Deterministic and Probabilistic Investigations of Piping Occurrence during Tunneling through Spatially Variable Soils
Publication: ASCE-ASME Journal of Risk and Uncertainty in Engineering Systems, Part A: Civil Engineering
Volume 7, Issue 2
Abstract
Piping is a common phenomenon of seepage failure in underground space construction. Efforts have been made in understanding the mechanism of piping due to seepage gradient force and incorporating these in prediction technologies. In this study, the characteristics of seepage and piping occurrence during the excavation of a riverside tunnel are discussed based on hydraulic-mechanical coupling analysis. Four typical cut-off wall depths are considered to evaluate the effectiveness of different seepage-control measures, and two different water depths are used to assess the impact of water depth. The spatial variability of hydraulic conductivity, which is often the case in reality, is incorporated into the program of the finite-element method. Results reveal that hydraulic conductivity is a key factor affecting the formation of potentially dangerous seepage path and the probability of piping occurrence. When the spatial randomness in hydraulic conductivity is considered, the riverside tunnel is observed as being much more susceptible to piping. By contrast, the assumption of uniformity in hydraulic conductivity may yield an inaccurate estimation of the risk in tunneling. The results make it possible to visualize the potential seepage path and provide a better explanation of the piping mechanism.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This research is supported by the NSFC-NRF 3rd Joint Research Grant (Earth Science) (Grant No. 41861144022) and the National Natural Science foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51879203 and 52079099).
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ASCE-ASME Journal of Risk and Uncertainty in Engineering Systems, Part A: Civil Engineering
Volume 7 • Issue 2 • June 2021
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© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 23, 2020
Accepted: Dec 1, 2020
Published online: Feb 11, 2021
Published in print: Jun 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Jul 11, 2021
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