Influence of Diameter and Thickness of Tunnel Lining on Anti-deforming Capability

Abstract

At present, there is no unified standard for the selection of the dimension of tunnel lining such as inner diameter and thickness in practical engineering. On this condition, the optimization of the dimension of lining is still a subject to be explored. A series of model tests with a geometric similarity ratio of 1:10 is conducted to study the anti-deforming capability of the lining structure with different inner diameters and thicknesses. The condition of overloading is considered by changing the ratio of the horizontal and vertical loads. The test results show that the overall deformation, local strain and the bending moment develop approximately linearly and slowly during the beginning stages of loading, however nonlinearly and rapidly during the overloading. The increase of the inner diameter of the lining leads to the increase of the convergence, maximum tensile strain, and internal force, which makes the lining into a more dangerous stress state. The increase of the lining’s thickness leads to the increase of internal force, but also leads to the decrease of the convergence and maximum tensile strain, which leads the lining into a safer stress state.