• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.319-334
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• 2024

The current theories on the interaction between surrounding rock and support in deep-buried tunnels do not consider the form of pre-reinforcement support or the flexibility of primary support, leading to a discrepancy between theoretical solutions and practical applications. To address this gap, a comprehensive mechanical model of the tunnel with pre-reinforced rock was established in this study. The equations for internal stress, displacement, and the radius of the plastic zone in the surrounding rock were derived. By understanding the interaction mechanism between flexible support and surrounding rock, the three-dimensional construction analysis solution of the tunnel could be corrected. The validity of the proposed model was verified through numerical simulations. The results indicate that the reduction of pre-deformation significantly influences the final support pressure. The pre-reinforcement support zone primarily inhibits pre-deformation, thereby reducing the support pressure. The support pressure mainly affects the accelerated and uniform movement stage of the surrounding rock. The generation of support pressure is linked to the deformation of the surrounding rock during the accelerated movement stage. Furthermore, the strength of the pre-reinforcement zone of the surrounding rock and the strength of the shotcrete have opposite effects on the support pressure. The parameters of the pre-reinforcement zones and support materials can be optimized to achieve a balance between surrounding rock deformation, support pressure, cost, and safety. Overall, this study provides valuable insights for predicting the deformation of surrounding rock and support pressure during the dynamic construction of deep-buried weak rock tunnels. These findings can guide engineers in improving the construction process, ensuring better safety and cost-effectiveness.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.186-192
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• 2018

The German Tunnelling Committee (DAUB) recently published new recommendations for face support calculations; Zdenek Zizka and Markus Thewes of Ruhr University Bochum actively discuss and explain these new recommendations where these recommendations are intended to assist in choosing between various calculation methods which are also dependent on ground conditions. The guidelines also discuss important scientific approaches with face stability calculations, mainly those due to earth pressure and groundwater pressure on the tunnel face. This paper aims to explain these recommendations through Zdenek Zizak and Markus Thewes's discussion on these Tunnel Face Support Calculation Methods.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2008.10a
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• pp.1571-1580
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• 2008

Subsea tunnels that link land to island and among nations for transportation, efficient development of limited surface and pursuit of economic development should be designed to support pore water pressure on the lining. It is generally constructed in the bed rock of the sea bottom. When the tunnel excavation face meets fractured-zones below sea bottom, collapse may occur due to an increase of pore water pressure and large inflow. Such an example can be found in the Norwegian subsea tunnel experiences in 1980's. In this study hydraulic behavior of tunnel heading is investigated using numerical method based on the collapse of Norwegian subsea tunnel. The effect of pore water pressure and inflow rate were mainly concerned. Horse-shoe shaped model tunnel which has 50 m depth from the sea bottom is considered. To evaluate hydraulic performance, parametric study was carried out for varying relative permeability. It is revealed that pore water pressure has increased with an increase of sea depth. Especially, at the fractured-zone, pore water pressure on the lining has increased significantly. Inflow rate into tunnel has also increased correspondingly with an increase in sea depth. S-shaped characteristic relation between relative permeability and normalized pore water pressure was obtained.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.575-587
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• 2024

The contact pressure between the surrounding rock and the support is an important indicator of the surrounding rock pressure. There has been a bottleneck in the prediction of contact loads between surrounding rock and primary support in deep-buried mountain tunnels. The main reason is that a reliable method wasn't existed to quantify the contact loads. This study had been taken into account the flexible support role of the primary support, and the fitting curve of surrounding rock deformation for dynamic tunnel construction was proposed. New formulas for the calculation of contact loads between surrounding rock and primary support were obtained by inversion. Comparative analysis of the calculation results with numerical simulation verified the reliability of the calculation method in this study. It can be seen from the analyses that the contact load between surrounding rock and primary support increases, remains unchanged and decreases during acceleration, uniform velocity and deceleration, respectively, and the deformation of the surrounding rock in the acceleration and deceleration stages cannot completely converted into contact loads. The contact loads between surrounding rock and primary support of medium-strength and weak surrounding rock tunnels are generally within 150 kPa and 1 MPa, respectively. For tunnels with weak surrounding rock, advanced support can be installed to reduce the unique release coefficient λ₀ and the value of the constant D, with the purpose of reducing the contact loads between surrounding rock and primary support. Changes in support parameters have a small effect on the contact loads between surrounding rock and primary support, but increase or decrease the safety factor, resulting in a waste of resources or a situation that threatens the safety of the support. The results of this research provide guidance for the prediction of contact loads between surrounding rock and primary support for dynamic tunnel construction.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.327-333
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• 2002

