• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.325-336
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• 2022

This paper analyzes the ground surface settlements induced by side-by-side twin shield tunnels bored in sedimentary soils, which primarily consist of sand with clay strata above the tunnel crown. The measurements were obtained during the construction of twin tunnels underneath the Incheon International Airport (IIA) located in Korea. The measured surface settlement troughs are approximated with Gaussian functions. The trough width parameters i and K of the settlement troughs produced by the first and second tunnel passings are determined, along with those for the total settlement trough. The surface settlement troughs produced by the first shield passing are reasonably represented by a symmetric Gaussian curve. The surface settlement troughs induced by the second shield tunnel display marginal asymmetric shapes at selected sections. The total settlement troughs are fitted both with a shifted symmetric Gaussian function and the superposition method utilizing an asymmetric function for the incremental trough produced by the second tunnel. It is revealed that the superposition method does not always produce better fits with the total settlement. Instead, the shifted symmetric Gaussian function is overall demonstrated to provide more favorable agreements with the recordings. Therefore, the shifted symmetric Gaussian function is recommended to be used in the design for the prediction of the settlement in clays caused by twin tunneling considering the simplicity of the procedure compared with the superposition method. The amount of increase in the width parameter K for the twin tunnel relative to that for the single tunnel is quantified, which can be used for a preliminary estimate of the surface settlement in clay induced by twin shield tunnels.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.851-859
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• 2018

There are two primary causes of the ground movement due to tunnelling in urban areas; firstly the lost ground and secondly the groundwater depression during construction. The groundwater depression was usually not considered as a cause of settlement in previous research works. The main purpose of this study is to analyze the combined effect of these two phenomena on the transverse settlement trough. Centrifuge model tests and numerical analysis were primarily selected as the methodology. The characteristics of settlement trough were analyzed by performing centrifuge model tests where acceleration reached up to 80g condition. Two different types of tunnel models of 180 mm diameter were prepared in order to match the prototype of a large tunnel of 14.4 m diameter. A volume loss model was made to simulate the excavation procedure at different volume loss and a drainage tunnel model was made to simulate the reduction in pore pressure distribution. Numerical analysis was performed using FLAC 2D program in order to analyze the effects of various groundwater depression values on the settlement trough. Unconfined fluid flow condition was selected to develop the phreatic surface and groundwater level on the surface. The settlement troughs obtained in the results were investigated according to the combined effect of excavation and groundwater depression. Subsequently, a new curve is suggested to consider elastic settlement in the modified Gaussian curve. The results show that the effects of groundwater depression are considerable as the settlement trough gets deeper and wider compared to the trough obtained only due to excavation. The relationships of maximum settlement and infection point with the reduced pore pressure at tunnel centerline are also suggested.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.37 no.10
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• pp.55-63
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• 2021

The construction of shield tunnels is being expanded from the small-bore tunnels such as power, telecommunications, water supply, and sewerage pipes to the large bore tunnels such as road and railway tunnels with the advancement of the shield TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) manufacturing technology. Accordingly, the construction of twin shield tunnels is increasing. Peck (1969) reported that the surface settlement trough is well described by a Gaussian distribution on a single shield tunnel. Hereafter, many studies about the surface settlement trough were performed by the field measurement, laboratory model test, and numerical analysis. This study confirmed that the additional surface settlement trough induced by the 2^nd tunneling were well described by using each Gaussian curve for the right and left sides of the settlement trough.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.153-164
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• 2020

Tunnel excavation in shallow soft ground conditions of urban areas experiences inevitable surface settlements that threaten the stability of nearby infrastructures. Surface settlements during shield TBM tunneling are related to a number of factors including geotechnical conditions, tunnel geometry and excavation methods. In this paper, a database collected from a construction section of Hong Kong subway was used to analyze the correlation of settlement-inducing factors and surface settlements monitored at different locations of a transverse trough. The Pearson correlation analysis result revealed a correlation between the factors in consideration. Factors such as the face pressure, advance speed, thrust force, cutter torque, twin tunnel distance and ground water level presented a modest correlation with the surface settlement, while no significant trends between the other factors and the surface settlements were observed. It can be concluded that an integrated effect of the settlement-inducing factors should be related to the magnitude of surface settlements.

