Investigation of subsurface deformations associated with model tunnels in a granular mass

The study presented in this paper focuses on the subsurface settlement profiles above shallow and deep model tunnels in a granular mass simulated by aluminium rods. In order to provide theoretical deformation patterns during the development of the volume loss due to the tunnel excavation, CRISP is used for the finite element analysis. Comparison is then made for the three laboratory model tunnel tests using close range photogrammetry to measure the displacement data within a multi-sized rod mixture. FEA based on the displacement-controlled model tunnel boundary is shown to be in good agreement with the physical model data. In addition, it is found that the most values of K obtained from both the FEA and the model test are placed between Dyer et al. [Dyer, M.R., Hutchinson, M.T., Evans, N., 1996. Sudden valley sewer: a case history. In: Mair, R.J., Taylor, R.N. (Eds.), International Symposium on Geotechnical Aspects of Underground Construction in Soft Ground. Balkema, London, pp. 671–676] and Moh et al. [Moh, Z.-C., Ju, D.H., Hwang, R.N., 1996. Ground movements around tunnels in soft ground. In: Mair, R.J., Taylor, R.N. (Eds.), International Symposium on Geotechnical Aspects of Underground Construction in Soft Ground. Balkema, London, pp. 725–730] field observation data.