Seismic response of utility tunnels subjected to different earthquake excitations

Abstract

The influence of ground motions on the seismic response of utility tunnels was investigated. A series of small-scale shaking table model tests were carried out under uniform excitation in the transverse direction. Different peak accelerations of EL-Centro and Taft earthquake waves were applied. The acceleration responses, earth pressure, seismic strain, bending moment and structure deformations were measured and discussed. The results showed that the types of earthquake waves had significant influences on the soil-structure acceleration responses. However, the amplitude of the soil acceleration along the depth showed consistent variation regardless of the types of earthquake waves and tunnels. The horizontal soil pressure near the top and bottom slabs showed obviously larger values than those at other depths. In general, the strain response in the outer surface was more significant than that on the inner surface, and the peak strain in the end section of the model was larger than that in the middle section. Moreover, the bending moment at the corner points was much larger than that at middle point, and the bending moment was greatly affected by both input accelerations and seismic wave types. The opposite direction of shear deformation on the top and bottom slabs presented a rotation trend of the model structure.