Lined Circular Tunnels in Elastic Transversely Anisotropic Rock at Depth

Abstract

Closed-form solutions for displacements and stresses of both the liner and the rock are presented for a deep circular tunnel excavated in transversely anisotropic rock above or below the water table subjected to static or seismic loading. The solutions are obtained with the assumption of elastic response of rock and liner, tied contact between rock and liner, impermeable liner, plane strain conditions along the tunnel axis and simultaneous excavation, and liner installation. The liner of a tunnel placed below the water table must support, in addition to the rock stresses, the full water pressure, while a tunnel located above the water table must support only the rock pressures. The solutions presented for static loading show, however, that displacements and stresses of the liner and rock are the same when the tunnel is placed above or below the water table as long as the total far-field stresses are the same. With rapid loading, e.g. seismic loading, excess pore pressures may be generated in saturated rock, which induce a different response than that of a tunnel excavated in dry rock. The analyses indicate that stresses and displacements are more uniform when excess pore pressures are produced, which seems to indicate that pore pressure generation tends to reduce non-uniform response in anisotropic rock.