• Geotechnical Engineering
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.107-122
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• 1997

This paper presents a ground surface settlement prediction method for shield tunneling in cohesive soils. In order to develop the method, a parametric study on shield tunneling was performed by using a threetimensional elasto-plastic finite element analysis, which can simulate the construction procedure. By using the results of the finite element analysis, the ground movement mechanism was investigated and a base which relates the ground surface settlement and iuluencing factors was formed. The data base was then used to formulate semi -empirical equations for both surface settlement ratio above tunnel face and imflection point by means of a regression analysis. Furthermore, a prediction method for transverse and longitudinal surface settlement profiles was suggested by using the leveloped equations in conjunction with the normal probability curve. Effectiveness of the developed method was illustrated by comparing settlement profiles obtained by using the developed method with the results of finite element analysis and measured data. Based on the comparison, it was concluded that the developed method can be effectively rosed for practical applications at least within the conditions investigated.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.361-375
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• 2007

This paper presents the results of investigation on tunnelling-induced ground surface settlement characteristics in water bearing ground using finite element (FE) stress-pore pressure coupled analysis. Fundamental interaction mechanism of ground and groundwater lowering was first examined and a number of influencing factors on the results of the coupled FE analysis were identified. A parametric study was then conducted on the influencing factors such as rock type, thickness of soil layer, permeability of shotcrete lining, among others. The results indicate that the tunneling-induced groundwater drawdown results in a deeper and wider settlement trough than without groundwater drawdown, and that the Error function approach does not yield satisfactory result in predicting a settlement profile. The results of analysis are summarized so that the relationship between the settlement and the influencing factors can be identified.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.63-72
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• 2017

This study estimates the degree of influence of factors influencing ground surface settlement during tunnel excavation using Shield tunneling trough 3D FE-analyses. Numerical analysis was carried out by considering face pressure, skinplate pressure, excavation length, soil model, element size and soil material properties. Also, Actually constructed shield TBM comparative analysis was conducted by compared with Volume loss model, Pressure model and field measurement data. Skinplate pressure and soil model were the most influential factors, and the analysis results were similar to field measurements when the appropriate skinplate pressure was applied according to the passing stratum.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.259-279
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• 1999

Model tests on propped retaining walls were performed for the investigation of wall displacement, distribution of earth pressure, surface settlement and underground movement at various excavation stage in sand. The result of model tests on the trough of surface settlement showed considerable difference depending on the characteristic of wall stiffness, wall friction and soil condition. The location of maximum underground movement were found to be at range of 0.15H to 0. 1H(H: Final excavation depth). Effect of arching by the redistribution of earth pressure were closely related to the stiffness of wall as well as the soil condition. The wall displacement and earth pressure distribution were simulated by elasto - plastic beam analysis program and finite element method with GDHM model respectively. The result of elasto-plastic analysis showed some discrepancy on the wall displacement and earth pressure, but result of underground movement by FEM with various wall stiffness were in good agreement with the model tests.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.153-165
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• 2019

A case study of monitoring and analysis of surface settlement induced by tunneling of Tabriz metro line 2 (TML2) is presented in this paper. The TML2 single tunnel has been excavated using earth pressure balanced TBM with a cutting-wheel diameter of 9.49 m since 2015. Presented measurements of surface settlements, were collected during the construction of western part of the project (between west depot and S02 station) where the tunnel was being excavated in sand and silt, below the water table and at an average axis depth of about 16 m. Settlement readings were back-analyzed using Gaussian formula, both in longitudinal and transversal directions, in order to estimate volume loss and settlement trough width factor. In addition to settlements, face support and tail grouting pressures were monitored, providing a comprehensive description of the EPB performance. Using the gap model, volume loss prediction was carried out. Also, COB empirical method for determination of the face pressure was employed in order to compare with field monitored data. Likewise, FE simulation was used in various sections employing the code Simulia ABAQUS, to investigate the efficiency of numerical modelling for the estimating of the tunneling induced-surface settlements under such a geotechnical condition. In this regard, the main aspects of a mechanized excavation were simulated. For the studied sections, numerical simulation is not capable of reproducing the high values of in-situ-measured surface settlements, applying Mohr-Coulomb constitutive law for soil. Based on results, for the mentioned case study, the range of estimated volume loss mostly varies from 0.2% to 0.7%, having an average value of 0.45%.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.95-102
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• 2020

Population concentration in urban areas has led traffic management a central issue. To mitigate traffic congestions, the government has planned to construct large-cross-section tunnels deep underground. This study focuses on estimating the damage caused to frame structures owing to tunnel excavation. When constructing a tunnel network deep underground, it is necessary to divide the main tunnel and connect the divergence tunnel to the ground surface. Ground settlement is caused by excavation of the adjacent divergence tunnel. Therefore, predicting ground settlement using diverse variables is necessary before performing damage estimation. We used the volume loss and cover-tunnel diameter ratio as the variables in this study. Applying the ground settlement values to the settlement induction device, we measured the extent of damage to frame structures due to displacement at specific points. The vertical and horizontal displacements that occur at these points were measured using preattached LVDT (Linear variable differential transformer), and the lateral strain and angular distortion were calculated using these displacements. The lateral strain and angular distortion are key parameters for structural damage estimation. A damage assessment chart comprises the "Negligible", "Very Slight Damage", "Slight Damage", "Moderate to Severe Damage", and "Severe to Very Severe Damage" categories was developed. This table was applied to steel frame and concrete frame structures for comparison.