Displacements near the Face of an Advancing Shaft 8-1

8 Displacements near the Face of an Advancing Shaft

8.1 Problem Statement

A circular shaft is excavated in chalk and lined with monolithic precast concrete segments. The aim
of this exercise is to determine the displacements that take place before the lining is installed. This
type of information can then be used to enable a two-dimensional plane-strain analysis to include
the effect of shaft or tunnel advancement on relaxation of shaft or tunnel loads (see Section 11).
For this example, the shaft’s diameter is 5.44 m, and the thickness of the lining is 22 cm. The
excavation increments are 1 m long, and after each round a 1 m precast concrete segment is placed
right up to the face. Figure 8.1 shows a cross-section view of the process.

Symmetry
Line
r=2.5 m

0.22 m

1m

1m

STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3

Figure 8.1 Problem geometry and excavation steps

FLAC Version 8.0

8-2 Example Applications

In reality, the chalk exhibits time-dependent behavior associated with creep. The analysis presented
here is limited to the elastic response, which accounts for the closure near the face. The following
properties are used.

Chalk
density 2350 kg/m3
bulk modulus 600 MPa
shear modulus 360 MPa
Concrete Liner
density 2500 kg/m3
bulk modulus 14 GPa
shear modulus 8.4 GPa
The in-situ stress state is considered to be hydrostatic, with σxx = σyy = σzz = 1.5 MPa.
Panet (1979) published an expression relating shaft closure of an unsupported shaft to the distance
to the shaft face. The expression provides a starting point for this example. The solution calculates
radial displacements, ur , at the shaft circumference:

  
|y|
ur = c0 + c1 1 − exp − y≥0 (8.1)
0.7R
  
|y|
ur = c0 − c1 1 − exp − y≤0
0.7R

with

σo R
c0 = − ho (8.2)
2G
σo R
c1 = − (1 − ho )
2G

where
R = unlined shaft radius;
ho ∼
= 1/3;
σo = in-situ pressure;
G = shear modulus; and

FLAC Version 8.0

Displacements near the Face of an Advancing Shaft 8-3

|y|= distance to the face (positive in the direction of the advancing face).
Three analyses are performed for the advancing shaft:
(1) the unlined shaft is modeled and the results compared to Panet’s (1979) solu-
tion;
(2) the effect of the lining is studied using zones to represent the lining; and
(3) the effect of the lining is studied using axisymmetric shell elements to represent
the lining.

8.2 Modeling Procedure

Because the axis of the shaft is an axis of radial symmetry, an axisymmetric elastic model is used
in this example. The FLAC model has dimensions 30 m by 60 m, and contains approximately 3800
zones. In order to limit the effect of the boundary condition, 30 meters of shaft have been modeled
(6 diameters).
For the unlined case, the excavation of the 30 meters is modeled in only one step.
For the two lined cases, the excavation sequence is followed. For the case in which zones represent
the concrete liner, the FISH function excav simulates the excavation sequence. (See “EXCAV.FIS”.)
For each round, rows jj1 to jj2 are excavated, and one-zone thick concrete liner zones are placed in
rows jj3 to jj4. Figures 8.2 and 8.3 show the geometry at the end of the run with a one-zone thick
liner.
For the lined case in which axisymmetric shell elements represent the liner, the FISH function
excav shell simulates the excavation sequence. (See “EXCAV SHELL.FIS”.) For each round,
rows jj1 to jj2 are excavated, and shell elements are connected to the grid from node ns1 to ns4.
Figures 8.4 and 8.5 show the geometry at the end of the run with an axisymmetric shell liner.

FLAC Version 8.0

8-4 Example Applications

JOB TITLE : ADVANCING SHAFT with one-zone thicker liner (*10^1)

FLAC (Version 8.00) 3.500

LEGEND
2.500
2-Jun-15 10:53
step 66000
-2.500E+01 <x< 5.500E+01
-4.000E+01 <y< 4.000E+01 1.500

Grid plot

0 2E 1 0.500

-0.500

-1.500

-2.500

-3.500

Itasca Consulting Group, INC.

Minneapolis, MN, USA
-2.000 -1.000 0.000 1.000 2.000 3.000 4.000 5.000
(*10^1)

Figure 8.2 Zone geometry

JOB TITLE : ADVANCING SHAFT with one-zone thicker liner

FLAC (Version 8.00)

5.000

LEGEND

2-Jun-15 10:53
step 66000
3.000
-6.500E-01 <x< 1.175E+01
-6.100E+00 <y< 6.300E+00

Grid plot

1.000
0 2E 0

-1.000

-3.000

-5.000

Itasca Consulting Group, INC.

Minneapolis, MN, USA
0.100 0.300 0.500 0.700 0.900 1.100
(*10^1)

Figure 8.3 Zone geometry (detail)

FLAC Version 8.0

Displacements near the Face of an Advancing Shaft 8-5

JOB TITLE : ADVANCING SHAFT with axisymmetric shell liner (*10^1)

FLAC (Version 8.00)

3.000
LEGEND

10-Jun-15 10:45
step 69228 2.000

-2.384E+01 <x< 5.384E+01

-3.884E+01 <y< 3.884E+01

Boundary plot 1.000

0 2E 1
User-defined Groups
0.000
rock
Grid plot

0 2E 1
-1.000
Shell plot

-2.000

-3.000

Itasca Consulting Group, INC.

