Analysis of Urban Tunnels Under Different Loading Conditions

Underground structures are divided into fully buried structure and partially buried structures which can be any structure of diverse shapes such as, shelters, basement structures, underground mall facilities, underground parking spaces, silos, storage facilities, retention basins, shafts, tunnels, pipes, underground railway, metro stations, to mention a few. Underground tunnels are one of the most frequent modes for modern transportation. These tunnels are subjected for varying loading conditions from static to quasi-static and dynamic loading. These loading conditions are differentiated on the basis of strain rate which varies from 10−9 to 104/sec. It is very important to determine static and dynamic response of lining under different loads for better performance and safety of tunnel. The response of tunnel can be determined numerically and then compared with experimental results. Crack patterns and deformation at tunnel crown are determined for surface static and dynamic load. Crack zone under loading condition is related to the material strength of the surrounding rock mass. An attempt has made in the study to analyze the response of lining under static and impact loading through experimentation.