Centrifuge and Real-Time Hybrid Testing of Tunneling beneath Piles and Piled Buildings

Abstract

Tunnels are constructed increasingly close to existing buried structures, including pile foundations. This poses serious concerns, especially for tunnels built beneath piles. Current understanding of the global tunnel–soil–pile–building interaction effects is lacking, which leads to designs that may be overly conservative or the adoption of expensive measures to protect buildings. This paper presents outcomes from 24 geotechnical centrifuge tests that aim to investigate the salient mechanisms that govern piled building response to tunneling. Centrifuge test data include greenfield tunneling, pile loading, and tunneling beneath single piles and piled frames, all within sand. The global tunnel-piled frame interaction scenario is investigated using a newly developed real-time hybrid testing technique, wherein a numerical model is used to simulate a building frame, a physical (centrifuge) model is used to replicate the tunnel-soil-foundation system and structural loads, and coupling of data between the numerical and physical models is achieved using a real-time load-control interface. The technique enables, for the first time, the modeling of a realistic redistribution of pile loads (based on the superstructure characteristics) in the centrifuge. The unique dataset is used to quantify the effects of several factors that have not previously been well defined, including pile installation method, initial pile safety factor, and superstructure characteristics. In particular, the results illustrate that pile settlement and failure mechanisms are highly dependent on the pretunneling loads and the load redistribution that occurs between piles during tunnel volume loss, which are related to structure weight and stiffness. The paper also provides insight as to how pile capacity should be dealt with in a tunnel-pile interaction context.