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Underground Space 7 (2022) 786–797
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Numerical evaluation of segmental tunnel lining with voids in

outside backfill
Jia-Xuan Zhang a, Ning Zhang b, Annan Zhou c, Shui-Long Shen b,⇑
a
Department of Civil Engineering, School of Naval Architecture, Ocean, and Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
b
MOE Key Laboratory of Intelligent Manufacturing Technology, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering,
Shantou University, Shantou, Guangdong 515063, China
c
Discipline of Civil and Infrastructure, School of Engineering, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), Victoria 3001, Australia

Received 19 June 2021; received in revised form 1 September 2021; accepted 26 December 2021
Available online 29 January 2022

Abstract

This paper presents a numerical investigation of the mechanical behaviour of segmental linings owing to the existence of voids in the
composite lining. The composite lining was formed by mining outside and shield tunnelling inside with backfill in between. Finite element
method was conducted to analyse the axial forces and bending moment for voids of different diameters at different positions. The results
show that the axial forces in the transverse section increase near the crown and then invert and decrease on the left and right sides with an
increase in the void centre angle (b) measured from the vertical axis. The increase in void diameter (d < 300 mm) induces an increase in
the axial force on the left and right sides when b = 45° and 90°, while it decreases near the crown and invert. The occurrence of voids
leads to an increase in the bending moment in the entire segment section with an angle b.

Keywords: Jointly constructed tunnel; Composite lining; Voids; Axial force; Bending moment

