Influence of tunneling on existing Pile foundations a numerical study

Abstract

Interaction between the piles and the tunnels is relatively a new topic that is typically observed in all metropolitan areas. Generally, the buildings and the other important elements of the urban infrastructure are supported by pile foundations. Tunnels provide an alternative route for people and goods to flow into and out of cities without interfering with the intensely built urban surface. For many decades, these two structural systems have become an integral part of an infrastructure. Few years ago, most of the piles were constructed along the ground layers far away from deep-level bored tunnels, which were rarely built through the city. However, the technological advancements have transformed the facts. The piles are now constructed in deeper depth to facilitate high rise buildings, and shallower tunnels are constructed for wider distribution throughout the cities. The impact of a new tunnel on an existing pile foundation is investigated in this thesis. In addition, it has explained the tunnel-soil-pile interaction characteristics through the influence zones and significant recommendations are provided for the design of tunnel consequences. This research is aimed at investigating the influence of tunneling on the adjacent existing pile foundations in cohesionless soil deposits. This research analysis was performed in two phases. The first phase of research had involved the investigation of free field or green field cohesionless ground deformation behaviour during tunnel excavation and determination of influencing zones for various parameters using commercial software PLAXIS 3D TUNNEL version 2. newline newline newline