Performance of Tunnel Feet-Lock Pipe (TFP) in Sharing Vertical Foundation Load

• Published in: KSCE journal of civil engineering 2021, 25(3), , pp.1086-1094
• Main Authors: Chen, Lijun, Chen, Jianxun, Li, Yao, Luo, Yanbin, Mu, Yongjun, Hu, Taotao, Wang, Chuanwu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bearing capacity; Civil Engineering; Engineering; Feet; Geotechnical Engineering & Applied Earth Sciences; Industrial Pollution Prevention; Mathematical analysis; Performance evaluation; Pipes; Quantitative research; Soft ground; Subgrade reaction; Tunnel construction; Tunnel Engineering; Tunnels; Vertical loads; 토목공학
• ISSN: 1226-7988; 1976-3808
• DOI: 10.1007/s12205-021-1017-6

During the tunnel construction in soft ground, the insufficient bearing capacity of tunnel foundation usually causes a series of settlement problems. Tunnel feet-lock pipe (TFP) has been widely used to take the vertical load acting at the foundation of a tunnel foot. However, the detailed bearing performance of TFP is still not clear, and there is a lack of quantitative research. In this paper, a simple analytical approach is adopted to evaluate the performance of the TFP, and the main parameters affecting the supporting performance of the TFP are analyzed. The results show that the ϕ 42– ϕ 140 TFP with the angle of 10° can take 3.8%–40.4% of vertical load. TFP has an effective length of 1.7 m–2.8 m, which is related to the relative stiffness between the TFP and the stratum. With the increase of the installation angle, the TFP shares more vertical load. This trend is more obvious when the angle of the TFP is greater than 20°. If the proportion coefficient of the subgrade reaction coefficient is doubled, the vertical load shared by the TFP can be increased by 34%–38%. For every 10 cm increase in overbreak behind the steel rib, the vertical load shared by TFP is reduced by 16%.