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Buckling investigation and design consideration for new water tunnel

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Article · January 2008

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 Eleventh East Asia-Pacific Conference on Structural
Engineering & Construction (EASEC-11)
“Building a Sustainable Environment”
November 19-21, 2008, Taipei, TAIWAN

BUCKLING INVESTIGATION AND DESIGN CONSIDERATION FOR NEW

WATER TUNNEL STRUCTURE

J. H. Wang 1 , N. MITSUDA 2 , Y. AMANO2 and A. KOIZUMI 3

ABSTRACT : The public water supply line is required to build depth underground in an urban district
in recent years. However, the construction method has not been completely established, especially for
a large diameter water tunnel built in the congested urban district. As the latest water tunnel structure,
the separated-type water tunnel structure composite of steel liner and RC segments linings has been
proposed in Japan. However, the buckling of steel liner has not been solved, which is obstructing the
application of new water tunnel structure, considering the high hydrostatic pressure is inevitably built
up in the void between RC lining and liner during an operation period. In this article, the study on
buckling of locally supported steel liner encased in RC linings is carried out using the numerical
analysis. The encased liner fails in single-lobe buckling, and the critical pressure is related to not only
the geometries of steel liners but also the initial gap, are identified. Meanwhile, the existing buckling
equations are examined and discussed, and the design procedure for locally supported steel liner is
presented.

KEYWORDS: Water tunnel, Separated-type structure, Locally supported liner, Contact analysis,
hydrostatic buckling, liner design

1. INTRODUCTION

The rapid population increase and the urbanization progress have become the inevitable trends in the
next decades. On the other hand, with the Global Warming processing and increasing of water
resource pollution in recent years, the water scarcity is becoming seriously in all worlds, especially in
developing countries. According to Earth Summit 2002, the large urban and pre-urban areas will
require new infrastructure to provide safe water and adequate sanitation by 2025. However, a water
supply network is a system of engineered hydrologic and hydraulic components, including: 1) Fresh
water source; 2) A mean for delivery from the fresh water source to a point of treatment; 3) Water
purification; 4) Transmission from treatment, through pipes to treat water storage and, 5) Distribution
through piping/water mains from storage to consumption. All in 2), 4) and 5) require the water
pipeline construction. In this article, the large diameter water main lines are focused and discussed in
terms of its construction and design. Water main lines are useful for transporting fresh water over long
distances considering of evaporation, pollution, or environmental impact, especially in an urban
district having many pollution sources. However, considering the cities, especially the big cities, the
space of ground and underground is becoming more congested with the urbanization process, the
construction of water main lines has to use the depth underground space. In the current study, the
water tunnel built in depth underground is discussed. As for the construction method, the shied-driven
method should be used considering its safety and reliability in existing tunnel construction for soft
ground, besides the requirements of environmental protection in urban districts. Otherwise, the
construction cost and period can be reduced if a pre-cast lining is used. As the result, the RC segment
and steel pipe are used the tunnel lining and liner respectively, in the current study. However, for

1
Research Assistant, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan.
2
Graduate Student, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan.
3
Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan.

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 Eleventh East Asia-Pacific Conference on Structural Engineering & Construction (EASEC-11), Taipei, TAIWAN

Segments Segments Segments

Rubber
Rubber Sand media
Plate
Plate
R R R
liner liner liner

a) Uniformly supported liner b) Locally supported liner

Figs.1 Liner types classified by support conditions for separated-type water tunnel

construction of a deep tunnel, the rationalization of structure and construction method is demanded in
order to provide the economical and reliable urban water supply utilities. As a vital literature, the study
on deep water tunnel construction by Technical Research Commits of Deep Water Pipeline
Construction (TRCWPC) in Japan should be mentioned [1]. According to the study, the water tunnels
are generally classified into three structural types, independent-type structure, integrated-type structure
and separated-type structure based on the liner installation method. The independent-type structure is
defined such as the common utility tunnel. The integrated-type structure denotes the water tunnel
whose linings and liners are integrated a unity structure through backfilling the void between them.
The former two structure has been applied in both urban and mountain regions in practice up to the
present. However, they all inevitably are built with larger cross-section than required by water supply
flow design, which makes water tunnel construction the higher cost and longer construction period.
Whereas the separated-type structure, which was identified a most economical and rational structure
for a deep tunnel, the steel liner is just installed with uniformly supports around or locally supported at
invert, without backfilling the void, as shown in Figs.1.However, likely to the existing structures, the
buckling of liner should be investigated firstly. For the uniformly supported liner, the buckling
problem has been discussed [2], herein the buckling problem is investigated for the locally supported
liner, considering the buckling is the critical problem for liner design when subjected to high external
pressure inevitably built up during construction or operation period for a deep water tunnel.