1 Introduction grout. Compared to shield tunnelling, mining is a more tra-

Shield tunnelling is widely applied in the construction of
metro systems and municipal pipe systems in urban areas
because of its cost-effectiveness, safety, and efficiency
(Mair, 2008; Kavvadas et al., 2017; Liao et al., 2009).
Because the size of a cutter head is larger than that of
the shield body and outer diameter of the segment, an
annular interspace is formed between the segment and soil
during construction. To prevent the deformation of the
segment and soil and avoid groundwater leakage, the annu-
lar interspace is filled with grouting material. Therefore,
during the construction and service life of the tunnels exca-
vated by the shield machine, the support system is mainly
composed of the shield shell, concrete segment, and backfill
⇑ Corresponding author at: College of Engineering, Shantou University,
Shantou, Guangdong 515063, China (S.-L. Shen).
E-mail address: shensl@stu.edu.cn (S.-L. Shen).
ditional method for tunnel excavation through drilling and
blasting (Buffington, 2000), usually used to excavate moun-
tain tunnels for railways and freeways. Mining is suitable
for various types of strata, for example, hard rock with
good integrity, karst caves, swelling rocks, and upper soft
lower hard strata. When tunnelling in hard rock stratum,
mining has a higher efficiency and lower cost than shield
tunnelling (Tan et al., 2021). In addition, mining is feasible
for tunnels with irregular sections. For tunnels excavated
using mining, the geological conditions, excavation
method, and lining type are essential safety considerations;
in particular, the lining type is a major concern for engi-
neers. With the application of shotcrete and anchorage sys-
tems, the composite support structure composed of the
surrounding rock, primary support, and secondary lining
has become the central part of the support structure for
these tunnels.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.undsp.2021.12.007
2467-9674/Ó 2021 Tongji University. Publishing Services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co. Ltd.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
 J.-X. Zhang et al. / Underground Space 7 (2022) 786–797
Considering the characteristics of mining and shield tun-
nelling, engineers sometimes need to employ both methods
in different tunnel sections under complex geological condi-
tions. Conventionally, a pit is required to lift the shield
machine after the tunnel is constructed. However, for
mountain tunnels with limited ground space and consider-
able buried depth, digging a new pit is challenging and
expensive. In the absence of a pit, the shield machine must
pass through the mining tunnel. To advance the shield
machine without load, concrete segments are assembled
in the mining tunnel, and the interspace between the seg-
ments and shotcrete is filled. Therefore, a composite lining
composed of a concrete segment, backfill layer, and pri-
mary support is constructed in this section. Voids can
occur in the backfill layer during grouting. Owing to the
complicated boundary conditions and the various locations
and sizes of voids, it is challenging to evaluate the compos-
ite lining using empirical or analytical methods (Bock,
2014). Therefore, this study utilised the finite element
method (FEM) to simulate the effect of voids on the com-
posite lining.
Finite element method is widely employed for various
engineering problems, such as geotechnical engineering
(Cui et al., 2020; Jin et al., 2018; Yin et al., 2012,
2018; Zhu et al., 2016), tunnelling (Jiang & Yin, 2014;
Lu et al., 2021; Rashiddel et al., 2020; Shin et al.,
2012), and structural engineering (Zhang et al., 2017).
With regard to the support system of tunnels, FEM
was also applied to analyse the effect of voids on tunnel
linings, where voids were induced by the following fac-
tors: (1) erosion of groundwater (Meguid & Dang,
2009; Meguid & Kamel, 2014); (2) dynamic load owing
to earthquake and train vibration (Jones & Hunt, 2011;
Yasuda et al., 2019); and (3) defect of grouting owing
to insufficient grouting pressure or inappropriate grout
ratio (Li et al., 2019). These studies indicate that the
presence of voids is closely related to the stress redistri-
bution and failure behaviour of the tunnel lining, and
the size and location of the voids can directly affect the
initiation and development of cracks (Fu et al., 2019;
Min et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2014). The negative influ-
ence of the voids behind the tunnel lining can be attrib-
uted to the loss of local contact and discontinuity in the
ground–lining interaction (Lai et al., 2017; Zhang et al.,
2017), which have also been observed in experimental
studies (Leung & Meguid, 2011). However, most studies
have focused on tunnels with only a single lining, built
by mining or shield methods. Therefore, the effect of
voids in the composite lining comprising concrete seg-
ments, backfill layers, and primary supports requires fur-
ther investigation.
This study aims to evaluate the segmental composite
tunnel lining with voids by using FEM based on a metro
tunnel constructed by the combined method (mining and
shield tunnelling). The analysis was conducted to investi-
gate the formation of voids in the composite lining and
the mechanical behaviour of the concrete segment. Finite
787
element method was used to investigate the axial force
and bending moment for voids of different sizes at
different positions in the backfill layer. The results will
provide a better understanding of the void effect and
facilitate the design and construction of composite
linings.
2 Project background
A joint tunnel project combining mining and shield tun-
nelling was carried out in Shenzhen, China. The tunnel (re-
ferred to as the Xue-gan tunnel) connects Xuexiang and
Gankeng stations of Shenzhen Metro Line 10. Figure 1
shows the plan of the Xue-gan tunnel. As shown in
Fig. 1, the tunnel was excavated through residential area,
industrial park, reservoir, railway, and highway, which
poses a high risk and demands a low-impact construction
process. The length of the Xue-gan tunnel is 2.418 km.
For the tunnelling process, 1 km of the tunnel was con-
structed using shield tunnelling, 1.2 km was constructed
using mining, and the rest (0.218 km) was constructed
using a combination of both methods. For the section con-
structed using a combination of both methods, the second
lining of the mined tunnel was assembled using a shield and
gap backfill with gravel grout.
2.1 Geomorphology
As shown in Fig. 2, the original geomorphology is
dominated by hills with a considerable elevation of
100–150 m, and several gullies and valleys are distributed
in the construction area along the tunnel alignment. The
left and right line ends of the shield-tunnelled section are
located under a slope and a steep mountain ridge,
respectively. A ventilation shaft was designed to be
located at the end of the shield-tunnelled section to
improve the indoor air quality and ensure that the disas-
sembled shield machine can be lifted from the tunnel.
According to the field investigation, the buried depth
of the tunnel at the end of the shield tunnelling area
was approximately 70 m, which requires a ventilation
shaft excavated to the same depth to connect the ground
surface and tunnel. However, owing to the significant
elevation difference, there is not enough ground space
to transport and employ the construction machinery. In
addition, high-density trees and weeds are covered on
the slope in this area, which makes it more difficult to
build the ventilation shaft. Therefore, to reduce the cost
and difficulty of the ventilation shaft construction, the
mined section was chosen as the construction site. As
marked in Fig. 2, a gentle slope with an elevation of
116–107 m was selected to construct the ventilation shaft
with a depth of 46.65 m. Compared to the planned ven-
tilation shaft at the end of the shield-tunnelled section,
the depth of the shaft constructed on the selected site
was reduced by 23.35 m, and the required excavation
area was also reduced remarkably.
788 J.-X. Zhang et al. / Underground Space 7 (2022) 786–797

