• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.907-928
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• 2017

The effects of seepage force and out-of-plane stress on cavity contracting and tunnel opening was investigated in this study. The generalized Hoek-Brown (H-B) failure criterion and non-associated flow rule were adopted. Because of the complex solution of pore pressure in an arbitrary direction, only the pore pressure through the radial direction was assumed in this paper. In order to investigate the effect of out-of-plane stress and seepage force on the cavity contraction and circular tunnel opening, three cases of the out-of-plane stress being the minor, intermediate, or major principal stress are assumed separately. A method of plane strain problem is adopted to obtain the stress and strain for cavity contracting and circular tunnel opening for three cases, respectively, that incorporated the effects of seepage force. The proposed solutions were validated by the published results and the correction is verified. Several cases were analyzed, and parameter studies were conducted to highlight the effects of seepage force, H-B constants, and out-of-plane stress on stress, displacement, and plastic radius with the numerical method. The proposed method may be used to address the complex problems of cavity contraction and tunnel opening in rock mass.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.6 no.5
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• pp.503-515
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• 2014

On the basis of Hoek-Brown failure criterion, a numerical solution for the shape of collapsing block in the rectangular cavity subjected to seepage forces is obtained by upper bound theorem of limit analysis. The seepage forces obtained from the gradient of excess pore pressure distribution are taken as external loadings in the limit analysis, and the pore pressure is easily calculated with pore pressure coefficient. Thus the seepage force is incorporated into the upper bound analysis as a work rate of external force. The upper solution of the shape of collapsing block is derived by virtue of variational calculation. In order to verify the validity of the method proposed in the paper, the result when the pore pressure coefficient equals zero, and only hydrostatic pressure is taken into consideration, is compared with that of previous work. The results show good effectiveness in calculating the collapsing block shape subjected to seepage forces. The influence of parameters on the failure mechanisms is investigated.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 1999.10a
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• pp.193-200
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• 1999

Since Broms and Bennermark(1967) suggested the face stability criterion based on laboratory extrusion tests and field observations, the face stability of a tunnel driven in cohesive material has been studied by several authors. And recently, more general solution for the tunnel front is given by Leca and Panet(1988). They adopted a limit state design concept to evaluate the face stability of a shallow tunnel driven into cohesionless material and showed that the calculated upper bound solution represented the actual behavior reasonably well. In this study, two factors are simultaneously considered for assessing tunnel face stability: One is the effective stress acting on the tunnel front calculated by upper bound solution; and the other is the seepage force calculated by numerical analysis under the condition of steady state ground water flow. The model tests were performed to evaluate the seepage force acting on the tunnel front and these results were compared with results of numerical analysis. Consequently, the methodology to evaluate the stability of a tunnel face including limit analysis and seepage analysis is suggested under the condition of steady state ground water flow.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.88-92
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• 2004

The paper decribes a procedure for the evaluation of the effect of seepage force on stability of slopes. The stability of an embankment impounding a water reservoir is highly depend upon the location of seepage line with the embankment. To evaluate the accurate safety factor of an embankment, it is important to illustrate the seepage phenomenon. Of particular interest is the stability following a rapid change of reservoir level. Seepage forces in embankments are easily determined interest is the stability following a rapid change of resrvoir level. Seepage forces in embankments are easily detemined if frictional forces are expressed in relation to hydraulic gradient I. If a piezometer is inserted into a body of embankment, the level to which fee water rises is a measure of the energy at that point.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.151-155
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• 1996

The main purpose of this study was to develop a useful method for analysing slope stability by seepage force. The stability of an embankment impounding a water reservoir is highly depend upon the location of seepage line with the embankment, it is important to illustrate the seepage phenomenon. Of particular interest is the stability following a rapid rise change of reservoir level. Seepage forces in embankments are easily determined if frictional forces are expressed in relation to hydraulic gradient i. Seepage forces can combine with soil weights to improve stability or worsen it, depending on the direction in which the forces act ;n relation to the geometric cross section.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2003.03a
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• pp.273-280
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• 2003

Tunneling in difficult geological conditions is often inevitable especially in urban areas. Ground improvement and reinforcement techniques are often required to guarantee safe tunnel excavations and/or to prevent damage to adjacent structures. The steel pipe-reinforced multi-step grouting method has been recently applied to tunnel sites in Korea as an auxiliary technique. In this study, the face stability with steel pipe-reinforced multi-step grouting was evaluated by simultaneously considering two factors: one is the effective stress acting on the tunnel face calculated by limit theorem and limit equilibrium method; the other is the seepage force obtained by means of numerical analysis. The study revealed that the influence of the steel pipe-reinforced multi-step grouting on the support pressure in dry condition is not significant while there is relatively a large amount of reduction in seepage forces by adopting the technique in saturated condition. The effect of the anisotropy of permeability on the seepage force acting on the tunnel face was also estimated by conducting the coupled analysis. It was found that a higher horizontal permeability compared with the vertical one causes reduction in the seepage force acting on the tunnel face.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2001.03a
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• pp.41-48
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• 2001

