Copyright 2014 Scienceline Publication

Journal of Civil Engineering and Urbanism

Volume 4, Issue 3: 256-260 (2014)

ISSN-2252-0430

3D Numerical Simulation to Consider the Effects of EPB Tunneling on

the Existing Support System
Raheb Bagherpour*, Saeed Mahdevari
Department of Mining Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 8415683111, Iran
*Corresponding authors E-mail: [email protected]

The development of transportation in large cities

and the limitation of urban spaces have resulted in the
need for more tunnel construction. As a result, the design
of new tunnels nearby existing structures such as tunnels
and their support system is inevitable. In such cases, the
protection of closely-spaced existing structures as well as
the new one is essential and the prediction of adverse
effects of tunneling on the nearby tunnels due to ground
movement and surface settlement is an important issue in
the construction of new tunnel.
Tunnel deformation and surface settlements have
been considered previously using a diversity of
approaches including empirical, analytical and numerical
methods (Addenbrooke and Potts, 2001; Migliazza et al.,
2009; Chapman et al., 2004). Empirical and analytical
methods are not applicable in situation which the problem
involves the interaction between a tunnel and other
existing structures such as a closely-spaced tunnel and its
support system (Chen et al., 1999; Franzius, 2003). In
addition, empirical methods can not consider different
geotechnical conditions and construction techniques. So to
study the interaction between an existing tunnel and a new
one, numerical approaches may provide an appropriate
tool.
Hage Chehade and Shahrour (2008) did a
sensitivity analysis on the relative position of a twin
tunnels using two dimensional numerical modeling and
concluded that the lowest subsidence will be obtained
when the tunnels aligned horizontally. Mroueh and
Shahrour (2003) executed a 3D numerical modeling and
investigated the effects of tunneling on the existing two

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

INTRODUCTION

Received 08 Apr. 2014

Accepted 23 Apr. 2014

ABSTRACT: The development of transportation in the large cities needs some new tunnels to be
designed and constructed nearby existing tunnels. In this study, the adverse effects of excavation a
subway tunnel using an Earth Pressure Balance (EPB) shield, under a sewage tunnel have been
investigated. Both the relative position of the tunnels and the excavation procedure of the new tunnel
affect the ground movements and existing tunnel lining. Hence, the effects of shield operation parameters
such as the face pressure, grout pressure and overcut between the shield skin and the surrounding soil are
studied using a 3D finite difference numerical simulation. In accordance with the results, the largest
permanent interaction effects occurred at the crown of sewage tunnel. Furthermore, excavation of subway
tunnel affects the support system of existing tunnel in the longitudinal section more than cross section. In
addition, the most portion of support deformation takes place when the ground moves into the overcut
space. However, these adverse effects decrease significantly by increasing the face pressure, grout
pressure and Bentonite injection into the steering gap between the shield skin and the surrounding soil
especially when the pressure of that is more than 3 bar. Due to EPB tunnelling, the internal forces
variations in the longitudinal section of sewage tunnel are more than circumferential ones.
Keywords: EPB Shield, 3D Numerical Modeling, Tunnel Interaction

level building. Liu et al. (2009) performed a full 3D

numerical modeling coupled with elasto-plastic material
model in Sydney region and investigated the effects of
excavation of an adjacent tunnel on the support system of
the existing tunnel; He has concluded that the excavation
of a new tunnel considerably affects the existing support
system and these effects significantly depend on the
relative position of tunnels. Afifipour et al. (2011)
analysed the effects of construction a twin tunnel under an
underpass and concluded that the face pressure has more
considerable effects on the underpass settlement compared
to the grout pressure.
To sum up, most of research up to date has been
focusing on the interaction between tunneling and other
existing surface structures such as underpass and
buildings. Moreover, there is little research work on the
interaction between tunnel and subsurface structures. In
addition, most researchers focusing on the 2D numerical
modeling and in the case of 3D simulation, most research
works have been done on the parallel structures such as
twin tunnels and almost all of them do not consider the
method of tunnel excavation and its operational
parameters. So in this research, the interaction between
the Tehran subway line 7 and the sewage tunnel has been
investigated, and the stability of sewage tunnel have been
considered. To do this, at first the tunnels geometry and
ground geotechnical parameters have been studied. Then,
using a full 3D numerical modeling the construction
technique of the subway tunnel and its effects on the
existing support system of sewage tunnel has been
investigated. Finally, the appropriate EPB shield
parameters which have minimum adverse effects on the
sewage tunnel stability have been purposed.