Fig. 1. Plan view of Xue-gan tunnel.

Fig. 2. Contour map at construction site.

2.2 Engineering geology
Figure 3 shows the geological profile of the Xue-gan
tunnel. The lithology of the project mainly consists of plain
fill, clay, clay with gravel, fully weathered granite, highly
weathered granite, moderately weathered granite, and
lightly weathered granite. As shown in Fig. 3, the portion
from Xuexiang station to the joint construction area is
mainly highly weathered granite, and the remaining part
is mainly lightly weathered granite. Considering the risks
and costs involved in excavating weathered granite, shield
tunnelling was used in the highly weathered granite area,
whereas mining was used in the lightly weathered granite
area.

Fig. 3. Geological profiles of Xue-gan section.

 J.-X. Zhang et al. / Underground Space 7 (2022) 786–797
2.3 Jointly constructed tunnel
Under the geomorphological and geological conditions
illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, it is difficult to construct a large
shaft by deep excavation to accommodate shield tunnelling
facilities of a length over 120 m. Therefore, this project
used a section constructed using mining to accommodate
shield tunnelling facilities, and the shield machine had to
be driven through a short section of the mined tunnel. This
section of the tunnel was constructed using a combination
of shield tunnelling and mining. Figure 4 shows a sche-
matic of the joint construction method, the key procedures
of which are as follows:
(1) Measurement of tunnel transverse section: Consider-
ing the design diameter of the mined section and the outer
diameter of the cutter head, the annular space between the
shield machine and primary support was only 60 mm. To
avoid the shield machine from getting stuck to the inner
wall of the mined section, it was necessary to measure the
tunnel section accurately and remove the under-excavated
part.
(2) Construction of the orientation platform: To ensure
that the shield machine maintains a precise trajectory
tracking posture, a 15 cm thick arc-shaped orientation plat-
form was constructed within 60° of the tunnels inverts by
mining to provide accurate guidance for the shield
machine. The inner radius of the arc was 3.15 m, and the
centre of the orientation platform coincided with the cen-
treline of the tunnel. The coordinates and shapes of the ori-
entation platform were re-measured and confirmed when
construction was completed.
(3) Preparation of pea gravel: In the excavated tunnel,
there was no earth pressure on the front of the shield
machine, and the pressure between the rubber gaskets on
the segments may not meet the requirements and cause
leakage. Therefore, for backfilling, substantial granite pea
gravel with a 5–8 mm diameter was heaped in front of
the cutter head (see Figs. 4 and 5) to provide additional
pressure. Part of the pea gravel was crushed into both sides
of the orientation platform to fill the space at the tunnel
bottom. The other pea gravel was grouted into the interface
at the top of the segmental lining. The friction between the
Fig. 4. Schematic of the shield machines advancing without load.
789
shield shell, pea gravel, and primary support provided the
reaction force to improve the quality of the segment
assembly.
(4) Advance of the shield machine: During the advance-
ment of the shield machine, the advance rate should be
controlled within a range of 15–40 mm/min. When the con-
crete segments were assembled, as shown in Fig. 4, an air
blower was employed to grout the pea gravel into the top
of the tunnel section under a pressure of 0.25–0.3 MPa.
The pea gravel flowed along the back surface of the seg-
ments, filled the interspace, and provided primary support
from the bottom to the crown of the tunnel. Then, the
cement mortar was grouted at the shield tail, and the pea
gravel and cement mortar were mixed in the interspace
behind the concrete segments. Table 1 lists the composi-
tions of the cement mortar grouted at the shield tail. When
the mixture of pea gravel and cement mortar was solidified,
the primary support, mixed grout, and the segment formed
a composite lining, which could bear the pressure of the
surrounding rock and groundwater and resist earthquakes
and leakages. The composite lining structure of the jointly
constructed tunnel is shown in Fig. 6. The composite lining
of the jointly constructed tunnel is composed of a three-
layer structure consisting of a primary support layer, back-
fill layer, and shield segment layer. Every tunnel segmental
lining consists of two rectangular and two trapezoidal seg-
ments and one wedge-shaped key segment with an inner
diameter of approximately 5.4 m. The overall width of
one segment is 1.5 m, with a thickness of 0.3 m. The outer
diameter of the excavation profile is 7 m, and the thickness
of the primary support layer and backfill layer is 0.3 and
0.2 m, respectively.
2.4 Field investigation
2.4.1 Formation of voids
There are several reasons for the formation of voids: (1)
the thickness of shotcrete and the volume of pea gravel
during backfilling were too small; (2) the grout pressure
was insufficient owing to the pressure loss resulting from
the friction between the pea gravel and rubber pipe, and
the potential energy loss for lifting concrete to the crown
790 J.-X. Zhang et al. / Underground Space 7 (2022) 786–797

