• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2009.09a
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• pp.829-834
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• 2009

Alluvial soil is one of the most difficult grounds for tunneling works due to the insufficient ground strength and excessive ground water inflow. Dduk island in Seoul has a wide alluvium developed by two rivers, Han and Jung-Ryang. Subway tunnel of $\bigcirc\bigcirc$ line planed across Dduk island has highly poor ground conditions due to small cover and deeply developed alluvium. Moreover, much part of this tunnel is located parallel to the bridge foundations of another railway with a small horizontal distance. Original design was done in 2002 and construction has been in progress. During the construction, tunnel design has been partly changed and adjusted for the complex ground condition and the demand from related organizations. This paper intend to introduce the urban tunnel design and construction in alluvial soils. This line could be divided three sections(A, B, C) according to ground and adjacent conditions. Section A is featured by mixed tunnel faces consisted with alluvial soils and weathered or weak rocks. The feature of section B is that tunnel underpasses near the bridge foundations of another subway. Lastly, section C with a very short length is the most difficult construction conditions due to the small cover, poor ground, obstacles on and underneath ground surface.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2008.11b
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• pp.947-954
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• 2008

Nowadays many urban subways are frequently constructed under the building and the river by the use of tunneling method. Especially, the majority of the tunnel are constructed even with shallow depth under the ground in the weathered soil. Since the tunnel are generally designed on the basis of the geographic soil investigation, the stability of the tunnel should be checked with the realistic data instrumented during construction. The displacement of the tunnel occurs in front of the end face during the excavation of the tunnel, which is called as pre-displacement. The total displacement can be figured from the exact pre-displacement, which is very difficult to measure without using any device installed in front of the tunnel end face. In this study, the pre-displacement measured from horizontal inclinometer was analyzed to know the co-relation with the total displacement and also, the trend and the characteristics of the tunnel deformation during construction was suggested through the regression analysis of the measured data.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.491-505
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• 2023

The practical usage of underground space and demand for vehicular tunnels necessitate the construction of non-circular wide rectangular tunnels. However, constructing large tunnels in soft clayey soil conditions with no ground improvement can lead to excessive ground deformations and collapse. In recent years, in situ ground improvement techniques such as jet grouting and deep cement mixing are often utilized to perform cement-stabilisation around the tunnel boundary to prevent large deformations and failure. This paper discusses the stability characteristics and failure behaviour of a wide rectangular tunnel in cement-treated soft clays. First, the plane strain finite element model is developed and validated with the results of centrifuge model tests available in the past literature. The critical tunnel support pressures computed from the numerical study are found to be in good agreement with those of centrifuge model tests. The influence of varying strength and thickness of improved soil surround, and cover depth are studied on the stability and failure modes of a rectangular tunnel. It is observed that the failure behaviour of the tunnel in improved soil surround depends on the ratio of the strength of improved soil surround to the strength of surrounding soil, i.e., q_ui/q_us, rather than just q_ui. For low q_ui/q_us ratios,the stability increases with the cover; however, for the high strength improved soil surrounds with q_ui >> q_us, the stability decreases with the cover. The failure chart, modified stability equation, and stability chart are also proposed as preliminary design guidelines for constructing rectangular tunnels in the improved soil surrounded by soft clays.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.435-449
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• 2022

In this paper, unreinforced and geogrid-reinforced soil foundations were modeled by discrete element method and this performed under surface strip footing loads. The effects of horizontal position of geogrid, vertical position, thickness, number, confining pressure have been investigated on the footing settlement and propagation of tensile force along the geogrids. Also, interaction between rectangular tunnel and strip footing with and without presence of geogrid layer has been analyzed. Experimental results of the literature were used to validation of relationships between the numerically achieved footing pressure-settlement for foundations of reinforced and unreinforced soil. Models and micro input parameters which used in the numerical modelling of reinforced and unreinforced soil tunnel were similar to parameters which were used in soil foundations. Model dimension was 1000 mm* 600 mm. Normal and shear stiffness of soils were 5*10⁵ and 2.5 *10⁵ N/m, respectively. Normal and shear stiffness of geogrid were 1*10⁹ and 1*10⁹ N/m, respectively. Loading rate was 0.001 mm/sec. Micro input parameters used in numerical simulation gain by try and error. In addition of the quantitative tensile force propagation along the geogrids, the footing settlements were visualized. Due to collaboration of three layers of geogrid reinforcements the bearing capacity of the reinforced soil tunnel was greatly improved. In such practical reinforced soil formations, the qualitative displacement propagations of soil particles in the soil tunnel and the quantitative vertical displacement propagations along the soil layers/geogrids represented the geogrid reinforcing impacts too.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.41-55
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• 2024

There are obvious differences between the characteristics of offshore ground motion and onshore ground motion in current studies, and factors such as water layer and site conditions have great influence on the characteristics of offshore ground motion. In addition, unlike seismic response analysis of offshore superstructures such as sea-crossing bridges, tunnels are affected by offshore soil constraints, so it is necessary to consider the dynamic interaction between structure and offshore soil layer. Therefore, a seismic response analysis model considering the seawater, soil layer and tunnel structure coupling is established. Firstly, the measured offshore and different soil layers onshore ground records are input respectively, and the difference of seismic response under different types of ground motions is analyzed. Then, the models of different site conditions were input into the measured onshore bedrock strong ground motion records to study the influence of seawater layer and silt soft soil layer on the seabed and tunnel structure. The results show that the overall seismic response between the seabed and the tunnel structure is more significant when the offshore ground motion is input. The seawater layer can suppression the vertical seismic response of seabed and tunnel structure, while the slit soft soil layer can amplify the horizontal seismic response. The results will help to promote seismic wave selection of marine structures and provide reference for improving the accuracy of seismic design of immersed tunnels.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.187-200
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• 2020

