Analytical solutions of stresses and displacements for deep circular tunnels with liners in saturated ground

Abstract

To investigate the displacement and stress distributions for deep circular tunnels with liners in saturated ground, an analytical model is proposed. For a deep tunnel with drainage conditions, plane strain conditions at any cross-section of the tunnel and the elastic regime of the linear elasticity for the remaining liner are assumed, while the ground is assumed to be linearly elastic and perfectly plastic with a failure surface de?ned by the Mohr-Coulomb criterion. The post-yield behavior of the ground follows the non-associated flow rule defined by the dilation angle. To solve the proposed problem, two procedures are presented. An axisymmetric model for a deep circular tunnel with a steady-state seepage condition is considered, and then a simple closed-form analytical solution is obtained with a common theoretical framework for the boundary conditions of a constant total head along the tunnel circumference. Assuming that certain ground displacements along the tunnel circumference have occurred before the installation of the liner, analytical solutions of stresses and displacements are derived with particular emphasis on the seepage and the stress release effect induced by tunnelling. The proposed analytical model is validated by numerical simulation.