Abstract
Complex ground conditions or support failures during tunnel construction can lead to high ground loss, which may cause damage to surrounding structures. In this paper, a series model tests are carried out in order to clarify tunnelling-induced ground deformation at high ground loss conditions. The model tunnel in this test is shallowly buried in loose sand and the tunnel volume loss (Vl,t) is set from 4% to 10%. The Vl,t is controlled by a water-filling-drainage system and the ground deformation is monitored by digital image correlation (DIC) system. The results show that the Peck-Gaussian function can be used to fit the settlement data well, and the increase of Vl,t has no significant effect on the width of the settlement trough, while the horizontal displacement can be described by modified empirical method. The width of influence aera caused by tunnelling decreases linearly with depth, and the width near the tunnel crown is about 78% of that on the surface. For loose sand ground, it is the shear band rather than the soil arch that dominates the ground deformation. Furthermore, excavation leads to a volume contraction of the ground, which suggests predictions based on tunnel over-excavation trend to underestimate the ground deformation, and that should be taken seriously in consideration of the safety of the engineering project. This study can provide a better understanding of ground deformation induced by tunnelling.
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Abbreviations
- A :
-
Fitting parameter of horizontal displacement
- B cs :
-
Boundary coefficient determined by ground slope
- C :
-
Cover depth of the tunnel crown
- c :
-
Cohesion
- C u :
-
Coefficient of uniformity
- C c :
-
Coefficient of curvature
- D :
-
Diameter of the tunnel
- D r :
-
Relative density of the sand
- i :
-
Distance to the inflection point of the settlement trough
- K :
-
Through width parameter
- K s :
-
Through width parameter on surface
- n :
-
Length ration of model to prototype
- R 2 :
-
Coefficient of determination
- S max :
-
Maximum settlement
- S hmax :
-
Maximum horizontal displacement
- S(x):
-
Fitting equation of settlement
- S h(x):
-
Fitting equation of horizontal displacement
- V l,t :
-
Tunnel volume loss
- V l,s :
-
Soil volume loss
- x :
-
Horizontal offset distance from tunnel centreline
- Z :
-
Depth measured from ground surface
- Z t :
-
Depth of tunnel axis
- α :
-
Modification parameter of model to prototype
- γ :
-
Shear strain
- ε xx :
-
Horizontal strain
- ε yy :
-
Vertical strain
- ε v :
-
Volumetric strain
- φ :
-
Friction angle of the sand
- ∂i/∂z :
-
Slope of parameter i against depth
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support for this study provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41831290), and the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (Grant No. LGJ22D020001 & No. LQ20E080006).
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Wang, T., Wang, R., Xue, F. et al. Experimental Investigation on the Effect of Volume Loss on Ground Movements Induced by Tunnelling in Sand. KSCE J Civ Eng 27, 122–134 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-022-0342-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-022-0342-8