Fig. 5. Pea gravel preparation in front of the cutter head.

of the tunnel; (3) the mixture of pea gravel and cement tunnel surface, in which the void would possibly occur dur-
mortar shrank during the setting and hardening processes; ing the construction of backfill layer. After the segments
(4) the particle size distribution of pea gravel was unsuit- were assembled using shield tunnelling, ground-
able. In the composite lining of the jointly constructed tun- penetrating radar (GPR) was used to detect the heterogene-
nel, it was found that voids are most prone to occur at the ity of the grouting behind the segments (see Fig. 8). TLS
interface between the primary support and backfill layer. inspection and GPR detection confirmed that voids are
prone to occur in the primary support and backfill layer
of the composite lining. The detailed data for laser scan-
2.4.2 Laser scanning inspection and ground-penetrating ning and ground-penetrating radar can be found in the
radar detection companion data paper by the authors (Zhang et al., 2021).
After the shotcrete was applied in mining, the tunnel
was inspected as a cylindrical high-density point cloud
using terrestrial laser scanning (TLS). The cylindrical
high-density point cloud recorded the measured position
and elevation data of the tunnel. The unrolled map was
then generated from the difference between the measured
data and the designed data, which implied the amount of
over- or under-excavation of the tunnel. Figure 7 presents
the measured over- or under-excavation of the tunnel,
which widely distribute on the tunnel inner wall along the
central axis. The maximum over-excavation is around
0.2 m in the middle areas of the unrolled map, which cor-
responds to the crown of the shield method tunnel. The
areas segmented by the under-excavation and over-
excavation (zoomed in the figure) are the cavities on the

Table 1
Composition of cement mortar.
Material Cement Sand Fly-ash Bentonite Water
3
Quantity (kg/m ) 180 600 320 100 460
Fig. 6. Composite lining structure of jointly constructed tunnel.
 J.-X. Zhang et al. / Underground Space 7 (2022) 786–797 791

Fig. 7. Point cloud of mining method tunnel.

