• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.775-781
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• 2018

Shake table tests were conducted on scaled tunnel model to investigate the mechanism and effect of seismic loadings on horseshoe scaled tunnel model in ground fissure site. Key technical details of the experimental test were set up, including similarity relations, boundary conditions, sensor layout, modelling methods were presented. Synthetic waves and El Centro waves were adopted as the input earthquake waves. Results measured from hanging wall and foot wall were compared and analyzed. It is found that the seismic loadings increased the subsidence of hanging wall and lead to the appearance and propagation of cracks. The values of acceleration, earth pressure and strain were greater in the hanging wall than those in the foot wall. The tunnel exhibited the greatest earth pressure on right and left arches, however, the earth pressure on the crown of arch is the second largest and the inverted arch has the least earth pressure in the same tunnel section. Therefore, the effect of the hanging wall on the seismic performance of metro tunnel in earth fissure ground should be considered in the seismic design.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.199-207
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• 2003

Tunnel modelling in the field of geotechnical engineering essentially requires models of tunnelling machines and the simulation of tunnelling processes to clarify the detailed behaviour of tunnel construction. Modern advanced mechatronics, including construction processes, machinining and control technologies, are making it possible to fabricate such models. These technologies, however, are essentially developed in a gravity field condition and are needed to examine in a 1g or cenrifuge field condition. This paper presents the simulation method for tunnelling processes and the design method for tunnelling machines with special reference to the problem of earth pressure acting on the lining of a shield tunnel. The paper then introduces and verifies the design method for tunnelling machines in the 1g field by means of checking the reproduceability of experiment data and their comparison with data in the field.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.403-409
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• 2000

It is very important to control the final load that acts on a support system, in tunnel engineering. A reliable analysis is needed to carry out technically reasonable design and safe construction. Also, a series of procedures of construction and the rock-support interaction behavior must be considered. Most existing studies have been performed as the limited analysis based on the simplified assumption. In this study, through the analysis of a circular tunnel using a 2-D finite differential code, the rock-support interaction behaviors in the variation of rock and stress conditions are analyzed and compared with the results from the closed form solutions. Consequently, more realistic rock-support interaction curves are obtained by including the effects of initial stresses and rock condition. These curves are very useful to predict the required support pressure in the initial design stage.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.13-22
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• 2001

In this study, numerical analyses on cut-and-cover tunnel linings were performed using different modeling methods based on both structural and geotechnical engineering. The purpose was to find a relatively more reasonable modeling method and boundary conditions. The results of the study revealed problems associated with each modeling method and factors influencing the behavior of cut-and-cover tunnel lining. A method was proposed allowing the simulation of field condition in a more rational way. It was indicated that, under the given conditions, displacements and member forces occurring on concrete lining could be different as much as 53% depending on the type of modeling method applied; and 32% depending on the boundary conditions employed. Determination of boundary conditions properly simulating actual field conditions and verification of prediction based on instrumentation are essential for rational design and analysis.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.120-121
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• 2001

The purpose of this study is to investigate concrete flaw using seismic first arrival and various inversion method. Seismic wave propagation was calculated using finite element method in theoretical modelling and tomogram was made using various inversion methods in theoretical and experimental modelling. Five steps of seismic first arrival were selected from FEM results and these data were used to calculate seismic velocity section. According to the results, exact seismic first arrival picking method was proposed and experimental modelling was conducted.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.35-47
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• 2018

This paper investigates the mechanisms of tunnel spalling and massive tunnel failures using fracture mechanics principles. The study starts with examining the fracture propagation due to tensile and shear failure mechanisms. It was found that, fundamentally, in rock masses with high compressive stresses, tensile fracture propagation is often a stable process which leads to a gradual failure. Shear fracture propagation tends to be an unstable process. Several real case observations of spalling failures and massive shear failures in boreholes, tunnels and underground roadways are shown in the paper. A number of numerical models were used to investigate the fracture mechanisms and extents in the roof/wall of a deep tunnel and in an underground coal mine roadway. The modelling was done using a unique fracture mechanics code FRACOD which simulates explicitly the fracture initiation and propagation process. The study has demonstrated that both tensile and shear fracturing may occur in the vicinity of an underground opening. Shallow spalling in the tunnel wall is believed to be caused by tensile fracturing from extensional strain although no tensile stress exists there. Massive large scale failure however is most likely to be caused by shear fracturing under high compressive stresses. The observation that tunnel spalling often starts when the hoop stress reaches $0.4^*UCS$ has been explained in this paper by using the extension strain criterion. At this uniaxial compressive stress level, the lateral extensional strain is equivalent to the critical strain under uniaxial tension. Scale effect on UCS commonly believed by many is unlikely the dominant factor in this phenomenon.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.405-418
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• 2020

