Numerical Analysis About Influence of Protecting Wall on the Displacement Field Around the Pit

Abstract

Nowadays, with the rapid development of the economy, the deep excavations become more and more common. However, the protection of the important architecture or pipelines such as historical buildings also becomes a main concern and problem. In order to solve such contradiction, the diaphragm wall or isolation piles acting as a protecting wall between the deep excavation and the architecture was proposed. Based on an excavation project in Shanghai, this paper investigated the influence of the protecting wall on the displacement field around the pit by using 2D numerical analysis. The results showed that protecting walls can restrain the ground subsidence behind the pit effectively but have little effect on the retaining wall behavior of the pit. On the contrary, the excavation had a great effect on the protecting wall. The length of the protecting wall along with the distance between the protecting wall and the pit are the key factors influencing the ground subsidence. However, the restraint effect is limited if such length or distance go beyond a certain range. The findings can offer some guidance for similar projects to some extent.