Minneapolis, MN, USA
-1.500 -0.500 0.500 1.500 2.500 3.500 4.500
(*10^1)

Figure 8.4 Zone geometry - shaft with axisymmetirc shells

JOB TITLE : ADVANCING SHAFT with axisymmetric shell liner

FLAC (Version 8.00)

4.500

LEGEND
3.500
10-Jun-15 10:45
step 69228
-1.854E+00 <x< 7.595E+00 2.500
-4.208E+00 <y< 5.241E+00

Boundary plot
1.500

0 2E 0
User-defined Groups
0.500
rock
Grid plot

0 2E 0 -0.500

Shell plot

-1.500

-2.500

-3.500

Itasca Consulting Group, INC.

Minneapolis, MN, USA
-1.000 0.000 1.000 2.000 3.000 4.000 5.000 6.000 7.000

Figure 8.5 Zone geometry (detail) - shaft with axisymmetirc shells

FLAC Version 8.0

8-6 Example Applications

8.3 Results

For the analysis of the unlined shaft, the radial displacements, ur , calculated at the shaft circumfer-
ence closely match Panet’s solution (Eq. (8.1)). Figure 8.6 compares the radial displacements as a
function of the distance to the face obtained from FLAC with Panet’s solution.
For the lined shaft analysis, the radial displacements that take place at the shaft interface with the
precast liner are plotted in Figure 8.7. The results using a one-zone thick liner closely match the
results using an axisymmetric shell liner. The displacements for both liner cases are approximately
60% of those with no liner. The jagged shape is due to the uneven radial displacement of the
unsupported span, which is partially confined at both ends (last ring of lining and shaft’s face) and
relatively free to move in the middle.
Figure 8.8 shows a magnified grid plot for the unlined shaft, while Figure 8.9 shows the same plot
for the shaft with the one-zone thick liner. The jagged shape of the deformed liner is also evident
in the second plot.

JOB TITLE : Comparison of radial displacements along shaft

FLAC (Version 8.00)

LEGEND

2-Jun-15 10:53
step 5990 -1.000

Table Plot
FLAC
-2.000
Panet Solution

-3.000

-4.000

-5.000

-20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20

Itasca Consulting Group, INC.

Minneapolis, MN, USA

Figure 8.6 Comparison of radial displacements (mm) as a function of the

distance to the face (m) for the unlined shaft

FLAC Version 8.0

Displacements near the Face of an Advancing Shaft 8-7

JOB TITLE : Comparison of radial displacements along shaft

FLAC (Version 8.00)

LEGEND

2-Jun-15 10:53
step 0 -1.000

Table Plot
Panet Solution
-2.000
one zone
shell

-3.000

-4.000

-5.000

-20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20

Itasca Consulting Group, INC.

Minneapolis, MN, USA

Figure 8.7 Comparison of radial displacements (mm) as a function of the

distance to the face (m) for the lined shaft versus the unlined
shaft

JOB TITLE : Grid distortion for unlined shaft

FLAC (Version 8.00)

5.000

LEGEND

2-Jun-15 10:53
step 5990
3.000
-6.500E-01 <x< 1.175E+01
-6.100E+00 <y< 6.300E+00

Grid plot

1.000
0 2E 0
Exaggerated Grid Distortion
Magnification = 5.000E+01
Max Disp = 5.455E-03
-1.000

-3.000

-5.000

Itasca Consulting Group, INC.

Minneapolis, MN, USA
0.100 0.300 0.500 0.700 0.900 1.100
(*10^1)

Figure 8.8 Deformed grid for the unlined shaft (magnification factor = 50)

FLAC Version 8.0

8-8 Example Applications

JOB TITLE : Grid distortion for shaft with one-zone thick liner

FLAC (Version 8.00)

5.000

LEGEND

2-Jun-15 10:53
step 66000
3.000
-6.500E-01 <x< 1.175E+01
-6.100E+00 <y< 6.300E+00

Grid plot

1.000
0 2E 0
Exaggerated Grid Distortion
Magnification = 5.000E+01
Max Disp = 5.804E-03
-1.000

-3.000

-5.000

Itasca Consulting Group, INC.

Minneapolis, MN, USA
0.100 0.300 0.500 0.700 0.900 1.100
(*10^1)

Figure 8.9 Deformed grid for the lined shaft (magnification factor = 50)

8.4 Reference

Panet, M. “Time-Dependent Deformations in Underground Works,” in Proceedings of the 4th

ISRM Congress (Montreux), Vol. 3, pp. 279-289. Rotterdam: A. A. Balkema and the Swiss
Society for Soil and Rock Mechanics (1979).

FLAC Version 8.0