Experimental investigation of the time-dependent response of unreinforced and reinforced tunnel faces in cohesive soils

In spite of the increasing diffusion of tunnel boring machines, conventional tunnelling is still preferred for economic reasons in case of short tunnels, unconventional cross sections or irregular tunnel trajectories. In conventional tunnelling, the mechanical response of the tunnel front is a main concern and, when tunnels are excavated in cohesive soils, this is dominated by the time factor, related to geometry, to the mean excavation rate and to the hydro-mechanical properties of the materials involved. This is particularly evident during excavation standstill: front displacements progressively increase with time and, in many cases, the system response under long-term conditions becomes unstable. In conventional tunnelling, a common technique employed to improve the system response (under both short- and long-term conditions) is the installation of fibreglass tubes within the advance core. In this paper, the mechanical response of both unreinforced and reinforced deep tunnel fronts in cohesive soils is experimentally analysed. In particular, the results of a series of 1 g small-scale tests, taking into account both the influence of the excavation rate (the unloading time) on the system response and the evolution with time of the tunnel face displacements, induced by a rapid reduction in the horizontal stress applied on the tunnel face, are reported.