In this study, two factors are simultaneously considered for assessing tunnel face stability: one is the effective stress acting on the tunnel face calculated by upper bound solution; and the other is the seepage force calculated by numerical analysis under the condition of steady-state groundwater flow. The seepage forces calculated by numerical analysis are compared with the results of a model test. From the results of derivations of the upper bound solution with the consideration of seepage forces acting on the tunnel face, it could be found that the minimum support pressure for the face stability is equal to the sum of effective support pressure and seepage pressure acting on the tunnel face. Also it could be found that the average seepage pressure acting on the tunnel face is proportional to the hydrostatic pressure at the same elevation and the magnitude is about 22% of the hydrostatic pressure for the drainage type tunnel and about 28% for the water-proof type tunnel. The model tests performed with a tunnel model had a similar trend with the seepage pressure calculated by numerical analysis. From the model tests it could be also found that the collapse at the tunnel face occurs suddenly and leads to unlimited displacement.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.181-194
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• 2019

Due to the seepage of groundwater, the resisting force of slopes decreases and the sliding force increases, resulting in significantly reduced slope stability. The instability of most natural slopes is closely related to the influence of groundwater. Therefore, it is important to study slope stability under groundwater seepage conditions. Thus, using a simplified seepage model of groundwater combined with the analysis of stresses on the slip surface, the limit equilibrium (LE) analytical solutions for two- and three-dimensional slope stability under groundwater seepage are deduced in this work. Meanwhile, the general nonlinear Mohr-Coulomb (M-C) strength criterion is adopted to describe the shear failure of a slope. By comparing the results with the traditional LE methods on slope examples, the feasibility of the proposed method is verified. In contrast to traditional LE methods, the proposed method is more suitable for analyzing slope stability under complex conditions. In addition, to facilitate the optimization of drainage design in the slope, stability charts are drawn for slopes with different groundwater tables. Furthermore, the study concluded that: (1) when the hydraulic gradient of groundwater is small, the effect on slope stability is also small for a change in the groundwater table; and (2) compared with a slope without a groundwater table, a slope with a groundwater table has a larger failure range under groundwater seepage.

• Geotechnical Engineering
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.41-56
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• 1994

Under the groundwater level, the tunnel face is affected by the seepage force and the groundwater flow may cause a trouble to the tunnel support systems. The appropriate methods of analysis and design in the tunnel face and the lining, considering groundwater flow according to tunnel drainage condition are presented in this thesis. First, the effect of seepage on the stability of tunnel face was studied. Seepage force was estimated by the 3-D finite element analysis and the stability of tunnel face was checked by analytical method. Furthermore, using the finite difference method the stress and displacement on the face were computed for either case, where the seepage force is or is not considered, and the effect of seepage on the tunnel face stability was evaluated. Second, the effect of seepage force on the tunnel lining when construction is finished and steady state seepage flow occurs was studied and a design methodology considering seepage effect was made. Consequently, in case where the groundwater level remains almost unchanged and the steady state groundwater flow occurs, the proper countermeasures for face staility are required according to the condition of groundwater flow. Moreover, the tunnel lining should be designed and constructed considering the seepage force occuring by the groundwater flow toward the tunnel linings.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.145-157
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• 2023

This paper aims at investigating the face stability of large-diameter underwater shield tunnels considering seepage in soft-hard uneven strata. Using the kinematic approach of limit upper-bound analysis, the analytical solution of limit supporting pressure on the tunnel face considering seepage was obtained based on a logarithmic spiral collapsed body in uneven strata. The stability analysis method of the excavation face with different soft- and hard-stratum ratios was explored and validated. Moreover, the effects of water level and burial depth on tunnel face stability were discussed. The results show the effect of seepage on the excavation face stability can be accounted as the seepage force on the excavation face and the seepage force of pore water in instability body. When the thickness ratio of hard soil layer within the excavation face exceeds 1/6D, the interface of the soft and hard soil layer can be placed at tunnel axis during stability analysis. The reliability of the analytical solution of the limit supporting pressure is validated by numerical method and literature methods. The increase of water level causes the instability of upper soft soil layer firstly due to the higher seepage force. With the rise of burial depth, the horizontal displacement of the upper soft soil decreases and the limit supporting pressure changes little because of soil arching effect.