• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.199-211
• /
• 2009

Development of underground space is actively performed globally for better life in the surface, and the scale of the space is increasing. Extreme care should be taken in the construction of the underground space in urban areas in order to avoid damage of adjacent structures and interference with existing underground space. In case of shallow tunnels, reinforcement of ground and structures is necessary to minimize the damage to structures due to excavation but any standard for optimum range of the reinforcement has not been established yet. In this paper, a series of numerical analyses have been performed for a 20 m diameter tunnel excavated underneath a structure to investigate the degree of damage of the structure according to vertical and horizontal spacing between the tunnel and structure. In addition to that, optimum range of reinforcement is presented for each case where reinforcement is required. It has been observed that the reinforcement is necessary for the ground condition adapted in the analyses as follows: (1) if horizontal spacing ($S_{H}$) approaches to 0D (D: equivalent diameter of tunnel) for vertical spacing (Sv) of 0.5D, and (2) if tunnel exists underneath the structure for vertical spacing (Sv) of 0.75D. The reinforcement is not necessary for Sv of 10 regardless of $S_{H}$. It also has been obtained that the optimum ranges of the reinforcement around structure foundation are 7 m in depth and whole width of the structure and 5 m beyond tunnel sidewall. These reinforcememt ranges have been confirmed to be enough for stability of the structure if types of reinforcement method is appropriately selected.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.175-188
• /
• 2009

When a new tunnel is excavated by the drill and blast method near pre-existing underground structures or tunnels due to the region restricted condition such as urban area, the ground will be relaxed by the excavation. In this case, issues can be created in terms of stability of pre-existing underground structures. One of major factors determining the stability of pre-existing underground structures can be a separation distance between pre-existing underground structures and a newly excavated tunnel. The region of ground relaxation defined by the plastic zone due to new excavation can be varied by separation distance. In this study, in other to estimate an influence of new tunnel excavation in terms of separation distance on the stability of pre-existing large pipelines, two-dimensional scaled model tests using plaster were performed for six models which have a different separation distance, The results show that based on the analysis of induced displacement during tunnel construction, the displacement decreases as the separation distance between large pipeline and new tunnel is increased until the distance is 2.5 times of pipeline diameter. Beyond this point, however, the displacement has become stabilized.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.1-17
• /
• 2024

Analyzing the tunnel excavation behavior and its effect on the surrounding ground involves large deformation behavior. Therefore, in order to properly simulate the tunnel excavation process and rigorously investigate the actual effect of excavation on surrounding ground and tunnel structure large deformation analysis method is required. In this study, two major numerical approaches capable of considering large deformations behavior were applied to investigate the effect of tunnel boring machine excavation on the surrounding ground: coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian (CEL) and the automatic remeshing (AR) method. Relative performance of both approaches was evaluated through the ground response due to TBM excavation. The ground response will be quantified by estimating the range of the excavation damaged zone (EDZ). By comparing the results, the range of the EDZ will be suggested on the vertical and horizontal direction along the TBM excavation surface. Based on the computed results, it was found that the size of EDZ around the excavation surface and the tendencies was in good agreement among the two approaches. Numerical results clearly show that the size of the EDZ around the tunnel tends to be larger for rock with higher RMR rating. The size of the EDZ is found to be direct proportional to the tunnel diameter, whereas the depth of the tunnel is inversely proportional due to higher confinement stress around the excavation surface.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.15 no.3
• /
• pp.851-859
• /
• 2018

There are two primary causes of the ground movement due to tunnelling in urban areas; firstly the lost ground and secondly the groundwater depression during construction. The groundwater depression was usually not considered as a cause of settlement in previous research works. The main purpose of this study is to analyze the combined effect of these two phenomena on the transverse settlement trough. Centrifuge model tests and numerical analysis were primarily selected as the methodology. The characteristics of settlement trough were analyzed by performing centrifuge model tests where acceleration reached up to 80g condition. Two different types of tunnel models of 180 mm diameter were prepared in order to match the prototype of a large tunnel of 14.4 m diameter. A volume loss model was made to simulate the excavation procedure at different volume loss and a drainage tunnel model was made to simulate the reduction in pore pressure distribution. Numerical analysis was performed using FLAC 2D program in order to analyze the effects of various groundwater depression values on the settlement trough. Unconfined fluid flow condition was selected to develop the phreatic surface and groundwater level on the surface. The settlement troughs obtained in the results were investigated according to the combined effect of excavation and groundwater depression. Subsequently, a new curve is suggested to consider elastic settlement in the modified Gaussian curve. The results show that the effects of groundwater depression are considerable as the settlement trough gets deeper and wider compared to the trough obtained only due to excavation. The relationships of maximum settlement and infection point with the reduced pore pressure at tunnel centerline are also suggested.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.59-78
• /
• 2024

