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Drawdown Analysis for Tunnel

Excavation
1.0 Introduction
In this tutorial, RS2 is used to simulate tunnel excavation in a saturated soil. The
tunnel is assumed to have a permeable liner so there is a drawdown in the water
table as water drains into the tunnel. The model is based on a study presented by
Shin et al. (2002).

2.0 Constructing the Model

Select: File > Recent Folders > Tutorial Folder.

Select: Drawdown Analysis for Tunnel (Initial) file

The geometry, material properties, and project settings have already been specified
for this model.

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2.1 Hydraulic Material Properties

Select: Properties > Define Hydraulic

Select Thames Gravel. Here, it is possible to select the model that dictates the
permeability transition from saturated to unsaturated soil. Leave the model as the
default (Simple). Permeability can also be changed here. Set the value to 1e-10 m/s.

Note: Obviously, the permeability of gravel is much higher than we have specified.
However, in this problem, we want to observe the drawdown of the water table due
to the tunnel excavation. Drawdown will only occur if the recharge rate is low, i.e.
water does not quickly enter the system to replace the water lost into the tunnel. If
we set a permeability for the top layer higher than the underlying layer, then rapid
recharge will occur and we will not see drawdown of the water table.

Click on the tab for London clay. The base permeability for the London clay is 1e-10
m/s. The permeability decreases by two orders of magnitude between 50kPa and
100 kPa of suction. This behaviour can be simulated with a user-defined permeability
model. Set the Model to User Defined. Select "Define..." and fill in the parameters
shown below:

Click OK to return to the Define Hydraulic Properties dialog.

Click on the tab for Lambeth Group clay. Leave the model as Simple and set the
permeability to 1e-10 m/s.

Click on the tab for Lambeth Group sand. Set the permeability to 1e-6 m/s as shown.

Click OK to close the dialog.

2.2 Excavation and Support

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In general, a tunnel must be excavated before structural support is added. Therefore,

some deformation will occur before the support is installed. The amount of
deformation depends on the distance of the tunnel face from the location of support
installation. The tunnel face provides some support, so if the liner is installed close to
the tunnel face, then not much deformation will have occurred. In essence, this is a
three-dimensional problem that we are trying to simulate in two dimensions.

For this problem, let’s assume that we are installing the liner 2 m behind the face. To
simulate the supporting effect of the nearby tunnel face, we will apply a load to the
perimeter of the tunnel equal to some proportion of the in-situ stress. The amount of
load required to correctly simulate the 3D effect of the tunnel face can be
determined by following procedures outlined in the 3D Tunnel Lining tutorial.

In the third stage, we will install the liner and remove the load. Removing the load will
simulate the advance of the tunnel face away from our two-dimensional slice.

Select: Loading > Induced Loads > Add Induced Stress Load

Click the check box for Stage Load. Click on the Stage Factors button. Through the
type of analysis described in the Tunnel Lining Design tutorial, we can determine that
a load of 0.16 times the in-situ stress will simulate the effective support of the tunnel
face 2 m away. Therefore for Stage 2, set the Stage Factor to 0.16. For Stage 3, we
assume that the tunnel face is far away so set the Stage Factor to 0.

Click OK to close the dialog. Click OK to close the ‘Add Distributed Load’ dialog. You
will now be prompted to select a boundary on which to apply the load. Click on the
tunnel boundary and drag the mouse around the perimeter of the excavation to draw
the load. If necessary, enter "f" in the prompt line to flip the orientation of the load.
Press Enter to select the tunnel boundary. Press F6 to zoom in to the excavation.
The model for Stage 2 should now look like this:

FIELD STRESS

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Because the top of the model represents the true ground surface, we want to use a
gravity field stress.

Select: Loading > Field Stress

For Field Stress Type select Gravity and click the check box for “Use actual ground
surface”. Leave all other values as default.

2.3 Mesh
Select: Mesh > Mesh Setup

Change the Mesh Type to Graded. Leave the default element type (6 Noded
Triangles) but set the number of elements to 110 with a Gradation Factor of 0.1.
Click the Discretize button followed by the Mesh button.