To cite this paper: Bagherpour R., Mahdevari S. 2014. 3D Numerical Simulation to Consider the Effects of EPB Tunneling on the Existing Support System. J. Civil Eng. Urban., 4
(3): 256-260.
Journal homepage: http://www.ojceu.ir/main/

256

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Geometry and Geology
The Tehran subway line 7 is an East - West line
and starts from the city of Amir Almomenin and
terminates at the junction of Navab Highway and Gazvin
Road. The tunnel length is 12 Km and will be bored using
an EPB shield, with a diameter of 9.16 meters. One of the
essential challenges against the construction of the
subway line is crossing of this tunnel beneath the main
sewage tunnel and because of the importance of sewage

tunnel stability, the operational EPB parameters are

investigated in this study.
The sewage tunnel has an egg section with a height
of 3.7 meters, width of 3 meters and 11 meters of
overburden (Figure 1a). The distance between the crown
of the sewage tunnel and the bottom of subway tunnel is
approximately 2 meters. The support which is installed in
the sewage tunnel consist of three bar lattice girder
embedded in 20 cm shotcrete and 30 cm reinforced
concrete (Figure 1b) so the final width and height of
sewage tunnel will be 2 and 2.7 meters respectively
(Figure 1c).

Figure 1. Geometry and position of sewage tunnel

According to the geological investigation and
Unified Soil Classification system, there are six geological
units along the subway line route, and the intersection of
the subway and sewage tunnel lies in the unit 2. The
geotechnical parameters of this geological unit which are
calculated through in situ and laboratory tests and data
processing are presented in Table 1. More than 65 percent
of subway line route is below the ground water level.
However, the intersection of sewage and subway tunnel is
above the water level.
Table 1. Geotechnical parameters of the geological unit 2
Cohesion (kg/cm2)

0.18

0.15

Elastic
modulus
(kg/cm2)
750

Poisson
ratio

Dry density
(kg/cm2)

0.3

1840

Numerical producer
Because of essential consideration of complex
aspects such as application of the face pressure,
interaction between the shield and ground, installation of
the lining rings, grouting of the annular space and
simulation of the overcut, Numerical simulation of a
tunnel which is excavated by an EPB shield is a hard task.
Problem layout and boundary condition
The numerical method used in this study for
simulation is finite difference and the model developed for
the analysis is shown in Figure 2a. The width and length
of the model is 96 meters and the model height is 44.2
meters which are sufficient to minimize the boundary
effects. The measurement points on the sewage tunnel
which are used for succeeding result processing are shown
in Figure 2b.

Figure 2. Finite difference model and cross section to

measurement
To release the required thrust for shield movement,
usually the tunnel is excavated larger than design plan
which is called overcut. Because of the shield weight
the overcut around the shield is asymmetric so that the gap
amount at the top portion of the shield is larger than the
bottom. Most numerical analysis up to now have been
done in a symmetric mode so a similar gap value is
considered around the shield (Ramoni and Anagnostou,
2010). But in this study according to Loganathan et al.
(1999) recommendation the ratio between the gap value at
the top and bottom of the shield is considered 3:1 (top:
bottom).
In this research, the traditional method of
estimating ground loss is redefined based on the "gap
parameter" introduced by Rowe and Kack (1983), and it is
called equivalent ground loss. The support characteristics
applied in the numerical simulation are presented in Table
2.

