A Winkler-Based Method for the Assessment of Tunnelling-Induced Deformations on Piled Structures

In urban areas it is often required to assess the deformation distributions induced by tunnel construction on piled buildings. In this paper, a simple analysis method is presented for estimating these deformations. The proposed method is based on a two-stage procedure: (1) estimation of the greenfield ground movements caused by the tunnel excavation, and (2) analysis of the foundation/building on elastic springs subjected to a system of forces induced by the greenfield ground movements. Simple closed-form expressions are used for the evaluation of spring stiffnesses and tunnelling-induced forces. The proposed method is validated by comparing its predictions with those from 3D finite element analyses. It is shown that the simplified analysis method provides a good assessment of building deformations for several cases of tunnelling beneath piles and relative soil-structure stiffnesses. The proposed method represents a useful tool for preliminary parametric analyses due to the reduced computational cost and simple yet versatile implementation compared to 3D numerical analyses.