Deep excavation may have impact on the adjacent tunnels. It is obvious that the excavation will adversely affect and even damage the existing tunnels if the induced deformation exceeds the capacity of tunnel structures. It hence creates a high necessity to predict tunnel displacement induced by nearby excavation to ensure the safety of tunnel. In this paper, a simplified method to evaluate the heave of the underlying tunnel induced by adjacent excavation is presented and verified by field measurement results. In the proposed model, the tunnel is represented by a series of short beams connected by tensile springs, compressional springs and shear springs, so that the rotational effect and shearing effect of the joints between lining rings can be captured. The proposed method is compared with the previous modelling methods (e.g., Euler-Bernoulli beam, a series of short beams connected only by shear springs) based on a field measured longitudinal deformation of subway tunnels. Results of these case studies show a reasonable agreement between the predictions and observations.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.433-449
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• 2010

Wind tunnel model tests were conducted for a residential apartment block located within the complex terrain of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). The test building is typical of medium-rise residential buildings in Hong Kong. The model study was conducted using modelling techniques and assumptions that are commonly used to predict design wind loads and pressures for buildings sited in regions of significant topography. Results for the building model with and without the surrounding topography were compared to investigate the effects of far-field and near-field topography on wind characteristics at the test building site and wind-induced external pressure coefficients at key locations on the building facade. The study also compared the wind tunnel test results to topographic multipliers and external pressure coefficients determined from nine international design standards. Differences between the external pressure coefficients stipulated in the various standards will be exacerbated when they are combined with the respective topographic multipliers.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.107-117
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• 1998

In the case of a fire disaster in a uni-directional road tunnel, it is important to determine the critical ventilation velocity to prevent the backflow travelling toward the tunnel exit where vehicles are stopped. The critical ventilation velocity is horizontal velocity to prevent hot smoke from moving toward the tunnel exit. According to Froude modelling, the model tunnel whcih was 300mm in diameter and 21 m in length was made of acryl tubes. Inner section of acryl tubes was clothed with polycarbonate. 1/20 scaled model vehicles were installed to simulate the situation that vehicles are stopped in the tunnel exit. Methanol in a pool type burner was burned in the middle of tunnel to simulate a fire hazard. In this study, the basis of determining the critical ventilation velocity is the ventilation flow rate that is able to maintain the allowable CO concentration in the tunnel section. We assumed that the allowable CO concentration was backflow dispersion index. Futhermore, We intended to find out CO distribution and temperature distribution according as we changed ventilation velocity. The results of this study were that no backflow happened when ventilation velocity was 0.52 m/s in the case of 5.75 kW. If we adapt these results of a fire disaster releasing 10MW heat capacity in real tunnel which is 400m in length, no backflow happens when ventilation velocity is 2.31m/s. After we figured out dimensionless heat release rate and dimensionless ventilation velocity of model test and those of real test to verify experimental correctness, we tried to find out correlation between experimental results of model tunnel and those of real tunnel.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.80 no.6
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• pp.701-709
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• 2021

The paper aims at improving the understanding and mitigating the effects of tunnel fires that may breakout due to the burning fuel and/or explosion within the tunnel. This study particularly focuses on the behavior of the commonly used horse shoe geometry of tunnel systems. The problem has been obtained using an adequate well-established program incorporating the Lagrangian approach. A transient-thermo-coupled static structural analysis is carried out. The effects of radiation and convection to the outer walls of the tunnel is studied. The paper also presents the impact of the hazard on the structural integrity of the tunnel. A methodology is proposed to study the tunnel fire using a model which uses equivalent steel sheet to represent the presence of reinforcements to improve the computational efficiency with adequate validation. A parametric study has been carried out and the effect of suitable lining property for mitigating the fire hazard is arrived at. Detailed analysis is done for the threshold limits of the properties of the lining material to check if it is acceptable in all aspects for the integrity of the tunnel. The study may prove useful for developing insights for ensuring tunnel fire safety. To conduct such studies experimentally are tremendously costly but are required to gain confidence. But, scaled models, as well as loading and testing conditions, cannot be studied by many trials experimentally as the cost will shoot up sharply. In this context, the results obtained from such computational studies with a feasible variation of various combinations of parameters may act as a set of guidelines to freeze the adequate combination of various parameters to conduct one or two costly experiments for confidence building.