Analytical prediction for ground movements and liner internal forces induced by shallow tunnels considering non-uniform convergence pattern and ground-liner interaction mechanism

Abstract

Current studies for tunneling-induced ground movements provide little information on the complex interaction between the tunnel liner and the surrounding soils. In particular, little attention is paid to the internal force analyses for segment liners based on the non-uniform convergence deformation pattern. This paper presents a closed-form analytical solution for the prediction of ground deformation and liner internal forces induced by shallow tunnels in clays. The non-uniform convergence deformation pattern is incorporated as the boundary condition of displacements between the ground and the liner. We investigated the difference between uniform radial and non-uniform convergence deformation patterns on the surface settlements and lateral deformation of soils. In general, good alignment was obtained between the predicted ground deformation caused by the non-uniform convergence model and field observations for tunnels in clays. In addition, the influences of sensitive parameters on the ground movements induced by tunneling were evaluated based on the non-uniform convergence pattern, including the soil and liner properties, the geometric properties of tunnel, the tunnel depth, the excavation gap and other main parameters. Furthermore, these solutions offer a more comprehensive framework for understanding the ground-liner interaction mechanism and the circumferential distribution of internal forces for segment liners. Parametric analyses were used to measure the influences of the lateral earth pressure coefficient on the axial forces and bending moments of tunnel liners. Results are provided on a theoretical basis to estimate the interaction behavior between the tunnel liner and the surrounding soils correctly.