Impact of Tunneling on Adjacent Piles Based on the Kerr Foundation Model Considering the Influence of Lateral Soil

Abstract

The Kerr foundation model simulates the interaction between piles and soil. Considering the impact of lateral soil displacement on adjacent piles, the lateral displacement and bending moment of the adjacent piles caused by shield tunnel excavation are calculated in detail. Additionally, the reactions of groups of piles are obtained by focusing on the shielding effect of the piles on the soil displacement caused by shield tunnel excavation. The validity of the solutions is verified by comparing the calculated results with the boundary element program GEPAN. Additionally, adjacent pile lateral displacement and bending moment are compared, with and without considering lateral soil effects. Furthermore, this study investigates the influence of various factors, such as soil spring stiffness, pile–tunnel distance, ground loss ratio, and pile diameter on the pile group’s lateral displacement and bending moment. The research findings indicate that increasing the soil spring stiffness or the horizontal distance between the pile and tunnel can reduce the lateral displacement and the bending moment of the pile. On the other hand, as the ground loss ratio gradually increases, the pile lateral displacement and bending moment will also increase. However, when the diameter of the pile grows, the lateral displacement reduces, while the bending moment increases.