UNSATURATED FLOW AND DEFORMATION PATTERN IN TUNNELLING THROUGH SWELLING ROCK

When tunnelling through swelling rock, relevant deformations occur only in the tunnel floor. This phenomenon is here numerically modelled as a coupled hydraulic-mechanical process. The observed absence of swelling deformations at the tunnel walls and the crown can be explained as a consequence of varying hydraulic boundary conditions along the excavation boundary. The paper focuses on the importance of unsaturated seepage flow. According to the numerical results, the nonlinearity of the unsaturated flow equations has a decisive qualitative influence on the predicted deformation field. (A) For the covering abstract see IRRD 881647.

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Features: References;
  • Pagination: p. 1041-8

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00729161
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
  • ISBN: 90-5410-583-6
  • Files: ITRD
  • Created Date: Dec 12 1996 12:00AM