Numerical Evaluation of the Surface Displacements due to Soil Grouting and to Tunnel Excavation
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 7, Issue 3
Abstract
The low-pressure grouting with cement mixtures is one of the techniques adopted for improving the mechanical characteristics of granular soils prior to the excavation of underground openings. When applied to shallow subway tunnels, this procedure often induces heaves of the ground surface, which are followed by settlements during the excavation phase. In urban areas, these displacements may lead to appreciable damages of existing buildings. Here, a finite element analysis is presented of the surface displacements recorded during the construction of a subway tunnel in the city of Milan (northern Italy). The critical comparison between numerical and experimental data singles out the limits of an analysis approach used in tunneling practice that simulates the injections through a nonelastic volume strain. To overcome them, an alternative analysis scheme is adopted, based on the application of a neutral pressure within the grouted zone, which seems preferable for estimating the surface displacement caused by the field works.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This study is part of a research project financed by the Ministry of University and Research of the Italian Government. The cooperation of M. Chiorboli of the Milan Subway Company (Metroplitana Milanese) is gratefully acknowledged.
References
Botti, E. (1965). “La linea n.1 della Metropolitana Milanese: Modalità di esecuzione delle opere murarie.” L’Ingegnere, 39(3), 221–228.
Canetta, G., Cavagna, B., Nicolini, E., and Nova, R. (1997). “Analisi degli spostamenti indotti dalle fasi di scavo di una galleria metropolitana.” Riv. Ital. Geotec., 31(3), 41–55.
Canetta, G., Cavagna, B., and Nova, R. (1996). “Experimental measurements and numerical analysis of the excavation of a railway tunnel in a grouted soil in Milan.” Proc., Int. Conf. Geotechnical Aspects of Underground Excavations in Soft Ground, London, Mair and Taylor, eds., Balkema, 479–484.
Ceppi, G., et al. (1989). “Horizontal jet grouting as a temporary support for the Monteolimpino 2 tunnel.” Proc., Int. Cong. Progress and Innovation in Tunneling, Toronto.
Chow, F. C., Bracegirdle, A., Mack, D., Kettle, C., and Grant, R. J. (1998). “The application of permeation grouting to protect the Thames tunnel.” Proc. 2nd Int. Conf. Ground Improvement Techniques, Singapore, 135–142.
Cividini, A. (2001). “An experimental and numerical study of low pressure grouting of granular soils by diluted chemical solutions.” Int. J. Geomech., 1(4), 415–440.
Contini, A. (2004). “Modellazione numerica degli spostamenti superficiali indotti dall’esecuzione di gallerie metropolitane.” MS thesis, Dept. of Structural Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Italy.
Franzius, J. N., Potts, D. M., and Burland, J. B. (2005). “The influence of soil anisotropy and on the ground surface movements resulting from tunnel excavation.” Geotechnique, 55(3), 189–199.
Gioda, G., and Sakurai, S. (1987). “Back analysis procedures for the interpretation of field measurements in geomechanics.” Int. J. Numer. Analyt. Meth. Geomech., 11(6), 555–583.
Karol, R. H. (2003). “Chemical grouting and soil stabilization.” Marcel Dekker, New York.
Lee, S. W., Bolton, M. D., Mair, R. J., Soga, K., and Hagiwara, T. (2002). “Modelling of sequential injections near tunnel linings.” Soils Found., 42(6), 9–22.
Nicolini, E., and Nova, R. (2000). “Modelling of a tunnel excavation in a noncohesive soil improved with cement mix injections.” Comput. Geotech., 27, 249–272.
Panet, M., et al. (2001). “Recommendations on the convergence confinement method.” AFTES Rep., version 1.
Szechy, K. (1973). The art of tunneling, Akademiai Kiado, Budapest.
Wisser, C., Augarde, C. E., and Burd, H. J. (2005). “Numerical modelling of compensation grouting above shallow tunnels.” Int. J. Numer. Analyt. Meth. Geomech., 29(5), 443–471.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 7 • Issue 3 • May 2007
Pages: 217 - 226
Copyright
© 2007 ASCE.
History
Received: Jan 26, 2006
Accepted: May 8, 2006
Published online: May 1, 2007
Published in print: May 2007
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.