Effect of temperature on deep lined circular tunnels in transversely anisotropic elastic rock

Considerably less attention has been given to thermal stresses in a tunnel. Temperature changes in the ground or inside the tunnel, e.g. due to fire, can cause cracking and damage to the liner and surrounding ground. This study derived analytical solutions for stresses and displacements caused by thermal load for a lined circular tunnel under a transversely anisotropic ground where the ground anisotropy axis coincides with the stacking direction. The FEM code ABAQUS was used to study a lined deep tunnel when the ground anisotropy axis is perpendicular to the stacking direction. A parametric study was performed to investigate the effects of Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio, thermal conductivity and the coefficient of thermal expansion on the behavior of the liner and ground. The results show that the Young's modulus and the coefficient of thermal expansion are the most important parameters that determine the stresses and displacements of the liner and ground. The analysis also shows that the thermal conductivity has a significant effect on the temperature distribution in the ground.