Prediction of swelling rocks strain in tunneling

Resumo

Swelling deformations leading to convergence of tunnels may result in significant difficulties during the construction, in particular for long term use of tunnels. By extracting an experimental based explicit analytical solution for formulating swelling strains as a function of time and stress, swelling strains are predicted from the beginning of excavation and during the service life of tunnel. Results obtained from the analytical model show a proper agreement with experimental results. This closed-form solution has been implemented within a numerical program using the finite element method for predicting time-dependent swelling strain around tunnels. Evaluating effects of swelling parameters on time-dependent strains and tunnel shape on swelling behavior around the tunnel according to this analytical solution is considered. The ground-support interaction and consequent swelling effect on the induced forces in tunnel lining is considered too. Effect of delay in lining installation on swelling pressure which acting on the lining and its structural integrity, is also evaluated. A MATLAB code of “SRAP” is prepared and applied to calculate all swelling analysis around tunnels based on analytical solution.