Modeling of soil structure interaction during tunnel excavation: An engineering approach

Several advancements in the modeling of soil structure interaction in the light of tunnel excavation are discussed. The theoretical formulation as well as numerical implementation are presented such as to meet the following requirements: simplicity, reliability and practical applicability to make the resulting software product available for a direct use on the construction site. To that end a recently introduced 2D3D modeling of tunnel excavation incorporating the in situ measurements is effectively combined with a fully three-dimensional (3D) beam-like representation of a typical urban structure made of masonry or precast concrete. Both standard and advanced non-linear constitutive models can be adopted to account for a potential shear failure of a subsoil material during excavation consequently triggering the evolution of damage of an above-ground (upper) structure. A simple example is provided to illustrate the proposed approach.