall displacement and ground surface settlement due to deep excavation in the Tabriz marls using two dimensional finite element method. The excavation of the station L2-S17 was selected as a case study for the modelling. The excavation is supported by the concrete diaphragm wall and one row of steel struts. The analyses investigate the effects of wall stiffness and excavation width on the excavation-induced deformations. The geotechnical parameters were selected based on the results of field and laboratory tests. The results indicate that the wall deflection and ground surface settlement increase with increasing excavation depth and width. The change in maximum wall deflection and ground settlement with considerable increase in wall stiffness is marginal, however the lower wall stiffness produces the larger wall and ground displacements. The maximum wall deflections induced by the excavation with a width of 8.2 m are 102.3, 69.4 and 44.3 mm, respectively for flexible, medium and stiff walls. The ratio of maximum ground settlement to maximum lateral wall deflection approaches to 1 with increasing wall stiffness. It was found that the wall stiffness affects the settlement influence zone. An increase in the wall stiffness results in a decrease in the settlements, an extension in the settlement influence zones and occurrence of the maximum settlements at a larger distance from the wall. The maximum of settlement for the excavation with a width of 14.7 m occurred at 6.1, 9.1 and 24.2 m away from the wall, respectively, for flexible, medium and stiff walls.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.503-512
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• 2023

In tunneling projects, a significant part of the costs is spent on segment production. By more economically producing, the cost of tunnel construction can be greatly reduced, especially in long and large-diameter tunnels. In the present study, the effect of using the Carousel method in the improvement of the production system performance compared to the conventional Static system has been studied. To carry out the research, a quantitative comparison of cost and production time was carried out for two production methods using the available documentation. The opinions of experts have been obtained using questionnaires and qualitative comparison of cost, time and production quality was done by implementation of statistical analysis. The SPSS software and the univariate t-test were used to analyze the questionnaires. According to the results of statistical analysis with SPSS, the use of the Carousel method will reduce production time and costs along with increasing manufacturing quality. According to the documentation analysis, the Carousel method reduces the cost of production by almost 30% and leads to a reduction of the production time to approximately 40% of the Static moulds system. The Carousel method has a higher production rate, efficiency, and better performance. Research into quantifying the benefits of Carousel method in the production system performance is very limited. This comparison is based on real information from the under construction Tabriz Metro project. This article can be very helpful in choosing the best production method.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.153-165
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• 2019

A case study of monitoring and analysis of surface settlement induced by tunneling of Tabriz metro line 2 (TML2) is presented in this paper. The TML2 single tunnel has been excavated using earth pressure balanced TBM with a cutting-wheel diameter of 9.49 m since 2015. Presented measurements of surface settlements, were collected during the construction of western part of the project (between west depot and S02 station) where the tunnel was being excavated in sand and silt, below the water table and at an average axis depth of about 16 m. Settlement readings were back-analyzed using Gaussian formula, both in longitudinal and transversal directions, in order to estimate volume loss and settlement trough width factor. In addition to settlements, face support and tail grouting pressures were monitored, providing a comprehensive description of the EPB performance. Using the gap model, volume loss prediction was carried out. Also, COB empirical method for determination of the face pressure was employed in order to compare with field monitored data. Likewise, FE simulation was used in various sections employing the code Simulia ABAQUS, to investigate the efficiency of numerical modelling for the estimating of the tunneling induced-surface settlements under such a geotechnical condition. In this regard, the main aspects of a mechanized excavation were simulated. For the studied sections, numerical simulation is not capable of reproducing the high values of in-situ-measured surface settlements, applying Mohr-Coulomb constitutive law for soil. Based on results, for the mentioned case study, the range of estimated volume loss mostly varies from 0.2% to 0.7%, having an average value of 0.45%.