The safety factor of a tunnel considering the failure of supports is important because the failure of supports might cause the collapse of the tunnel.
In the previous studies, shotcrete was modelled as beam elements and the failure of the shotcrete w...
The safety factor of a tunnel considering the failure of supports is important because the failure of supports might cause the collapse of the tunnel.
In the previous studies, shotcrete was modelled as beam elements and the failure of the shotcrete was checked according to the allowable working stress concept.
In this study, shotcrete was modelled by both beam elements and continuum (elasto-plastic) elements. Safety factors of tunnels were estimated by two dimensional numerical analysis with varying rock mass class, coefficient of lateral pressure, thickness of shotcrete, rock bolt reinforcement and excavation method. Also the study suggested not only a proper amount of supports but also modelling method.
Also three dimensional analyses were performed to suggest a proper advanced rate, in which the shotcrete was modelled only by continuum elements.
As a results, continuum elements gives more stable results then beam elements in terms of displacement and stress. Therefore it was concluded that shotcrete could be modelled as continuum elements to estimate safety factor of tunnels better.
It was also concluded that the safety factor of a tunnel obtained with continuum elements reduced as the rock mass condition became weaker but almost same safety factor was obtained with two different excavation methods.
In addition, it was shown that the safety factor increased as the thickness of shotcrete increased and decreased as the advanced rate increased as expected.