Correlation between the kinematics of a Tunnel Boring Machine and the observed soil displacements

Abstract

Constructing tunnels in soft soil with the use of Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) may induce settlements. A considerable amount of the total soil displacements is correlated with the passage of the TBM-shield. Even so, the TBM-induced soil displacements are so far only coarsely correlated to the total settlements. This paper relates the shield geometry and its advance through the soil with the observed soil displacements. The snake-like motion of the shield induces unevenly distributed soil displacements at the shield-soil interface, which spread through the soil with a similar pattern. The results of an earlier numerical investigation on the TBM kinematics and the observed soil response are compared here in order to quantify their correlation. The analysis has been based on the monitoring data from the construction of a twin-tube bored road tunnel in The Hague, The Netherlands. Results confirm that the geometry and the advance of the TBM-shield through the soil influence the amount and distribution of the induced soil displacements. The analysis also highlights the essential role of the tail-void grouting not only in filling-in the tail-void, but also in compensating the kinematical effects of shield advance.

Evaluation of InSAR data for measuring the surface settlement during shield tunnel construction of the North-South Line in Amsterdam

“…The major assumption is that the volume of the settlement trough equals the volume of soil losses around the tunnel. Usually these settlements occur within a length of 40 to 50 m, which corresponds to roughly one week of construction (Broere and Festa, 2017). Thus, the relevant gradients can be expressed in the unit [m m -1 d -1 ], where m are meters and d represents days.…”

“…During the construction of the North-South line, the buildings in the influence zone of the tunnel and the surface were extensively monitored with robotic total stations (Van Der Poel et al 2006, Cook et al, 2007. On the buildings, prisms were installed that were measured by the total stations (Korff & Mair 2013).…”

“…(See Figure 1). Therefore, at a normal advance rate of the TBM, such settlements above each cross section of the tunnel occur in roughly one week (Broere 2017). Thus, it depends on the spatial distribution of the InSAR measurement points whether such signals can be detected and estimated.…”

A Hybrid Data Mining Method for Tunnel Engineering Based on Real-Time Monitoring Data From Tunnel Boring Machines

“…Excavation in soft soil can lead to ground settlements, affecting the surrounding environment and buildings. Broere and Festa [30] proposed a theoretical model which linked soil displacements to the dynamic and geometrical characteristics of TBMs. And the amplitude and spatial distribution of the soil displacement can be then obtained with data records.…”

Kinematic Analysis and Virtual Prototype Simulation of the Thrust Mechanism for Shield Machine

“…Research on the kinematic behavior of the shield machine is the basis of realizing the accurate control of the shield pose [7]. Some works have been done around the shield behavior, only based on the data from the shield guide system [8,9]. However, this research, lacking the kinematic principles of the shield thrust mechanism, have difficulty in solving the problem of pose control.…”