Modelling the construction and long-term response of Göta Tunnel
Journal article, 2021

This paper presents a benchmark of a rate-dependent constitutive model for soft soils, implemented in a 2D finite element code, against the response of an instrumented excavation in sensitive clay: Göta Tunnel in Gothenburg. The monitoring data, which comprise time-series of pore water pressures, displacements, earth pressures and strut forces, provide valuable insights of the time-dependent response during the construction period. The long-term response, in terms of the ongoing settlement rates, is assessed using remote sensing data. The results of the numerical simulations demonstrate that the constitutive model, Creep-SCLAY1S, is capable of capturing the observed response. The trends of vertical and horizontal displacements are captured well until the stage of dewatering, and the evolution of pore pressures and earth pressures is computed with high accuracy, excluding peaks in the measurement values arising from pile and rock anchor installation. Most importantly, the results demonstrate that the rate-dependent model enables to model the complete service life of the tunnel, from construction of the excavation to the tunnel operation, with one unified model parameter set. Furthermore, the comparisons highlight the importance of assessing installation effects both in the choice of construction methods and modelling.

Rate-dependency

Soft clay

Constitutive modelling

Earth pressure

Excavation

Anisotropy

Author

Johannes Tornborg

Chalmers, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Geology and Geotechnics

Skanska

Mats Karlsson

Chalmers, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Geology and Geotechnics

Anders Kullingsjö

Skanska

Minna Karstunen

Chalmers, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Geology and Geotechnics

Computers and Geotechnics

0266-352X (ISSN) 1873-7633 (eISSN)

Vol. 134 104027

Digital Twin Cities Centre

VINNOVA (2019-00041), 2020-02-29 -- 2024-12-31.

The environmental impact of deep excavations in soft clays

Formas (2016-01428), 2017-01-01 -- 2020-12-31.

Tidsberoende effekter av schakt i lös lera

Swedish Transport Administration (2018/11745), 2018-04-01 -- 2020-12-31.

Subject Categories

Applied Mechanics

Geotechnical Engineering

Other Civil Engineering

DOI

10.1016/j.compgeo.2021.104027

More information

Latest update

11/18/2021