Analytical solution of longitudinal seismic response of circular tunnel across soil-rock stratum based on improved elastic foundation beam model

Abstract

This study aims to analysis the longitudinal seismic responses of circular tunnels across soil-rock stratum longitudinally (“soil-rock” means two different stratums, not just the soil and rock ground). Based on an improved elastic foundation beam model, an analytical solution is derived to investigate the seismic response of long tunnels across soil-rock stratum, subjected to sinusoidal shear motions. The improved elastic foundation beam model adopts the Timoshenko beam and Winkler foundation, with considering tangential contact conditions at the ground-tunnel interface. The free field reaction considers the reflection and transmission by the soil-rock interface and the wave passage effect. Explicit formulations are obtained for tunnel displacement, rotation angles, bending moments and shearing forces. The proposed solution is verified by comparing with the dynamic numerical results, as well as traditional analytical solutions. Finally, a parametric study is conducted to investigate the influence of traveling wave effect, earthquake frequency, shear wave velocity ratio of two stratums, lining stiffness and contact condition on tunnel seismic responses. The proposed analytical solutions can be used to predict the longitudinal seismic response of deep circular tunnels crossing soil-rock stratum in engineering design.