Fracture behaviors of tunnel lining caused by multi-factors: A case study

The cracking and spalling caused by fracture of concrete lining have adverse impacts on serviceability and durability of the tunnel, and the subsequent maintenance work for damaged structure needs to be specific to the damaging causes. In this paper, a particular case study of an operational tunnel structure is presented for the serious cracking and spalling behaviours of concrete lining, focusing on the multi-factors inducing lining failure. An integrated field investigation is implemented to characterize the spatial distribution of damages and detailed site situations. According to results of nondestructive inspection, insufficient lining thickness and cavity behind lining are the coupled-inducement of lining failure bahaviors. To further understanding of the lining structure performance influenced by these multiple construction deficiencies, a reliable numerical simulation based on extended finite element method (XFEM) is performed by using the finite element software. The numerical model with 112 m longitudinal calculation, 100 m vertical calculation and 43 m vertical depth, and the concrete lining with 1450 solid elements are set enrichment shape function for the aim of simulating cracking behavior. The numerical simulation responses are essentially in accordance with the actual lining damaging forms, especially including a complete evolutionary process of lining spalling. This work demonstrates that the serious lining damaging behaviors are directly caused by a combination of insufficient thickness lining and cavity around the surrounding rocks. Ultimately, specific maintenance work is design based on the construction deficiencies, and that is confirmed as an efficient, time-saving and safe maintenance method in the operational railway tunnel.