• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.1061-1070
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• 2018

The main purpose of retaining wall methods for deep excavation is to keep the construction site safe from the earth pressure acting on the backfill during the construction period. Currently used retaining wall methods include the common strut method, anchor method, slurry wall method, and raker method. However, these methods have drawbacks such as reduced workspace and intrusion into private property, and thus, efforts are being made to improve them. The most advanced retaining wall method is the prestressed wale system, so far, in which a load corresponding to the earth pressure is applied to the wale by using the tension of a prestressed (PS) strand wire. This system affords advantages such as providing sufficient workspace by lengthening the strut interval and minimizing intrusion into private properties adjacent to the site. However, this system cannot control the tension of the PS strand wire, and thus, it cannot actively cope with changes in the earth pressure due to excavation. This study conducts a preliminary numerical analysis of the field applicability of the controllable prestressed wale system (CPWS) which can adjust the tension of the PS strand wire. For the analysis, back analysis was conducted through two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) numerical analyses based on the field measurement data of the typical strut method, and then, the field applicability of CPWS was examined by comparing the lateral deflection of the wall and adjacent ground surface settlements under the same conditions. In addition, the displacement and settlement of the wall were predicted through numerical analysis while the prestress force of CPWS was varied, and the structural stability was analysed through load tests on model specimens.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.485-495
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• 2017

A development of underground space is very useful solution to slove problem occurred from ground surface enlargement in urban areas due to the growth of population, tunnelling is the most popular way and widely used. Researches regarding tunneling-induced pile-soil interactive behaviour have been conducted by many researchers. A study on pile axial force distribution due to tunnelling through laboratory model test, however, is being rarely carried out. In this study, therefore, authors investigate ground behaviour due to tunnelling below grouped pile subjected vertical load as well as pile axial force distribution. A concept of volume loss is used to express tunnel excavation, which is normally applied to 1~2% for tunnelling in soft ground. In this study, however, 10% of that applied to investigate failure mechanism. As a result of laboratory model test, a decrease of pile axial force occurs at 1.5% of volume loss, settlement of grouped pile is 1.2~4.7 times greater than the adjacent ground surface one. Ground deformations at 1.5% of volume loss are measured using Close Range Photogrammetry and compared with results from numerical analysis.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.614-627
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• 2018

Urban railway lines have been constructed adjacent to residential buildings and urban areas. The expansion of transportation networks and reconstruction of residential buildings in highly populated urban areas require deep excavations in areas adjacent to urban railways. Mobilized soil stresses and changes in the groundwater level induced by deep excavations results in track irregularities in urban railways. In this study, a three-dimensional finite difference model using the commercial program FLAC3D was adopted to estimate the horizontal displacements of earth retaining structures, settlements of backfill, the stability of track irregularity and underground box structure based on the criteria of each railway organization and its relationships. In deep excavations, a change in groundwater level induces relatively very small differences for track gauge irregularities, whereas relatively large differences for longitudinal irregularities of 72.5%, twist irregularities of 83.3%, cross level irregularities of 61.9%, and alignments of 43.3% were found to be the maximum differences when the horizontal displacement of earth retaining wall and settlement of backfill were 65.1% and 21.4%, respectively, because the groundwater level (GWL) on the ground surface-mobilized tensile strength of the underground box structure exceeds the allowable value. Therefore, three-dimensional numerical analysis was performed in this study. Overall, real-time monitoring should be carried out to prevent railway accidents in advance when a deep excavation adjacent to urban railway structures is constructed.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.87-102
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• 2005

In the congested urban areas, tunnelling close to existing structures or services often occurs due to the lack of surface space so that tunnelling-induced ground movements may cause a serious damage to the adjacent structures. This study focused on the two dimensional laboratory model pile-soil-tunnelling interaction tests using a close range photogrammetric technique. Testing equipments and procedures were Introduced, particularly features of aluminium rods regarded as the frictional granular material. The experimental result showed that the photo imaging process by the VMS and EngVis programs proved to be a useful tool in measuring the pile tip movements during the tunnelling. Consequently, the normalised pile tip movement data for the influence zones can be generated by the laboratory model tests using the Photogrammetric technique. This study presents influence zones associated with the normalized pile tip settlements due to tunnelling in the cohesionless material. The influence zones were Identified by both a laboratory model test and a numerical analysis. The normalized pile tip movements from the model test were in good agreement with the numerical analysis result. The influence zones proposed in this study could be used to decide the reasonable location of tunnel construction in the planning stage. However, the scale of model pile and model tunnel sizes must be carefully adjusted as real ones for practical application considering the ground conditions at a given site.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.1003-1022
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• 2018

