• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.15 no.6 s.59
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• pp.400-410
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• 2005

During excavation of shallow tunnels in soft ground, failure mechanism around the tunnel face have major influence on the stability of tunnels. In this paper, a series of laboratory tests under plane strain condition on the small scale of a shallow tunnel considering unsupported tunnel length has been performed. The results have shown that tunnel failure mechanism changes from failure mode 1 to failure mode 2 as unsupported tunnel length increases. By comparing the experimental and the numerical results, the loosening pressure for the shallow tunnel and progressive failure have been investigated.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.1126-1131
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• 2007

In 1st Phase Kyeong-Bu High-Speed Line, to lessen the impact in the transition zone between concrete slab track(in tunnel) and ballasted track(on embankment), the ballast bonding method has been adopted. However, in this area, in the beginning of the operation, unsupported sleepers are found, and the track deterioration and damage of concrete sleepers have occurred. In this paper, the status and causes of unsupported sleepers are discussed and several repair measures are proposed.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.705-714
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• 2019

Seismic assessment of underground structures is one of the challenging problems in engineering design. This is because there are usually many sources of uncertainties in rocks and probable earthquake characteristics. Therefore, for decreasing of the uncertainties, seismic response of underground structures should be evaluated by sufficient number of earthquake records which is scarcely possible in common seismic assessment of underground structures. In the present study, a practical risk-based approach was performed for seismic risk assessment of an unsupported tunnel. For this purpose, Incremental Dynamic Analysis (IDA) was used to evaluate the seismic response of a tunnel in south-west railway of Iran and different analyses were conducted using 15 real records of earthquakes which were chosen from the PEER ground motion database. All of the selected records were scaled to different intensity levels (PGA=0.1-1.7 g) and applied to the numerical models. Based on the numerical modeling results, seismic fragility curves of the tunnel under study were derived from the IDA curves. In the next, seismic risk curve of the tunnel were determined by convolving the hazard and fragility curves. On the basis of the tunnel fragility curves, an earthquake with PGA equal to 0.35 g may lead to severe damage or collapse of the tunnel with only 3% probability and the probability of moderate damage to the tunnel is 12%.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.17 no.1 s.66
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• pp.9-16
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• 2007

The influence of round length on the tunnel stability and construction cost is well acknowledged by many researchers and engineers but the coherent procedure is not available for its determination. In this study, the behaviour modes of the face and unsupported span was investigated for weak rock tunnel by a small scale model test, PFC3D and FDM analyses in consideration of the round length. Total five types of behaviour modes are defined and quantitative estimation of the behaviour modes was established in terms of the safety factor for the face stability and the conditional chart. Although the proposed method has some restrictions, this method can provide useful information for the optimization of the round length and excavation, especially in design stage.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.30-35
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• 2001

Focusing on the bench length, this paper presents the results of 3-dimensional elafto-plastic FE Analysis un tunnels of full face, mini-bench and short bench excavated in weathered rock. Influences of unsupported span, horizontal to vertical stress ratio, thickness of shotcrete on the behavior of rock and support were a1so studied. Results showed that displacements of mini-bench tunnels responded more sensitively to bench lengths than those of short bench. The effects of bench excavation on upper half displacement increased with longer unsupported span. Horizontal to vertical stress ratio showed a greater influence on displacement and preceding displacement ratio or sidewall rather than those of crown and invert.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 1992.04a
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• pp.118-125
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• 1992

The ground deformation due to the tunnel excavation is dependent on various factors such as ground condition, geometry of the tunnel, excavation method, installation of support members, construction condition of each excavation stage, etc. And the distance from the facing effects significantly the stress conditions of the supported and unsupported ground due to the 3-dimensional structural nature of the excavated tunnel. The concept of ground characteristic line has been applied to properly consider the loading condition given by staged tunnel excavation so that the imaginary supporting pressure is applied against the surface of excavated ground. Discussions on the results of the performed finite element analysis were mainly made with respect to the ground settlement, tunnel displacement, earth pressure, stress mobilized in supporting members.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.209-216
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• 2003

The present with in this country, rock bolt installation, shotcrete, and concrete lining in construction order has become accepted as a general tunnelling method in NATM. On the other hand Unlined tunnelling method, which was developed by many countries near Scandinavian Peninsula with hard rocks comparatively, has recently been introduced all over the world, and numerous studies about that have been being devoted to domestic tunnels. Unlined tunnelling method has been developed on the basis of the permanently unsupported openings, and general 7 requirements for them were suggested by Nick Barton. There are no case record about these conditions for Q-system in this country. Therefore, input parameters for Q-system under these conditions were applied to general road tunnel cross-section and numerical analyses for each condition were executed with UDEC-BB, Distinct Element Method.

• Geotechnical Engineering
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.87-110
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• 1996

To simulate the three4imensional effect occurring near the tunnel face in a two -dimensional model, empirical load -dirtribution ratio concept is frequently used in tunnel design. In this paper, three -dimensional analysis is performed and its results are compared with those of two dimensional analysis'to investigate the applicability of the loadiistribution ratio concept. Especially, stress concentration near the tunnel face is investigated in depth. A parametric study is performed to investigate the effect of each factor on the load distribution ratio. The factors considered here include unsupported span length, initial stress, rock quality, tunnel size and the depth of tunnel location Moreover, the load -distribution ratios for the typical tunnel sections in Seoul Subway to be used in the tunnel design are suggested.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.358-371
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• 2018

The stability of openings in the underground mine is major concern in the operation of mines that must ensure productivity and safety. Among many rock conditions affecting cavities stability, the width and height of the opening is an important design factor. In this paper, we consider to determine the maximum unsupported span of a opening in a limestone mine by using the Q system among several rock classification schemes. In order to determine the span of the unsupported opening in the limestone mine, rock mass classifications were carried out at over 200 sites in the underground limestone mines. The relationships by using the Q system and the stability graph proposed by Mathews to determine the maximum span of the unsupported opening were derived and compared. We propose a new classification method that combines GSI and RMR rock classification systems to make it easy to use in a field.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.145-155
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• 2022

Safety is a most important parameters in underground railway transportation; Also stability of underground tunnel is very important in tunneling engineering. Design of a reliable support system requires an evaluation of both ground demand and support capacity. Iran's traditional railway tunnels are mainly supported with masonry structures or unsupported in high quality rock masses. A decrease in rock mass quality due to changes in groundwater regime creep and fatigue in rock and similar phenomena causes tunnel safety to decrease during time. The case study is an old tunnel in Iran, called "Keshvar"; it is more than 50 years old railway organization. In operating this Tunnel, until the several problems came up based on stability and leaking water. The goal of study is evaluation of the various reinforcement systems for supporting of the tunnel. The optimal selection of the reinforcement system is examined using TOPSIS Fuzzy method in light of the looming and available uncertainties. Several factors such as; the tunnel span, maintenance, drainage, sealing, ventilation, cost and safety were based to choose the method and system of designing. Therefore, by identifying these parameters, an optimal reinforcement system was selected and introduced. Based on optimization system for analysis, it is revealed that the systematic rock bolts and shotcrete protection had a most appropriate result for these kind of tunnel in Iran.