Analytical solution for tunnelling-induced ground movement in clays

Elastic solutions are presented to predict the tunnelling-induced undrained ground movements for shallow and deep circular tunnels in soft ground, by imposing the oval-shaped ground deformation pattern as the boundary condition of the displacement around the tunnel opening. The gap parameter is used to describe the displacement at the opening. The difference between uniform radial and oval-shaped ground deformation patterns on ground deformations is investigated and different definitions for ground loss are discussed. The applicability of the proposed analytical solutions is checked with five case studies. Generally good agreement of the predicted ground deformations can be seen with field observations for tunnels in uniform clay.