3D Finite Element Simulation on During Shield Tunneling

Based on the comprehensive analysis on the primary components of ground movement associated with earth pressure balance (EPB) shield tunneling, a three-dimensional nonlinear finite element model for simulating EPB shield tunneling is proposed. The proposed modeling techniques are applied to simulate a tunneling project. The distributions of soil displacement on the ground surface associated with the advance-ment process of shield tunnel are analyzed. According to the comparisons of numerical results with field measurements, the proposed numerical procedure is found to be an effective approach for predicting the deformation dun to shield tunneling. The further analysis shows that the computed results of the small-strain constitutive model are more reasonable, and the small-strain mechanical behaviors of soils should be taken into account.