In the current work, a series of three-dimensional finite element analyses have been conducted to investigate the behaviour of pre-existing single piles in response to adjacent tunnelling by considering the tunnel face pressures and the relative locations of the pile tips with respect to the tunnel. Via numerical modelling, the effect of the face pressures on the pile behaviour has been analysed. In addition, the analyses have concentrated on the ground settlements, the pile head settlements and the shear stress transfer mechanism at the pile-soil interface. The settlements of the pile directly above the tunnel crown (with a vertical distance between the pile tip and the tunnel crown of 0.25D, where D is the tunnel diameter) with a face pressure of 50% of the in situ horizontal soil stress at the tunnel springline decreased by approximately 38% compared to the corresponding pile settlements with the minimum face pressure, namely, 25% of the in situ horizontal soil stress at the tunnel springline. Furthermore, the smaller the face pressure is, the larger the tunnelling-induced ground movements, the axial pile forces and the interface shear stresses. The ground settlements and the pile settlements were heavily affected by the face pressures and the positions of the pile tip with respect to the tunnel. When the piles were inside the tunnel influence zone, tensile forces were induced on piles, while compressive pile forces were expected to develop for piles that are outside the influence zone and on the boundary. In addition, the computed results have been compared with relevant previous studies that were reported in the literature. The behaviour of the piles that is triggered by adjacent tunnelling has been extensively examined and analysed by considering the several key features in substantial detail.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.131-143
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• 2024

Shield tunneling construction commonly crosses underground pipelines in urban areas, resulting in soil loss and followed deformation of grounds and pipelines nearby, which may threaten the safe operation of shield tunneling. This paper investigated the pipeline deformation caused by double curved shield tunnels in soil-rock composite stratum in Nanjing, China. The stratum settlement equation was modified to consider the double shield tunneling. Moreover, a three dimensional finite element model was established to explore the effects of hard-layer ratio, tunnel curvature radius, pipeline buried depth and other influencing factors. The results indicate the subsequent shield tunnel would cause secondary disturbance to the soil around the preceding tunnel, resulting in increased pipeline and ground surface settlement above the preceding tunnel. The settlement and stress of the pipeline increased gradually as buried depth of the pipeline increased or the hard-layer ratio (the ratio of hard-rock layer thickness to shield tunnel diameter within the range of the tunnel face) decreased. The modified settlement calculation equation was consistent with the measured data, which can be applied to the settlement calculation of ground surface and pipeline settlement. The modified coefficients a and b ranged from 0.45 to 0.95 and 0.90 to 1.25, respectively. Moreover, the hard-layer ratio had the most significant influence on the pipeline settlement, but the tunnel curvature radius and the included angle between pipeline and tunnel axis played a dominant role in the scope of the pipeline settlement deformation.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.439-451
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• 2023

The construction of shield tunnelling in urban sites is facing serious risks from complex and changeable underground conditions. Construction problems in the sand-clay mixed ground have been more reported in recent decades for its poor control of soil loss in tunnel face, ground settlement and supporting pressure. Since the limitations of observation methods, the conventional physical modelling experiments normally simplify the tunnelling to a plane strain situation whose results are not reliable in mixed ground cases which exhibit more complicated responses. We propose a new method for the study of the mixed ground tunnel through which mixed lays are simulated with transparent soil surrogates exhibiting different mechanical properties. An experimental framework for the transparent soil modelling of the mixed ground tunnel was established incorporated with the self-developed digital image correlation system (PhotoInfor). To understand better the response of face stability, ground deformation, settlement and supporting phenomenon to tunnelling excavation in the sand-clay mixed ground, a series of case studies were carried out comparing the results from cases subjected to different buried depths and mixed phenomenon. The results indicate that the deformation mode, settlement and supporting phenomenon vary with the mixed phenomenon and buried depth. Moreover, a stratigraphic effect exists that the ground movement around mixed face reveals a notable difference.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.21-35
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• 2016

Employing non-associated flow rule and Power-Law failure criterion, the failure mechanisms of tunnel roof in homogeneous and layered soils are studied in present analysis. From the viewpoint of energy, limit analysis upper bound theorem and variation principle are introduced to study the influence of dilatancy on the collapse mechanism of rectangular tunnel considering effects of supporting force and seepage force. Through calculation, the collapsing curve expressions of rectangular tunnel which are excavated in homogeneous soil and layered soils respectively are derived. The accuracy of this work is verified by comparing with the existing research results. The collapsing surface shapes with different dilatancy coefficients are draw out and the influence of dilatancy coefficient on possible collapsing range is analyzed. The results show that, in homogeneous soil, the potential collapsing range decreases with the decrease of the dilatancy coefficient. In layered soils, the total height and the width on the layered position of possible collapsing block increase and the width of the falling block on tunnel roof decrease when only the upper soil's dilatancy coefficient decrease. When only the lower soil's dilatancy coefficient decrease or both layers' dilatancy coefficients decrease, the range of the potential collapsing block reduces.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 1993.03a
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• pp.9-14
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• 1993

Practical solutions that are available today for assessing stability of tunnel working face are largely based on the concept of critical stability ratio. The accuracy of a prediction of the soil behavior in the working face, thus, depends on the ability of the solution to completely and accurately describe the stress fields or kinematics generated by the excavation and the accuracy of the undrained shear strength of the soil introduced in the computation. This paper reviews the selected solutions describing stability of the tunnel heading in squeezing ground, and suggests a reference solution which is established based on comparison of the solutions and field data on stability of tunnel headings in clays. Although dealing with the shear strength determination is an important companion part of the geotechnical prediction for stability of the tunnel heading in clays, this part is beyond the scope of this paper at this time.