Analytical Prediction for Tunneling-Induced Ground Movements with Modified Deformation Pattern

Abstract

In current methods for predicting ground movement caused by tunneling, the center of the tunnel is usually thought of as the focus of ground-movement vectors for convenience. In reality, the ground-movement vectors around the tunnel may vary depending on the geological conditions, soil types, tunneling methods, and other characteristics of the system. This article presents a method for ground-movement prediction that can take into account both ground loss and tunnel ovalization through the introduction of a movement-focus parameter characterizing the nonuniform radial ground movement around the tunnel. Based on earlier methods, modified analytical solutions are proposed to predict the tunneling-induced undrained ground movements for different soil types and construction methods. The validity of these proposed analytical solutions and their applicability to field observations are verified using five case studies and through comparison with previous solutions. In general, the settlements and horizontal movements predicted using the modified analytical solutions under the undrained condition were found to have good agreement with the field observations, provided that the value of the movement-focus parameter was properly estimated.