A structural health monitoring system for data analysis of segment joint opening in an underwater shield tunnel

Abstract

The opening of segment joints is considered critical for the stability analysis of a shield tunnel lining. In order to prevent tunnel disasters, an integrated framework was developed in this study based on the laboratory experiment, real-time monitoring, and statistic theory. As a case study, this presented method was employed in a typical underwater shield tunnel to prevent leakage disasters. The water pressure experiment was used to analyze the importance of joint openings for the tunnel waterproofing. Then, an automatic structural health monitoring system was installed in the study site to have real-time monitoring of segment joint opening and the variation of external load applied to the structure. Based on the monitoring data, a multiple linear regression model was developed to explain the response of joint opening to water pressure and temperature at the important positions of arch crown, spandrel, and hance of the tunnel. The multiple linear regression results were verified to be in agreement with those of the numerical simulation; they denote that (1) joint opening decreased with the rise in temperature, but increased with the rise in water pressure at arch crown and hance, and (2) the segment joint opening decreased with the rise in water pressure at spandrel. As a potential application, the developed model was applied to predict future behaviors of structure, which is vital to prevent disasters and provides a reference to underwater constructions.

Analysis of Local Damages Effect on Mechanical Responses of Underwater Shield Tunnel via Field Testing and Numerical Simulation

“…There have been plenty of studies on the reliable techniques used to test the actual status of tunnels in the field. Furthermore, numerical simulation is a common method used to analyze the mechanical response of structures under various boundary conditions [7,9]. Numerical simulation in light of field investigation data is vitally important for preventing disasters [18], which remains a challenge.…”

“…Numerical simulation in light of field investigation is vitally important for disaster prevention. It is of great significance to combine field investigation with mechanical response analysis [2,3,7]. Based on the current research, this work developed an integrated framework to detect the damage conditions of the concrete structure and analyze the influence of local damage on structural mechanical performance through nondestructive testing (NDT) technology and numerical models.…”

“…As it is one of the most important components of the framework, various numerical models have been developed in recent years. Most of these numerical models based on discrete element theory, finite element theory, and the coupling of these two theories [7,16]. The combined application of field detection results with numerical simulation is of great significance to stability assessment, which has remained an underlying problem in previous studies [17].…”

The impact of uneven temperature distribution on stability of concrete structures using data analysis and numerical approach

“…The analysis of structural mechanical behaviors is vitally important for maintaining its stability, especially for underground constructions because the geological conditions and field environment of underground engineering are complex. The existing researches (Tan et al, 2019; Yang et al, 2018) indicated that water pressure, soil pressure and temperature are the main loads to influence the stability of structure. In traditional studies, temperature is considered as evenly distributing in tunnel, which is not agree with the actual conditions (Jun et al, 2017; Oluwaseun et al, 2019).…”

“…The temperature variation is one of the most important factors to influence the mechanical behaviors of concrete structure (Tan et al, 2019; Yang et al, 2018). In order to analyze the impact of temperature which imposed on concrete structure, an integrated method is performed in this study.…”