• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.355-364
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• 2016

Recently, a 3,250 meter-long tunnel was constructed beneath the sea bed formed of composite sedimentary soils to transport reusable waste heat gas of industrial complex in the west coast of Korea. Some risks such as machine settlement always exist due to the uncertainties of geological and construction factors during the subsea shield TBM tunnelling. In this construction site, the deviation of tunnel alignment caused by shield TBM settlement was occurred during excavation. It was examined that the lack of bearing capacity of soft clay was a main cause. This paper evaluates the risk of shield TBM tunnelling considering the ground conditions. Correlation between machine settlement and its advance rate was evaluated through the analytical equation in which bearing capacity is considered and a 3-D numerical analysis which can simulate the TBM advance condition (in other words, the dynamic condition). It was found out that a shield TBM could settle due to the insufficient bearing capacity of soft clay layers. In order to prevent such the problem, the best advance rate proper to the ground characteristics is needed to be applied. In the ground conditions of the section of interest, it was turned out that if the shield TBM advance rate was maintained between 35 mm/min and 40 mm/min, the machine settlement could be avoided.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.25-36
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• 2000

The purpose of this research work is to propose an analytical method of tunnel design based on reasonable site data. Therefore the proposed design method consists of monitoring data and Modified In Situ Rock Model. Also the Rock Mass Rating for very poor quality rock is very difficult to estimate, the balances between the ratings may no longer gives a reliable basis for the rock mass strength. But in reality Rock Mass Rating is only the property which can be obtained from face mapping records of the exposed tunnel face during construction stage. Evaluation of rock parameters for the actual design prior to tunnel construction should be corrected during tunnelling process in particularly complex ground conditions. This study intends to investigate application of in-situ rock model to soft rock tunnelling (weathered rock) by face mapping results and site measurement data that are obtained at the costraction site of Seoul Subway Tunnel. For the preparation of more reliable ground parameters, the Rock Mass Rating values for the weathered rocks were modified and readjusted in accordance with the measurement data. The modified input parameters obtained by the proposed method are used for the prediction of the tunnel behavior at subsequent construction stages. The results of this study revealed that more reasonable feed back tunnel analysis can be possible as suggested. Ample measurement data would be able to confirm the new proposed technique in this research work.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.50-61
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• 2000

The ground around the portal of a tunnel is the most typical part showing the 3-dimensional mechanical behavior in the tunnel. The portal slope is constructed at the weathered soft rock-mass, and remains as a potential sliding mass. The slope failure around the tunnel portal may happen drastically and induce the great disaster; hence, for the permanent stability several special techniques are required. To solve this problem, the ground around the tunnel portal may be excavated in the arch shape to develop the arching effect in horizontal direction. With the arch-type portal slope, one can reduce considerably the excavation mass and the damage of environments. This approach has not been attempted yet due to the lack of understanding and the well-defined analyzing method, so the retaining wall type portal is more universal. The 3-dimensional finite element analyses were carried out to prove that the arch type is more advantageous in safety and cost than the right angle type. The influence of the tunnel construction sequence and the strength of the rock-mass on the slope stability was investigated by focusing on the maximum shear strain in the slope, and the yield zone at the tunnel face.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.887-897
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• 2018

3D time history analysis was performed on vertical shaft-tunnel connection to provide insight into the dynamic stress-strain behavior of the connection considering the effects of soil layers, periodic characteristics and wave direction of earthquakes. MIDAS GTS NX based on FEM (Finite Element Method) was used for this study. From this study, it is revealed that the maximum displacement occurred at the upper part of the connection when the long period seismic waves propagate through the tunnel direction in soft ground. Also, stress concentration occurs due to different behaviors of vertical shaft and tunnel, and the stress concentration could be influence for safety on the connection. The results of this study could be useful for the seismic performance design of vertical shaft-tunnel connection.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.5C
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• pp.359-368
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• 2006

After construction, time-variant seepage and long-term underground motion are representative factors to understand the abnormal behavior of tunnels. In this study, numerical models have been developed to analyze the behavior of tunnels associated with seepage and long-term underground motion. Possible scenarios have been investigated to establish causes-and-results mechanisms. Various parameters such as permeability of tunnel filter, seepage condition, water table, long-term rock mass load, size of damaged zone due to excessive blasting have been investigated. These are divided into two sub-parts depending on the tunnel type and major loading mechanisms depending on the types. For the soft ground tunnels, the behavior associated with seepage conditions has been studied and the effect of permeability change in tunnel-filter and the effect of water-table change which are seldom measurable are investigated in detail. For the rock mass tunnels, tunnel behavior associated with the visco-plastic behavior of rock mass has been studied and the long-term rock mass loads as a result of relaxation and creep have been considered.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2008.03a
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• pp.1278-1289
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• 2008

