• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.433-452
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• 2018

The shield tunneling method can minimize surface settlements by preventing the deformation of tunnel face and tunnel intrados due to tunnel excavation. For this purpose, it is very important to control the operating conditions of shield TBM. The face pressure and backfill pressure for tail void grouting should be the most important and immediate measure not only to restrain surface settlement, but also to influence the effective stress and pore water pressure around the circumstance of tunnel during excavation. The reaction of the ground to the application of face pressure and backfill pressure relies on the stiffness and permeability of ground. Especially, the reaction of saturated clayey ground formations, which shows the time-dependent deformation, is different from the permeable ground. Hence, in this paper it was investigated how the TBM operating conditions, ground stiffness, and permeability impact on the surface settlement of saturated clayey ground. For this purpose, a series of parametric studies were carried out by means of the stress-pore water pressure coupled FE analysis. The results show that the settlement of soft clayey ground is divided into the immediate settlement and consolidation settlement. Especially, the consolidation settlement depends on the ground stiffness and permeability. In addition, the existence of critical face pressure and backfill pressure was identified. The face pressure and backfill pressure above the critical value may cause an unexpected increase in the ground settlement.