In this study, the deep tunnel liner installed with locally support is focused on, and the buckling is
investigated in terms of the buckling behavior and buckling mechanism using numerical analysis.
Meanwhile, the existing single-lobe buckling theory is examined and discussed with respect to
buckling theories of Amstutz and Jacobsen. Finally, the corresponding design method on buckling is
discussed.

2. NUMERICAL STUDIES

When a steel liner is installed with locally support in a tunnel, the restricting effects of RC linings
should be taken into account. Herein, the steel liner as restricted liner, its buckling as the restrained
hydrostatic buckling is investigated using the numerical analysis. According to the Jacobsen buckling
theory[3], as the buckling mechanism, the encased liner is deformed into a detached part and attached
another part during fitting the void between liner and its host, and the failure occurs when the detached
part of liner fail, when subjected to external hydrostatic pressure. Since a part of liner attaches to host
walls during buckling, the numerical analysis for buckling of restrained liner is therefore, required to
simulate the contact phenomena.

In the current study, the numerical contact analysis is applied to investigate the restrained hydrostatic
buckling. Where the commercial FEM software of MSC.Marc[4] is used considering its highly
developed technology on numerical contact analysis. The complete cross-sectional unit water tunnel is
considered the numerical model. Where, 3D shell element is used to model the steel liners as a

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 Eleventh East Asia-Pacific Conference on Structural Engineering & Construction (EASEC-11), Taipei, TAIWAN

deformable body, the cylindrical surface for RC Rigid body

(Cylindrical surface)
linings as a rigid body to restrain the radial
deformation of steel liner, respectively. The
numerical 3D model used for contact analysis is
shown in Fig.2. The steel liner material is taken an
elastic-perfectly-plastic material following Von
Mises yield criterion with Young ’s modulus E
=2.1e5 N/mm2 and yield stress σ y =315 N/mm2. Deformable body
(Shell element)

As for the support boundaries, the fewest supports

required for structural analysis are employed in
order to reduce the effects of boundaries. The two Fig.2 Profile of contact analysis model
nodes at crown and invert of the middle of model
Host tunnel Host tunnel
are fixed in circumferential direction on account of Initial gap Initial gap

the symmetry of single-lobe buckling with respect

to the vertical center line. In addition, since the unit R R

Δ
Δ
long model represents the infinite long liner, the Steel pipe Steel pipe

nodes at two ends are fixed in longitudinal direction. Self-weight Self-weight

On the other hand, as the loading boundaries, two

loading cases are considered: the self-weight and
uniform external pressure for loading case1, the
self-weight and hydrostatic pressure as loading Uniform pressure Hydrostatic pressure

case2, briefly called LC1 and LC2 respectively, in

terms of the theoretical and practical loading Figs.3 Loading conditions (Loading cases)
conditions. However, although the self-weight load
is not taken into account in theoretical solution, Tab.1 Analysis Models
where it is used to provide the initial imperfection Radius Thickness
required inevitably for buckling analysis using arc- Models R/t
R (mm) t (mm)
length increment method. In addition, the practical
loading conditions can be completely simulated Model1 7.5 200.0
using loading case 2, when the underground water Model2 12 125.0
leaks into a water tunnel. The two loading cases are Model3 1500 20 75.0
described as shown in Fig.3.
Model4 30 50.0
To get a peak-type behavior of pressure-
displacement, the arc-length control method is Model5 42 35.7
applied for loading increment. The contact analysis
is done between deformable body and rigid body in Tab. 2 Gap cases
numerical analysis and the contact tolerance is set Cases Gap Host Radius Gap ratio
zero. As for the separation and friction phenomenon Δ(mm) R' (m) Δ/R (%)
during contact, it is considered that separation 1 1.5E-3 1.5 1.0E-04
occurs when the contact normal stress of the
2 0.6 1.5006 0.04
contacted node becomes tensional stress, while the
friction is disregarded, considering the friction 3 1.2 1.5012 0.08
factor between steel liner and the RC lining is rather 4 3.0 1.503 0.1
smaller in water surrounding. 5 7.5 1.5075 0.5
The numerical analysis is carried out using 5 6 15.0 1.515 1.0
models with different ratio of radius to thickness, as
7 22.5 1.5225 1.5
shown in Tab.1. Otherwise, for any model the 11
cases of gap are considered in the ranges of gap 8 30.0 1.53 2.0
ratio from 0 to 20%, as shown in Tab.2. 9 37.5 1.5375 2.5
10 75.0 1.575 5.0
11 300 1.8 20.0