In this study, the effect of tunnel advance rate on the seepage forces acting on the tunnel face was studied. The finite element program to analyze the groundwater flow around a tunnel with the consideration of tunnel advance rate was developed. Using the program, the parametric study for the effect of the tunnel advance rate and hydraulic characteristics of the ground on the seepage forces acting on the tunnel face was studied. From this study, it was concluded that the tunnel advance rate must be taken into consideration as an additional parameter to assess the seepage forces at the tunnel face and a rational design methodology for the assessment of support pressures required for maintaining the stability of the tunnel face was suggested for underwater tunnels.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.313-326
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• 2017

Based on the reliability theory and limit analysis method, the roof stability of a shallow tunnel is investigated under the condition of surface settlement. Nonlinear Hoek-Brown failure criterion is adopted in the present analysis. With the consideration of surface settlement, the internal energy and external work are calculated. Equating the rate of energy dissipation to the external rate of work, the expression of support pressure is derived. With the help of variational approach, a performance function is proposed to reliability analysis. Improved response surface method is used to calculate the Hasofer-Lind reliability index and the failure probability. In order to assess the validity of the present results, Monte-Carlo simulation is performed to examine the correctness. Sensitivity analysis is used to estimate the influence of different variables on reliability index. Among random variables, the unit weight significantly affects the reliability index. It is found that the greater coefficient of variation of variables lead to the higher failure probability. On the basis of the discussions, the reliability-based design is achieved to calculate the required tunnel support pressure under different situations when the target reliability index is obtained.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.571-581
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• 2024

Concrete linings in tunnels constructed by drilling and blasting such as NATM serve as a secondary support structure. However, these linings can face unexpected earth pressures if the primary support deteriorates or if ground conditions become unfavorable. It is crucial to determine the loosening earth pressure that allows the lining to maintain its structural integrity and prevent damage caused by this pressure. This study proposes a numerical model for simulating the trapdoor test and developing a method for calculating the loosening earth pressure. The discrete element method (DEM) was employed to describe the soil characteristics around the tunnel. Using this numerical model, a sequence of experimental trapdoor steps was simulated, and the loosening earth pressure was analyzed. Contact parameters were calibrated based on an analysis of a triaxial compression test. The reliability of the developed model was confirmed through a comparison between simulation results and laboratory test findings. The model was used to calculate the contact force applied to the trapdoor plate and to assess the settlement of soil particles. Furthermore, the model accounted for the soil-arching effect, which effectively redistributes the load to the surrounding areas. The proposed model can be applied to analyze the tunnel's cross-sectional dimensions and design stability under various ground conditions.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 1990.10a
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• pp.63-68
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• 1990

The nature of fluctuating air pressure inside building was studied by testing a building model in a wind tunnel. The model has a single room and a sin81e window opening. Various opening conditions were tested in both laminar uniform wind and turbulent boundary-layer wind. The RMS and the spectra of the fluctuating internal pressure were measured. The test results support a recent theory which predicts the behavior of internal pressure under high wind based on aerodynamic analysis.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.1480-1487
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• 2012

Recently, the safety of the coal-mining tunnels has been improved greatly, but accidents occur continually. Most tunnel support failures occur because the fish plate part that connects the I-beams is unable to withstand ground pressure. In the case of XX coal mine, the arch part of tunnel support bends to the upper direction. In such a case, excessive horizontal load as well as vertical load acts on the tunnel support. Horizontal load is caused by the sudden loosing of underground rock mass or the leakage of underground water, so it is fairly complex to predict horizontal loading on a tunnel support. To predict the horizontal load on this component is defined as the problem that determines the horizontal load conditions in wedges of tunnel support. This is an optimization problem in which maximum bending stress and horizontal load are considered by an objective function and design variables, respectively. Therefore, in this study, design of experiments and optimization algorithm were applied to identify the horizontal load in tunnel support.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.280-287
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• 2013

Finite element or difference methods are applied to the analysis of the tunnel stability and they provide detailed behaviour of analyzed tunnel sections but it is rather inefficient to analyze all the section of tunnel by using these methods. In this study, the authors suggest a new stability analysis method for whole tunnel to provide an efficient and easy way to understand the behaviour of whole tunnel by using an analytical solution with the assumption of equivalent circular tunnel. The mechanical behaviour, radial strain and plastic zone radius of whole tunnel were analyzed and appropriate support pressure to maintain the displacement within the allowable limit was suggested after the application of this method to the tunnel. Consequently, it was confirmed that this method can provide quick analysis of the whole tunnel stability and the quantitative information for subsequent measures such as selection of tunnel sections for detailed numerical analysis, set up of the monitoring plan, and so on.