Currently in increasing number of urban tunnels with small overburden are excavated according to the principle of the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM). Successful design, construction and maintenance of NATM tunnel in urban area demands prediction, control and monitoring of surface settlement, gradient and ground displacement with high accuracy. Use of measured displacement for parameter determination has been researched over the years, and one geotechnical engineering principle has been formed as back analysis. In this paper, back analysis of a ground deformational behavior involving nonlinear behavior is discussed. It is of primary importance to make reliable prediction of deformational behavior for shallow tunnels in soft ground. However, predictions made often prove to be incorrect due to complexity of constitutive law and other relevant factors. Back analysis therefore becomes more important, for it may be used to interpret measured displacement to derive nonlinear material characteristics. The paper shows some example in which a deformational mechanism is studied in the light of inhomogeneous distrubution of Young's module, from which a logic is derived to identify two different types of nonlinear constitutive relationships.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2009.09a
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• pp.1214-1223
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• 2009

In this study, a composite behavior of stone columns reinforced in soft ground, Sabkha, have been evaluated by a series of field measurements and numerical analysis. Field loading tests were performed to verify the effect of the composite ground reinforced by stone columns in Kayan, Saudi. The settlement measured in the field test was compared with the settlement calculated by the Priebe method and the numerical analysis using ABAQUS. It is found that the settlement estimated using the Priebe method significantly overestimated the settlement measured in the field test. In addition, it is confirmed that consideration of confinement effect exerted by surrounding stone columns in a numerical simulation is indispensable to estimate the settlement of composite ground.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.26 no.7
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• pp.135-145
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• 2010

Top Base Foundation (TBF) is widely used for the increment of bearing capacity and restraining settlement of foundations when the bearing capacity of ground is not enough. The design of bearing capacity obtained from exiting Japanese standard underestimates considerably what is compared with the observation values from the field measurement. Therefore, intensive model tests and site observation programs are carried out to establish more reasonable prediction technique and understanding of TBF in soft ground. In this study, 1/5 scale model tests are performed in order to investigate the behavior of TBF with various shapes in a laboratory. Also, about 100 sites measurement data are evaluated to investigate the field behavior of TBF in various ground conditions. Based on the results of the model tests and field measurement data, it was possible to introduce more reasonable bearing capacity equations of TBF considering N-value of soils, the effect of underground water and failure mechanisms.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.259-267
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• 2002

Recently, Umbrella Arch Method(UAM) is commonly used in order to enhance the stability of tunnel itself and stabilize the adjacent surface structure. But quantitative estimation of reinforcement effect is needed because UAM is designed and constructed only on the basis of empirical experience. By using 3-dimensional finite element method, parametric study is performed for elastic modulus of ground and overburden, and reinforcement effect is analyzed quantitatively. From the results, surface settlement decreases about 9%∼27% in soil tunnel, about 4%∼24% in weathered rock tunnel and 4%∼17% in soft rock tunnel when applied with UAM. The prediction equation for final surface settlement is suggested through regression analysis and the equation is expressed as exponential function which has variable Smax, unknown coefficient i and k.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.545-556
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• 2022

Evaluation and optimization of tunnel wall convergence (TWC) plays a vital role in preventing potential problems during tunnel construction and utilization stage. When convergence occurs at a high rate, it can lead to significant problems such as reducing the advance rate and safety, which in turn increases operating costs. In order to design an effective solution, it is important to accurately predict the degree of TWC; this can reduce the level of concern and have a positive effect on the design. With the development of soft computing methods, the use of deep learning algorithms and neural networks in tunnel construction has expanded in recent years. The current study aims to employ the long-short-term memory (LSTM) deep neural network predictor model to predict the TWC, based on 550 data points of observed parameters developed by collecting required data from different tunnelling projects. Among the data collected during the pre-construction and construction phases of the project, 80% is randomly used to train the model and the rest is used to test the model. Several loss functions including root mean square error (RMSE) and coefficient of determination (R²) were used to assess the performance and precision of the applied method. The results of the proposed models indicate an acceptable and reliable accuracy. In fact, the results show that the predicted values are in good agreement with the observed actual data. The proposed model can be considered for use in similar ground and tunneling conditions. It is important to note that this work has the potential to reduce the tunneling uncertainties significantly and make deep learning a valuable tool for planning tunnels.