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 Eleventh East Asia-Pacific Conference on Structural Engineering & Construction (EASEC-11), Taipei, TAIWAN

3. BUCKLING RESULTS DISCUSSION

The buckling of encased cylindrical shells under external pressure has been studied by many authors
since mid-twentieth century. As the typical restrained hydrostatic buckling theory, the single-lobe
buckling equations were presented by Amstutz and Jacobsen[5,3], respectively, and has been verified
by many practical buckling accidents. The recent research work was carried out using the numerical
analysis method by El-Sawy et al.[6], where Jacobsen equations was used to estimate the theoretical
critical pressure. In addition, the Jacobsen buckling equations has been recommended in the technical
forum on buckling of tunnel liner under external pressure in 1998 [7]. On the other hand, the Amstutz
buckling theory is still adopted in Japan Standards. The two existing single-lobe buckling equations
are presented in Eqs.(1) and Eqs.(2) with respect to that of Amstutz and Jacobsen, respectively.

3
σ N − σV  R  σ N   R   R σ −σ 
*

  *  = 1.73  1 − 0.225  F * N  (1a)

σ F* − σ N  i  E   e  e E 

F   R σ −σ 
*
Pcr =  σ N 1 − 0.175  F * N  (1b)
R  e E 

Where, Δ/R: gap ratio between steel liner and lining, R: liner radius, t: plate thickness, v: Poisson’s
Ratio,σ N : circumferential / axial stress in plate liner, E* = E/(l – v2) , i = t/(12)0.5, e = t/2, F = t,
σ v = -(Δ/R)E*, μ =1.5-0.5[1/(1+0.002 E/σ y )]2, σ* F =μσ y (1-v+v2)0.5.

R' =
[(9π 2
][
4 β 2 ) − 1 π − α + β (sin α sin β ) 2 ] (2a)
t
[ [
12(sin α sin β ) α − π∆ / R − β (sin α sin β ) 1 + tan (α − β ) 4
3 ' 2
]]
p 9π 4 β − 1
2 2
= (2b)
E 12( R t )3 (sin α sin β )3
'

σy h  sin β  pR ' sin α  4 R ' β sin α tan(α − β ) 

= 1 − + 1 +  (2c)
E 2 R '  sin α  E *t sin β  π t sin β 
Where, R’: tunnel lining internal radius, Δ: gap between steel and concrete, α：one-half the angle
subtended to the center of the cylindrical shell by the buckled lobe, β：one-half the angle subtended
by the new mean radius through the half waves of the buckled lobe, t : liner plate thickness, p: critical
external buckling pressure.

As for the numerical results, the behavior of external pressure and radial displacement are focused, as
well as the failure mode. The failure mode of model3 with 0.02 gap to radius ratio are shown in Figs.4
a), b) in terms of radial displacement, with respect the loading case1 and loading case2. In addition,
the behaviors of pressure to radial displacement of model3 are described, in terms of the two loading
cases as shown in Figs.5 a), b), respectively, where, the nodes located in inward deformed area are
used. Based on the behavior of pressure to radial displacement, the numerical critical pressure can be
obtained by just detecting the peak value. Whereas the theoretical results, Amstutz and Jacobsen
buckling equations, Eqs.(1) and Eqs.(2) were applied to compute the corresponding critical pressure,
respectively. The comparison between the numerical and theoretical critical pressure is carried out,
where, the comparing results for model 2 and model 5 are given, as shown in Figs.6, in the expression
of relation of critical pressure to gap ratio.

