Abstract
This paper discusses the numerical analysis of a specific part of the deep seated Gotthard Base Tunnel, the longest railway tunnel in the world. A section of the western tube situated in the Clavaniev Zone was simulated with the finite element program ABAQUS. Geological and geotechnical documentation from the design stage and the construction stage as well as daily and monthly reports of the construction site were provided by AlpTransit Gotthard Ltd. This documentation has been used to perform 3-dimensional analyses with implementation of support elements in a realistic construction sequence. For the simulations different constitutive laws with a focus on time-dependent ground behaviour were used. Preliminary calculations have shown that measureable tunnel deformations are over predicted by far compared to measurement results when using standard FE-boundary conditions. To obtain more realistic results, a depth-dependent stiffness approach, triggered with triaxial test data and analytical calculations, was used in 3-dimensional simulations. This approach made it possible to achieve good compliance between simulation results and measured radial deformations of several cross sections and measured deformations of RH-Extensometers which were used at the Gotthard Base Tunnel for the first time.
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