Numerical investigation of pile responses induced by adjacent tunnel excavation in spatially variable clays

Abstract

The pile responses induced by adjacent tunnel excavation have been a hot research topic in geotechnical engineering. Tunnel excavation may exert disturbance to the surrounding soil mass and then influence the adjacent pile foundations. In this paper, the random finite difference analysis considering the spatial variations of soil properties is conducted to explore the effect of tunnel excavation on the adjacent pile response by varying the distance of pile away from the tunnel centerline (D), the pile length (L), the pile diameter (dp), the tunnel depth (h), and the anisotropic ratio between the horizontal and the vertical scales of fluctuation (δx/δy). A set of pile response curves are developed to assess the influence of tunnel excavation on the adjacent passive pile foundations in spatially variable clays and provide guidelines for the tunnel excavation in the complex constructed environment.