In the current work, a series of three-dimensional finite element analyses were carried out to understand the behaviour of a pre-existing single pile to the changes of the tunnel face pressures when a shield TBM tunnel passes underneath the pile. The numerical modelling analysed the results by considering various face pressures (25~100% of the in-situ horizontal stress prior to tunnelling at the tunnel springline). In the numerical modelling, several key issues, such as the pile settlements, the axial pile forces, the shear stresses have been thoroughly analysed for different face pressures. The head settlements of the pile with the maximum face pressure decreased by about 44% compared to corresponding settlement with the minimum face pressure. Furthermore, the maximum axial force of the pile developed with the minimum face pressure. The tunnelling-induced axial pile force at the minimum face pressure was found to be about 21% larger than that with the maximum face pressure. It has been found that the ground settlements and the pile settlements are heavily affected by the face pressures. In addition, the influence of the piles and the ground was analysed by considering characteristics of the soil deformations. Also, the apparent safety factor of the piles are substantially reduced for all the analyses conducted in the current simulation, resulting in severe effects on the adjacent piles. Therefore, the behaviour of the piles, according to change the face pressures, has been extensively examined and analysed by considering the key features in great details.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.81-98
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• 1999

The influence of tunnelling on buildings has become an important issue in urban areas. The problem is an interactive one: not only do tunnelling settlements affect existing structures, but existing structures affect tunnel-induced soil movements. In order to examine the constraint of surface settlement and the degradation of building damage parameters, 3-dimensional elasto-plastic finite element analyses are peformed. Also, in this paper, the results of the parametric studies for the variations of the damage parameters due to the ground movements are presented by utilizing 2-dimensional elasto-plastic finite element models, totally 162 models. The width of a structure, its bending and axial stiffness, its position relative to the tunnel and the depth of tunnel are considered. The interaction is shown by reference to commonly-used building damage parameters, namely angular distortion, deflection ratio, maximum building settlements, maximum differential settlements and horizontal strain. By introducing relative stiffness parameters which combine the bending and axial stiffness of the structure with its width and stiffness of soil, design curves are established. These give a guide as to the likely modification of the greenfield settlement trough caused by a surface structure. They can be used to give initial estimates of likely building damage.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.855-867
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• 2018

When a weak zone exists ahead of tunnel face, the stress in the adjacent area would increase due to the longitudinal arching effect and the stability of the tunnel is affected. Therefore, it is critical to prepare a countermeasure through the investigation of the frontal weakness zone of the excavated face. Although there are several researches to predict the existence of weak zone ahead of tunnel face, such as geophysical exploration, numerical analysis and tunnel support, lack of studies on the relaxation zone depending on the width or distance from the vulnerable area. In this study, the impact of the weak zone on the formation of the relaxation zone was investigated. For this purpose, a series of laboratory test were carried out varying the width of the weak zone and the separation distance between tunnel face and weak zone. In the model test, sand with a water content of 3.8% was used to form a model ground. The model weak zone was constructed with dry sand curtains. The tunnel face was adjusted to allow a sequential excavation of upper and lower half part. load cells were installed on the bottom of the foundation and the tunnel face and measuring instruments for displacement were installed on the surface of the model ground to measure the vertical stress and surface displacements due to tunnel excavation respectively. The test results show that the width of weak zone did not affect the ground settlement while the ground subsidence drastically increased within 0.25D. The vertical stress and horizontal stress increased from 0.5D or less. In addition, the longitudinal arching effect is likely within the 1.0D zone ahead of the tunnel face, which may reduce the vertical stress in the ground following tunneling direction.