Yimo Zhu

Shield tunneling is becoming the preferred construction scheme for metro construction because of its advantages of fast construction speed and small disturbance. However, limited by process defects, the stratum movements induced by the construction of shield tunnels still affects the safety of nearby underground structures and aboveground buildings. Therefore, the reliable prediction of stratum movements is important. Described in this paper is an analysis method of the Greenfield stratum movements (Greenfield is an area of land that has not yet had buildings on it, stratum movements means the movement of various soil layers) caused by shield tunnel construction combining an elastic half-space model of mirror source–sink method with the use of modified analytical method. Based on the theoretical formula in this paper, not only can the curve of surface settlement trough be calculated, but also the three-dimensional displacement field of deep soil can be obtained. By comparing vertical and horizontal contour maps of Greenfield stratum movements, good consistency between theoretical formula results and centrifugal test results are shown. This solves the defects and limitations of existing two-dimensional formulas; furthermore, based on this, it is convenient to evaluate the effect on the other skewed underground structures through the elastic foundation beam and other similar methods; therefore, this paper can provide a wide guidance and service for the design and construction of underground engineering in the future.

The problem of large deformation is very prominent in deep-buried tunnel excavation in soft rock, which brings serious potential safety hazards and economic losses to projects. The knowledge of deformation law and support measures is the key to ensure the rational design and safe construction in a large deformation tunnel of soft rock. This paper describes rock physical and mechanical tests and field monitoring is employed to investigate the cause and development process of large deformation in Dongsong hydropower station in Sichuan Province, China. The results show that the free expansion rate of the rock sample is 20.0%, the average expansion stress of the rock sample is 11.0 kPa, and the expansibility of the rock is low. Large deformation of surrounding rock mainly comes from the dilatancy effect with high geostress and relaxation deformation with weak support. Shotcrete sealing exposed surrounding rock, and early strength support avoiding water immersion are useful to deal with the three main factors (weathering, water and confining pressure) that affect the strength of surrounding rocks. The second lining applied in time can effectively limit the further development of stress and deformation of initial support, and prevent the cracking and large deformation of concrete. Clearance convergence is suggested to be the main monitoring work in construction, because of its advantages of intuitive results, easy quality assurance of instrument installation and high accuracy.

The problem of large deformation is very prominent in deep-buried tunnel excavation in soft rock, which brings serious potential safety hazards and economic losses to projects. Knowledge of the stress field distribution and deformation law is the key to ensuring rational design and safe construction in large deformation tunnels of soft rock. As described in this paper, theoretical analysis, numerical simulation and field monitoring were employed to investigate the surrounding rock stress and displacement state in the Dongsong hydropower station in Sichuan Province, China. The results show that the short-bench construction method can effectively control the deformation of surrounding rock and range of the plastic zone. In order to reserve enough working space, the optimum bench length in the actual construction was 10 to 14 m. The peripheral displacement and plastic radius decreased with the increase of tunnel support strength and the advance of supporting time. The displacement can be effectively controlled by applying the second lining in time at a position about twice the diameter of the hole (16 m) from the working face. A reasonable reserved deformation should be adopted to avoid secondary expanding excavation. The values of different positions in the tunnel laterally and longitudinally may be different, and adjustments are needed according to the actual situation.