Experimental evaluation of vulnerability for urban segmental tunnels subjected to normal surface faulting

Faulting is one type of permanent ground displacement (PGD); tunnels are at the risk of damage when they are susceptible to faulting. The present study proposes an experimental approach to create the fragility curves for shallow segmental tunnels in alluvial deposits subjected to normal surface faulting. Centrifuge testing was carried out in order to achieve this purpose. The proposed approach allows evaluation of new fragility curves considering the distinctive features of tunnel geometry and fault specifications. The comparison between the new fragility curves and the existing empirical curves was discussed as well. Compared to tunnels in rock, tunnels in alluvial deposits are more susceptible to failure because of different mechanisms of collapse into tunnel at large exerted PGD.