To cite this paper: Bagherpour R., Mahdevari S. 2014. 3D Numerical Simulation to Consider the Effects of EPB Tunneling on the Existing Support System. J. Civil Eng. Urban.,
4 (3): 256-260.
Journal homepage: http://www.ojceu.ir/main/

257

Table 2. Support characteristics for the sewage and

subway tunnel
Un.St

Sewage
tunnel
Subway
tunnel

Support
type

T
(cm)

E
(GPa)

P.R

Unit
weight
(kN/m3)

UCS
(Mpa)

Shotcrete

20

25

0.2

2300

27

Lining

30

32

0.21

2400

37

Segment

35

35

0.2

2500

40

Un.St: Underground Structure, T: Thickness, P.R: Poissons Ratio

The effects of tunnel boring on the existing

support system
The
interaction
behaviour
between
two
perpendicularly crossing tunnels have been considered
when a new tunnel was driven beneath an existing shallow
tunnel. If the bending moment tends to put the side of the
lining facing towards the tunnel opening into tension and
the side facing the rock mass into compression, it is
regarded as positive, otherwise, it is negative. Positive and
negative values of axial force refer to tension and
compression, respectively. During numerical simulation
several locations, as marked in Figure 2b, are monitored
to quantify the effects of tunneling on the existing support
system.
The gap between the shield skin (overcut) and the
ground has significant undesirable effects on the existing
lining. Therefore, it is important to prevent the ground
displacement into the void space behind the shield skin.
Some of new tunneling machines enable to pump the
Bentonite or grout behind the shield skin and fill the
overcut space. So, in the numerical simulation, two
scenarios have been considered. In the first scenario, by
considering the variation of pressure applied on the face,
the internal support forces for the sewage tunnel have
been investigated and for the second scenario, both the
variation of grout pressure behind the shield skin and face
pressure have been considered to evaluate lining forces.
The pressure of Bentonite along the shield skin is
considered constant.
The first scenario:
The variations of circumferential bending moments
monitored at the right (leading) side, crown, left (far) side,
and the invert of shallow tunnel lining during the driving
of subway tunnel for the first scenarios have been
depicted in Graph 1. In this graph, as the face of the deep
tunnel advances up to near the centre line of sewage
tunnel, the negative bending moment in the existing lining
gradually increases at the left side. On the other hand, the
negative bending moment do not change significantly at
the right side. After the subway tunnel face passes the
monitoring points, the negative moments significantly
decrease to their minimum and have positive values due to
the overcutting execution. At the crown of the shallow
tunnel, the negative moments in the lining decrease
slightly in high face pressure as the face of the deep tunnel
advances. After passing the centre line of the sewage
tunnel, the negative moments significantly increase until
around 5 m behind the tunnel face. At the invert, at first
the positive moments increase slightly and then decrease
more than other monitoring points while the TBM passes
the centreline of sewage tunnel. The permanent change in

the circumferential moment at the left side is more than

other monitoring points due to new tunnel construction.
The variation of circumferential axial force has
been depicted in Graph 2. The axial force at the left and
right side of sewage tunnel raises slightly at first and then
decreases considerably and reaches to a positive value for
the right side of sewage tunnel. When the tunnel face gets
distance from the centreline of sewage tunnel the axial
force increases again and reaches to a stable value which
is near the initial value when the face pressure is 1 and 1.5
bar for the left and right side respectively. At the crown,
significant raising in the negative axial force is observed
after driven the subway tunnel. At the invert there is a
different pattern. As the tunnel face approaches the
monitoring point, the axial force increases and after
crossing the sewage tunnel it decreases and reaches to a
permanent value lower than the initial value.

Graph 1. Variation of circumference bending moment at

the monitoring points when the face pressure varies from
1 to 2.5 bar.

Graph 2. Variation of circumference axial force at the

monitoring points when the face pressure varies from 1 to
2 bar.
The second scenario:
While the face pressure varies from 1 to 2.5 bar, the
grouting pressure effects on the sewage tunnel lining have
been considered and the results have been presented in
Graph 3 when the face pressure is 2 bar. During the
driving of the deep tunnel different trends are observed at
the different measuring points. At the left and right side of
existing tunnel lining, the moment direction changes
rapidly when the tunnel face is near the sewage tunnel and

To cite this paper: Bagherpour R., Mahdevari S. 2014. 3D Numerical Simulation to Consider the Effects of EPB Tunneling on the Existing Support System. J. Civil Eng. Urban.,
4 (3): 256-260.
Journal homepage: http://www.ojceu.ir/main/