In tunnel construction, the stability is evaluated by the settlement of adjacent structures and ground, but the shear strain of the ground is the main factor that determines the failure mechanism of the ground due to the tunnel excavation and the change of the operating load, and can be used to review the stability of the tunnel excavation and to calculate the reinforcement area. In this study, a twin tunnel excavation was simulated on a soft ground in an urban area through a laboratory model test to analyze the behavior of the twin tunnel excavation on the adjacent pile grouped foundation and adjacent ground. Both the displacement and the shear strain of ground were obtained using a close-range photogrammetry during laboratory model test. In addition, two-dimensional finite element numerical analysis was performed based on the model test. The results of a back-analysis showed that the maximum shear strain rate tends to decrease as the horizontal distance between the pillars of the twin tunnel and the vertical distance between the toe of the pile group and the crown of the tunnel were decreased. The impact of the second tunnel on the first tunnel and pile group was decreased as the horizontal distance between the pillars of the twin tunnel was increased. In addition, the vertical distance between the toe of the pile group and the crown of the tunnel had a relatively greater impact on the shear strain results than the horizontal distance of the pillars between the twin tunnels. According to the results of the close-range photogrammetry and numerical analysis, the settlement of adjacent pile group and adjacent ground was measured within the design criteria, but the shear strain of the ground was judged to be outside the range of small strain in all cases and required reinforcement.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
• /
• v.19 no.5
• /
• pp.761-778
• /
• 2017

The need of the underground space for the infrastructures in urban area is increasing, and especially the demand for shallow tunnels increased drastically. It is very important that the shallow tunnel in the urban area should fulfill not only its own safety conditions but also the safety condition for the adjacent structures and the surrounding sub-structure. Most of the studies on the behavior of shallow tunnels concentrated only on their behaviors due to the local deformation of the tunnel, such as tunnel crown or tunnel sidewall. However, few studies have been performed for the behavior of the shallow tunnel due to the deformation of the entire tunnel. Therefore, in this study the behavior of the surrounding ground and the stability caused by deformation of the whole tunnel were studied. For that purpose, model tests were performed for the various ground surface slopes and the cover depth of the tunnel. The model tunnel (width 300 mm, height 200 mm) could be simulationally deformed in the vertical and horizontal direction. The model ground was built by using carbon rods of three types (4 mm, 6 mm, 8 mm), in various surface slopes and cover depth of the tunnel. The subsidence of ground surface, the load on the tunnel crown and the sidewall, and the transferred load near tunnel were measured. As results, the ground surface subsided above the tunnel, and its amount decreased as the distance from the tunnel increased. The influence of a tunnel ceased in a certain distance from the tunnel. At the inclined ground surface, the wider subsidence has been occurred. The loads on the crown and the sidewall were clearly visible, but there was no effect of the surface slope at a certain depth. The load transfer on the adjacent ground was larger when the cover depth (on the horizontal surface) was lager. The higher the level (on the inclined surface), the wider and smaller it appeared. On the shallow tunnel under inclined surface, the transfer of the ambient load on the tunnel sidewall (low side) was clearly visible.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.421-435
• /
• 2017

Recently, due to the saturation of ground structures and the overpopulation of pipeline facilities requires to development of underground structures as an alternative to ground structures. Thus, mechanized tunnel construction of the shield TBM method has been increasing in order to prevent vibration and noise problems in construction of the NATM tunnel for the urban infrastructure construction. Tunnel construction plan for the tunnel line should be formed in a sharp curve to avoid building foundation and underground structures and it is inevitable to develop a shield TBM technology that suits the sharp curve tunnel construction. Therefore, this study is about the structural stability technology of the articulation jack, shield jack and skin plate for the shield TBM thrust in case of the mechanized tunnel construction that is a straight and sharp curve line. The construction case study and shield TBM operation principle are examined and analyzed by the theoretical approach. The torque of the cutter head, the thrust of the articulation jack and the shield jack, the amount of over cutting for curve is important respectively in shield TBM construction of straight and sharp curve line. In addition, it is very important to secure the stability of the skin plate structure to ensure the safety of the inside worker. This study examines the general structure and construction of the equipment, experimental simulation was carried out through numerical analysis to examine the main factors and structural stability of the skin plate structure. The structural stability of the skin plate was evaluated and optimizes the shape by comparing the loads of the articulation jack by selecting the virtual soil to be applied in a straight and sharp curve line construction. Since the present structure and operation method of the shield TBM type in domestic constructions are very similar, this study will help to develop the localized shield TBM technology for the new equipment and the vulnerability and stability review.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.347-365
• /
• 2020

