Stability of a long unsupported circular tunnel in soils with seismic forces

Debarghya Chakraborty and Jyant Kumar ()

Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, 2013, vol. 68, issue 2, 419-431

Abstract: By using the lower-bound finite element limit analysis, the stability of a long unsupported circular tunnel has been examined with an inclusion of seismic body forces. The numerical results have been presented in terms of a non-dimensional stability number (γH/c) which is plotted as a function of horizontal seismic earth pressure coefficient (k h ) for different combinations of H/D and ϕ; where (1) H is the depth of the crest of the tunnel from ground surface, (2) D is the diameter of the tunnel, (3) k h is the earthquake acceleration coefficient and (4) γ, c and ϕ define unit weight, cohesion and internal friction angle of soil mass, respectively. The stability numbers have been found to decrease continuously with an increase in k h . With an inclusion of k h , the plastic zone around the periphery of the tunnel becomes asymmetric. As compared to the results reported in the literature, the present analysis provides a little lower estimate of the stability numbers. The numerical results obtained would be useful for examining the stability of unsupported tunnel under seismic forces. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013

Keywords: Earthquakes; Failure; Limit analysis; Soils; Stability; Tunnels (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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DOI: 10.1007/s11069-013-0633-y

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