258

after crossing the sewage tunnel the moment decreases

dramatically and reach to a negative value. Furthermore,
the quantity of moment reduction increases with the grout
pressure increment and the difference between initial
value of moment in the sewage lining and permanent
value after driven the subway tunnel is minimum when
the grout pressure is 3 bar. The same pattern is observed
for the moment variation at the crown and invert of
sewage tunnel. However, the grout pressure changes
affect the invert of sewage tunnel more than crown.
In Graph 4, the variation of axial force has been
presented. At left and right side of the lining, the
permanent axial force increases with increasing of grout
pressure and grout pressure variation affects the left side
of lining more than right side. At the crown, the axial
force increases up to 300 percent when the grout pressure
is 2 bar and the quantity of increment decreases with
increasing of grout pressure. The permanent axial force at
the invert is close to the initial value when the grout
pressure is around 3 bar.

quantity of permanent negative axial force raises by

decreasing of grout pressure.

Graph 4. Variation of circumference axial force at the

monitoring points when the face pressure is 2 bar and the
grout pressure varies from 2 to 3.5 bar.

Graph 3. Variation of circumference bending moment at

the monitoring points when the face pressure is 2 bar and
the grout pressure varies from 2 to 3.5 bar.
The variation of longitudinal moment and axial
force against distance to the sewage tunnel are presented
in Graph 5 and 6 respectively. At the left and right side of
sewage tunnel, at first the moment direction changes and
after crossing the sewage tunnel center the moment
direction return to the initial direction and the quantity of
permanent moment decreases. The quantity of permanent
moment at the crown increases up to 300 - 500 percent
depending to the grout pressure. At the invert, the
permanent moment direction changes and the quantity of
moment variation increases by increasing of grout
pressure. As depicted in Graph 6, at the invert, right and
left side of sewage tunnel, the longitudinal axial force
raises to a positive value and remain stable. However, at
the invert the quantity of increment is more than other
points. At the crown, the longitudinal axial force at first
falls to a negative value which is means compression at
the crown and after crossing the sewage tunnel centre the
quantity of axial force decreases. Furthermore, the

Graph 5. Variation of longitudinal bending moment at the

monitoring points when the face pressure is 2 bar and the
grout pressure varies from 2 to 3.5 bar.
CONCLUSION
It is generally understood that the interactions
between tunnels are complex, especially for the
perpendicularly crossing tunnels, which has to be
investigated using 3D analysis methods. According to the
3D numerical simulation, the following conclusion can be
driven.
The existing support system in the crossing area is
affected first at the leading side, then at the invert, after
that at the crown, and finally at the far side as the
underlying tunnel face advances, however relatively far
from the crossing area remains almost unchanged during
new tunnelling.

To cite this paper: Bagherpour R., Mahdevari S. 2014. 3D Numerical Simulation to Consider the Effects of EPB Tunneling on the Existing Support System. J. Civil Eng. Urban.,
4 (3): 256-260.
Journal homepage: http://www.ojceu.ir/main/

259

The overcut has significant undesirable effects on

the existing support system and cause tension or
compressive state of existing support system changes
during the excavation of subway tunnel.

Graph 6. Variation of longitudinal axial force at the

monitoring points when the face pressure is 2 bar and the
grout pressure varies from 2 to 3.5 bar.
In the first scenario, the permanent circumferential
bending moments do not change significantly by variation
of face pressure, but the permanent circumferential axial
forces are different. The maximum variation in the
permanent axial force is at the crown. The effects of face
pressure on the sewage lining start from 15 meters before
the sewage tunnel centreline and terminate at 15 meters
after that.
In the second scenario, when the tunnel face is
before the centreline of sewage tunnel, the variation of
sewage lining internal forces do not change significantly
by the grout pressure variation while these forces vary
after the centreline of sewage tunnel. In addition, the
difference between the initial values of the longitudinal
internal forces and the corresponding permanent values is
larger than circumferential ones.
Injection of Bentonite behind the shield skin could
reduce the adverse effects on the sewage lining system
especially when the grout pressure was more than 3 bar.

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To cite this paper: Bagherpour R., Mahdevari S. 2014. 3D Numerical Simulation to Consider the Effects of EPB Tunneling on the Existing Support System. J. Civil Eng. Urban.,
4 (3): 256-260.
Journal homepage: http://www.ojceu.ir/main/

260