Underground Space (Jun 2024)

Theoretical prediction of ground settlements due to shield tunneling in multi-layered soils considering process parameters

  • Liqiang Cao,
  • Xiangsheng Chen,
  • Dechun Lu,
  • Dingli Zhang,
  • Dong Su

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 16
pp. 29 – 43

Abstract

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This paper conducts a theoretical analysis of ground settlements due to shield tunneling in multi-layered soils which are usually encountered in urban areas. The proposed theoretical solution which is based on the general form of the Mindlin's solution and Loganathan-Poulos formula can comprehensively consider the in-process tunneling parameters including: unbalanced face pressure, shield-soil friction, unbalanced tail grouting pressure, unbalanced secondary grouting pressure, overloading during tunneling and the ground volume loss. The method is verified by comparing with the field data from the Qinghuayuan Tunnel Project in terms of the ground surface settlements along the longitudinal and transverse direction. Due to the local settlement or heave caused by the certain tunneling parameters, the ground surface settlements calculated using current solution along the longitudinal direction presents an irregular S-shaped curve instead of the traditional S-shaped curve. Results also find that the effect of the unbalanced secondary grouting pressure and the overloading during tunneling cannot be ignored.

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