Numerical simulation of dynamic response around shield tunnel in the soft soil area

Abstract

ABSTRACTWhen a subway train moves through a tunnel, vibrations are generated and transmitted to soils around the tunnel and adjacent structures. Subway train operation has an impact on the shield tunnel lining and the soils around tunnel, especially soft soils that are mostly marine sediments having poor engineering properties. An elastoplastic dynamic finite difference model was built by considering the hysteretic behavior of these marine soft soils and the interaction between the soils and the tunnel to study their dynamic response. Elastic and plastic constitutive models were adopted for tunnel lining and soft soils, respectively. Hysteretic damping was obtained with the Hardin–Drnevich model to reflect the hysteretic behavior of soil under the dynamic load. There are two peaks of the cumulative vertical displacement within 2 s of train moving and it reaches a dynamic balance after 2 s. The soil layers below the shield tunnel are under the compression and the soil layers above the tunnel are in the extrusion state, and turn to uplift. Maximum bending moment and shear forces of lining vary and appear at different places. A parametric study indicates that the speed of train and the interface have an impact on the dynamic behavior of soft soils.