Because the area of interest is relatively small compared to the size of the model, a
finer mesh should be used around the excavation. In the mesh properties dialog,
select the advanced box. Click on the green plus sign to add an Advanced Mesh
Region. Select a square around the excavation using the cursor:

Fill in the following properties in the Mesh Setup dialog:

After adding the Advanced Mesh Region, the model should look like below:

Close the Mesh Setup dialog by selecting the OK button.

2.4 Add Composite Liner

Click on the Stage 3 tab. To add the composite liner:

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Select: Support > Add Liner

Tick the box for Composite Liner and ensure that the liner will install at stage 3. The
default liner and joint properties will be used, so there is no need to define them prior
to adding the composite liner.

Draw a selection box to install the liner on the excavation boundary. The model
(Stage 3) should look as follows:

2.5 Groundwater Boundary Conditions

The water table for this site is 2.5m below the ground surface. This can be set up
using groundwater boundary conditions. Ensure Stage 1 is selected and press F2 to
zoom out to view the entire model.

Select: Groundwater > Set Boundary Conditions

For the BC Type, choose Total Head. Set the Total Head Value to -2.5 m.

Select all sections of the left and right vertical boundaries. Click Apply. The model will
appear as shown:

To simulate the effect of a permeable liner, the pressure at the surface of the tunnel
will be set to 0. Select the Stage 2 tab. From the Set Boundary Conditions dialog,
select BC Type = Zero Pressure.

Use the cursor to draw a selection window around the tunnel. Click Apply, then close
the dialog. The model should look like this:

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Click on the tab for Stage 3 to ensure that the zero pressure boundary condition also
exists in this stage.

2.6 Boundary Conditions

The model now shows the default boundary conditions (all external boundaries fixed
in the x and y directions). To free the ground surface of this model:

Select: Displacements > Free

Click on the ground surface and press Enter. The fixed boundary conditions have
now disappeared from the top boundary.

The top left and top right nodes of the soil layer have now been freed. To re-fix them,
select Restrain X,Y from the Displacements menu and click on the left and right
edges of the soil layer (make sure that the selection method is set to "boundary
nodes" in the right-click menu). Hit Enter to finish. The model should now look like
this:

The model definition is now complete. Save the model using the Save As option in
the File menu.

3.0 Compute
Select: Analysis > Compute

4.0 Results and Discussion

Select: Analysis > Interpret

The Pressure Head results for Stage 1 are displayed below (select Seepage >
Pressure Head from the drop-down menu in the toolbar)

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As expected, the water table (pink line) is at 2.5 m below the surface and the
pressure increases monotonically with depth. Click on the tab for Stage 2.

Here you can see the obvious drawdown of the water table due to the drained
boundary around the tunnel.

Show the flow vectors by clicking on the Show Flow Vectors button in the toolbar.
Zoom in on the tunnel (F6) and you can see how the fluid is flowing into the tunnel.

Turn off the Flow Vectors. Change the plot to show Total Displacement contours.
Zoom out until you can see the ground surface. Click the button to Display Deformed
Boundaries. Click the button to Display Yielded Elements. The plot should look like
this:

There is some shear failure visible around the tunnel and at the ground surface.
There is also some subsidence at the surface. To determine the exact value, Select:
Query > Add Material Query. Enter (0,0) for the query point and press Enter. In the
resulting dialog, choose At Each Vertex and Show Queried Values.

Click OK. The displacement directly above the tunnel will now be visible on the
model.

Select the Stage 3 tab. There is little change in the displacement or failure pattern
(there is actually a small amount of rebound since removing the load is equivalent to
removing material inside the tunnel).

The liner has successfully accommodated the load without any more failure. To
evaluate the performance of the liner, ensure Stage 3 is selected, right-click on the
liner, select Hide Water Table, right-click on the liner again and Select Show Values >

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Show Values to display the Show Values dialog. Check the box for Liners and
choose Bending Moment from the pull-down menu.

Click OK. Zoom in on the tunnel to see the moments as shown.

Finally, check the volume loss due to the tunnel excavation. The volume loss is the
volume change due to surface subsidence divided by the volume of the excavation.
Go to Analysis > Report Generator. Scroll down to the heading for Stage 3.

This concludes the Drawdown Analysis for Tunnel Excavation tutorial.

5.0 References
Shin, J.H., Addenbrooke, T.I. and Potts, D.M., 2002. A numerical study of the effect of
groundwater movement on long-term tunnel behaviour. Géotechnique, 52 (6), 391-
403.

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