Large strain correction for tunnel analyses considering hydromechanical coupling and ground anisotropy

Abstract

The deformations resulting from tunnel analyses for heavily squeezing ground may be very large, necessitating numerical formulations that consider geometric nonlinearity. Alternatively, for a certain class of problems, routine small strain analyses can be performed, and their results can be corrected to account for large strains by means of a simple hyperbolic expression proposed a few years ago. The present paper shows that this correction equation is sufficiently accurate for practical purposes even in the case of anisotropic material behaviour and for hydromechanically coupled, steady state or transient analyses of tunnels. The accuracy of the equation prediction varies amongst these cases but is satisfactory overall for the purpose of preliminary calculations, thus broadening its value and usefulness as a preliminary design tool.