In order to resolve traffic problems in urban areas and to increase the area of green spaces, tunnels in downtown areas are being increased. Additionally, the application of large port smoke extraction ventilation systems is increasing as a countermeasure to smoke extraction ventilation for tunnels with high potential for traffic congestion. It is known that the smoke extraction performance of the large port smoke extraction system is influenced not only by the amount of the extraction flow rate, but also by various factors such as the shape of the extraction port (damper) and the extraction air velocity through a damper. Therefore, in this study, the design standards and installation status of each country were investigated. When the extraction air flow rate was the same, the smoke extraction performance according to the size of the damper was numerically simulated in terms of smoke propagation distance, compared and evaluated, and the following results were obtained. As the cross-sectional area of the smoke damper increases, the extraction flow rate is concentrated in the damper close to the extraction fan, and the smoke extraction rate of the damper in downstream decreases, thereby increasing the smoke propagation distance on the downstream side. In order to prevent such a phenomenon, it is necessary to reduce the cross-sectional area of the smoke damper and increase the velocity of passing air through the damper so that the pressure loss passing through the damper increases, thereby reducing the non-uniformity of smoke extraction flow rate in the extraction section. In this analysis, it was found that when the interval distance of the extraction damper was 50 m, the air velocity passing through damper was 4.4 m/s or more, and when the interval distance of the extraction dampers was 100 m, the air velocity passing through damper was greater than 4.84 m/s, it was found to be advantageous to ensure smoke extraction performance.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.31-48
• /
• 2019

The artificial ground freezing (AGF) method is a groundwater cutoff and/or ground reinforcement method suitable for constructing underground structures in soft ground and urban areas. The AGF method conducts a freezing process by employing a refrigerant circulating through a set of embedded freezing pipes to form frozen walls serving as excavation supports and/or cutoff walls. However, thermal expansion of the pore water during freezing may cause excessive deformation of the ground. On the other hand, as the frozen soil is thawed after completion of the construction, mechanical characteristics of the thawed soil are changed due to the plastic deformation of the ground and the rearrangement of soil fabric. This paper performed a field experiment to evaluate the freezing rate of marine clay in the application of the AGF method. The field experiment was carried out by circulating liquid nitrogen, which is a cryogenic refrigerant, through one freezing pipe installed at a depth of 3.2 m in the ground. Also, a piezo-cone penetration test (CPTu) and a lateral load test (LLT) were performed on the marine clay before and after application of the AGF method to evaluate a change in strength and stiffness of it, which was induced by freezing-thawing. The experimental results indicate that about 11.9 tons of liquid nitrogen were consumed for 3.5 days to form a cylindrical frozen body with a volume of about $2.12m^3$. In addition, the strength and stiffness of the ground were reduced by 48.5% and 22.7%, respectively, after a freezing-thawing cycle.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.167-175
• /
• 2019

To effectively deal with the fire in tunnel which is mostly the vehicle fire, it's more important to suppress the fire at early stage. In urban tunnel, however, accessibility to the scene of fire by the fire fighter is very limited due to severe traffic congestion which causes the difficulty with firefighting activity in timely manner and such a problem would be further worsened in underground road (double-deck tunnel) which has been increasingly extended and deepened. In preparation for the disaster in Korea, the range of life safety facilities for installation is defined based on category of the extension and fire protection referring to risk hazard index which is determined depending on tunnel length and conditions, and particularly to directly deal with the tunnel fire, fire extinguisher, indoor hydrant and sprinkler are designated as the mandatory facilities depending on category. But such fire extinguishing installations are found inappropriate functionally and technically and thus the measure to improve the system needs to be taken. Particularly in a double-deck tunnel which accommodates the traffic in both directions within a single tunnel of which section is divided by intermediate slab, the facility or the system which functions more rapidly and effectively is more than important. This study, thus, is intended to supplement the problems with existing tunnel life safety system (fire extinguishing) and develop the remote-controlled automatic fire extinguishing system which is optimized for a double-deck tunnel. Consequently, the system considering low floor height and extended length as well as indoor hydrant for a wide range of use have been developed together with the performance verification and the process for commercialization before applying to the tunnel is underway now.