New Design Method for the Production Tolerances of Concrete Tunnel Segments

• Published in: Journal of performance of constructed facilities 2012-12, Vol.26 (6), p.824-834
• Main Authors: Cavalaro, S. H. P, Blom, C. B. M, Aguado, A, Walraven, J. C
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Building structure; Buildings. Public works; Computation methods. Tables. Charts; Concrete structure; Construction (buildings and works); Contact; Damage accumulation; Exact sciences and technology; Recommendations; Segments; Structural analysis. Stresses; Structural damage; Technical Papers; Tolerances; Tunnel construction; Tunnels (transportation); Tunnels, galleries
• ISSN: 0887-3828; 1943-5509
• DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)CF.1943-5509.0000291

AbstractSome damages observed in tunnels constructed with tunnel-boring machines are caused by contact deficiencies between segments, which are the result of the sum and accumulation of several types of tolerances. Because the relation among the tolerances, the contact deficiencies, and the structural damage is not quite clear, the segmented lining is usually designed to meet very tight tolerances. The existing tolerance recommendations consist mostly of extrapolation of tolerances applied to other types of concrete structures with different characteristics. This explains the wide variation of production tolerances found in the literature, with different repercussions on the cost of molds and on the performance of the structure. The first part of this study shows the relation between structural damage and contact deficiencies. The second part of the study explains how the contact deficiencies found in practice are generated by the tolerances. Finally, a general design method is proposed for the estimation of the production tolerances. Based on this, general recommendations are derived for the maximum admissible production tolerance used to limit the incidence of structural damage.