Drained and undrained response of deep tunnels subjected to far-field shear loading

An analytical solution for a rectangular opening in an infinite elastic medium subjected to far-field shear stresses has been derived for drained and undrained loading conditions. A number of numerical simulations has been conducted to determine the distortion of a rectangular structure in an infinite elastic medium under far-field shear stresses also for drained and undrained conditions and when there is full slip or no slip at the ground–structure interface. The results show that the shape of the opening has a minor influence on the structure’s deformations and that full-slip conditions result in lower deformations. Undrained conditions tend to reduce distortions when the structure is more flexible than the ground, but tend to increase them for stiffer structures. A comparison between results obtained for a rectangular lined opening and for a circular lined opening are presented, and show that deformations of a rectangular structure with no-slip can be estimated from equations derived for a circular opening with an incompressible liner and also with no-slip. The effects of flexibility, slip condition at the interface, and drained or undrained loading are different for circular tunnels than for rectangular tunnels.