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 Eleventh East Asia-Pacific Conference on Structural Engineering & Construction (EASEC-11), Taipei, TAIWAN

a) LC1 b) LC2
Figs. 4 Failure mode in radial displacement ( Model3 Δ/R=0.02 )

2500 Δ/R=1.0E-4 2500

Δ/R=1.0E-4
External pressure （kN/m ）

0.0004

External pressure （kN/m ）

2

2000 0.0004

2
2000
0.0008 0.0008
1500 0.002 1500
0.002

1000 0.005 1000

0.005

500 500
0.01 0.015 0.02 0.01 0.015 0.02
0.025 0.025
0.05 0.05
0 0
0 -0.05 -0.1 -0.15 -0.2 -0.25 -0.3 0 -0.05 -0.1 -0.15 -0.2 -0.25 -0.3
Radial displacement (m) Radial displacement (m)

a) LC1 (node located at crown) b) LC2 (node located at invert )

Figs. 5 Pressure-displacement behavior with different gap ratio ( Model3 )

1200 10000
Numerical (Self-weight & uniform pressure) Numerical (Self-weight & uniform pressure)
Numerical (Self-weight & water pressure) 9000 Numerical (Self-weight & water pressure)
1000 Theoretical (Amstuzu) Theoretical (Amstuzu)
8000
Critical pressure（kN/m ）

Theoretical (Jacobsen)
Critical pressure（kN/m ）

Theoretical (Jacobsen)
2
2

7000
800
6000
600 5000
4000
400 3000
2000
200
1000
0 0
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1
Δ/R Δ/R

a) Model2 ( R/t=125 ) b) Model5 ( R/t=35.7 )

Figs.6 Comparison between theoretical and numerical critical pressure

From Figures 4, that the encased liner failed in single-lobe buckling at the crown for LC1 and at the
invert for LC2, respectively can be known. In addition, the numerical results are far agreeable with
Jacobsen’s theoretical consideration on the single-lobe buckling mechanism, that liners is deformed
into two parts, one part fits the gap and attaches the host wall, while another part as detached liner fails
in single lobe buckling finally. This can be identified by watching the deformation of failure mode, the
outward radial displacement in the attached part liner is just equal to the initial gap. The Figs.5
indicates the buckled deformation at the crown for LC1, at the invert for LC2 increases, while the
critical pressure decreases, with the initial gap increasing. The same results are also illustrated by

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 Eleventh East Asia-Pacific Conference on Structural Engineering & Construction (EASEC-11), Taipei, TAIWAN

Figs.6. The explanation can be given that, with the external load increase, the region of detached liner
with initial deformation imperfection will be enlarged while remained another part of liner develops
outward deformation up to be restrained by the host wall; therefore, the larger the initial gap is, the
wider the region of detached liner is when fails, the lager the inward deformation, and the smaller the
critical pressure. Meanwhile, Figs.6 also indicates the critical pressure increases with the increasing of
thickness.
As for the critical pressure of two loading cases, from Figs.6 it is shown that the numerical buckling
pressures under loading case1 and caes2 agree well with each other for any gap in general,
corresponding to the theoretical and practical loading condition. Moreover, the initial imperfection has
little influence on the critical pressure can be known, considering the bucking occurred at different
locations of liner for different loading conditions. This can also identify the single-lobe buckling
failure is decided by the failure of detached liner. On the hand, as for the theoretical buckling pressure,
when compared with the numerical results, generally the Amstutz equations produces an agreeable
result for thinner liner, while Jacobsen equations always provide conservative results, especially for
small gap ratio cases. However, Amstutz equations should not be applied for a thicker liner, especially
the tightly fitted liner, because it is vulnerable to give a dangerous result. While as Jacobsen buckling
equations, the trend that the smaller the gap is, the more conservative the analytical critical pressure is
given.

