A semi-analytical elastic solution for stress field of lined non-circular tunnels at great depth using complex variable method

Abstract In this paper, a semi-analytical elastic plane strain solution was provided for stress field around a lined non-circular tunnel subjected to uniform ground load. Concrete lining and the surrounding rock mass were assumed as linearly elastic materials. Due to complexity of the problem for non-circular geometric configurations, complex variable method introduced by Muskhelishvili and conformal mapping functions were used to determine stress components within concrete lining and the surrounding rock mass. Finally, the solution was validated by ABAQUS finite element software through an example. Very good agreement was demonstrated between semi-analytical and numerical solution although some discrepancies were found at tunnel corners where large curvature existed. It was demonstrated that the solution predicted stress components more accurately around the tunnels, especially the corners with large stress concentration. Practical significance of the solution was placed in the fact that it could be used as a quick-solver with high accuracy.