4. DESIGN CONSIDERATION

Since the buckling of locally supported liner occurs in single-lobe buckling, the buckling design for a
liner should use the single-lobe buckling equations. On the other hand, both Amsutz and Jacobsen
buckling equations have been examined and identified their validation for single-lobe buckling. The
buckling design for an encased liner can be carried out using the two buckling equations. However, the
application of Amstuz equations should be caution, especially for tightly fitted thicker liner. Since the
Jacobsen theoretical consideration on buckling mechanism is rather sound, and his buckling equations
can always produce a consistent and conservative critical pressure for any liner with any gap, the
Jacobsen’s equation is recommended for liner design, considering the safety of water tunnel.

The design for a locally supported liner encased in separate-type water tunnel structure can be carried
out by following procedure: 1) estimate the maximum external hydrostatical pressure P w possibly
built up in gap during construction or operation period and decide the design external pressure P d
(P d = P d +air pressure ) by taking into account the critical case of liner in vacuum state; 2) estimate
the prospective maximum gap; 3)calculate the critical pressure P cr using Eqs.(2) and estimated gap; 4)
compare with design external pressure P d ;5) repeat the 3) and 4) by changing the thickness until P cr is
less large than 1.5P d , then decide the liner thickness t o for external pressure; 5) Compute the
thickness t i for the design internal pressure P i by t i = P i R/f y ；and 6) Determine the design thickness
of liner t d by adopting the maximum value of the t o and t i . However, as for a more detailed design,
the contact analysis of FEM should be carried out to simulate the buckling and find out the exact
buckling location.

5. CONCLUSIONS

The buckling of locally supported liner encased in separate-type water tunnel has been investigated in
this study. The contact analysis of FEM has been used for the numerical analysis of the buckling
problem. The locally supported liner fails in a single-lobe buckling, and the initial gap and thickness of
liner have great influence on the critical pressure have been identified. Moreover, the buckling
mechanism was identified by numerical analysis, the same as the philosophy of Jacobsen theory.
Meanwhile, the numerical analysis as a useful tool, can predicate the critical pressure and buckling
location for practical loading conditions has been known. In addition, the theoretical solutions using
Amstutz and Jacobsen buckling equations has been examined and their validation was discussed,

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 Eleventh East Asia-Pacific Conference on Structural Engineering & Construction (EASEC-11), Taipei, TAIWAN

generally the Amstutz equations produces an agreeable result for thinner liner, while Jacobsen
equations always provide conservative results, especially for small gap ratio cases.

As for the design of steel liner encased in separate-type water tunnel, the Jacobsen buckling equations
was recommended and the design procedure was presented. Also, a more detailed design should use
the contact analysis of FEM to simulate the buckling phenomenon.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The research reported herein has been conducted as part of senior author doctoral program in Waseda
University. The supports from Research Promotion Division of Waseda University are gratefully
acknowledged.

REFERENCES

1. Japan Water Research Center, Technical Research Commit of Deep Water Pipeline
Construction (TRCWPC), Study on Cost Reduction of Deep Underground Water Pipe Line,
Japan, March, 2004.
2. Wang, J.H., Koizumi, A. and Watanabe, A., “On Buckling of Inner Steel Pipe under External
Pressure for Water Supply Lines Constructed in Shield-driven Tunnel, ” Proceedings of the
tenth East Asia-Pacific Conference on Structural Engineering & Construction (EASEC-10),
Bangkok, Thailand, Aug., 2006, Vol.4, pp. 341-356.
3. Jacobsen, S., “Buckling of circular rings and cylindrical tubes under external pressure”. Water
Power, Vol.26, Dec., 1974, pp. 400–407.
4. Marc Analysis Research Corp., Theory and User Information, MSC.Marc2005, Vol. A.
5. Amstutz, E., “Buckling of pressure- shaft and tunnel linings”, Water Power Vol. 22, Nov.
1970, pp. 391-399.
6. El-Sawy, K., and Moore, I. D., “Stability of loosely fitted liners used to rehabilitate rigid
pipes.” J. Struct. Eng., Vol.124, No.11, 1998, 1350–1357.
7. Berti, D., Stutzman, R., Liodquist, E., Eshghipour, M., “Buckling of steel tunnel liner under
external pressure” Journal of Energy Engineering, Vol.124, No. 3, 1998, pp. 5-89.

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