3 FEM analysis lining were considered as surface-to-surface contact. The

3.1 Finite element model and parameters
A two-dimensional finite element model was built to
investigate the influence of voids at the interface between
the primary support and backfill layer. Using this model,
a segment’s stress state is analysed based on its void posi-
tions and dimensions. As shown in Fig. 9, the model size
was set to 91 m  53 m. On the basis of geological drilling
information, the thicknesses of plain fill, clay with gravel,
fully weathered granite, highly weathered granite, and
slightly weathered granite were set as 2, 3, 6, 13, and
29 m, respectively. Because the thickness of the soil cover-
ing varies significantly along the tunnel alignment, the bur-
ied depth of the tunnel model was the median buried depth
(32 m) of the jointly constructed tunnel. The groundwater
level was set to 6 m below the ground surface.
In the FEM model, both the composite lining and soil
layers were considered as homogeneous continua with
Mohr-Coulomb and meshed with the four-node quadrilat-
eral element. The element densities of the composite lining
and the soil surrounding the lining were adjusted to
improve the accuracy and convergence of the simulation.
The soil and lining, along with each layer of the composite
friction coefficients of the contact surfaces between the soil
and lining and between each layer of the composite lining
were set to 0.5 and 0.65, respectively. Both the horizontal
and vertical displacements at the bottom of the model were
restrained. On both sides of the model boundary, only ver-
tical displacements were allowed. The top boundary was
set as a free boundary, and the displacements were not
constrained.
The physical parameters of the soil layers are listed in
Table 2. These parameters, such as the elastic modulus
(E), cohesion (c), internal friction angle (u), coefficient of
earth pressure at rest (K0), and dilation angle (w), are
directly obtained through field and laboratory tests. Pois-
son’s ratio (l) can be calculated using K0/(1 + K0). Table 3
lists the physical parameters of the composite lining in this
finite element model, which consists of three layers. The
elastic modulus of the primary support layer in this model
was set to 28 000 MPa according to the strength of ordi-
nary C25 reinforced concrete (China Academy of
Building Research, 2011). The elastic modulus of the back-
fill layer was obtained using a laboratory test. The elastic
modulus of the shield-tunnelled segment was determined
by the concrete grade (C50) and steel reinforcement,
regardless of the stiffness reduction caused by the bolt

Fig. 8. Radargram derived from ground-penetrating radar detection.

792 J.-X. Zhang et al. / Underground Space 7 (2022) 786–797

Fig. 9. Finite element mesh generation of simulation model.

Table 2
Soil parameters used for numerical simulation.
Soil layer l (m) c unsat (kN/m3) c sat (kN/m3) Es (MPa) c (kPa) / (°) K0 l
Plain fill 2 18.5 18.5 4.7 12.5 13 0.42 0.30
Clay with gravel 3 18.0 18.0 6.0 24.0 23 0.45 0.31
Fully weathered granite 6 18.1 18.1 8.0 25.5 28 0.40 0.29
Highly weathered granite 13 18.3 18.3 12.0 40.0 35 0.39 0.28
Lightly weathered granite 29 18.6 18.6 20.0 45.0 40 0.37 0.27
Notes: l is the thickness (m), c unsat is the natural unit weight (kN/m3), c sat is the saturated unit weight (kN/m3), Es is the modulus of compression (MPa), c
is the cohesion (kPa), / is the angle of internal friction (°), K0 is the coefficient of earth pressure at rest, and l is the Poisson’s ratio.

connection between the segments (China Academy of the numerical simulation conditions according to the loca-
Building Research, 2011). tion and size of the void. Condition I represents the
absence of voids in the composite lining. Conditions II-
IV were set to investigate the stress states with the size vari-
3.2 Conditions in simulation ation of voids (d = 100, 200, 300, and 400 mm) under a
fixed position (b = 0°, 45°, and 90°). Taking d = 300 mm
Figure 10 shows a schematic of the void location. The as an example, condition V was set to compare the effect
parameter b indicates the centre angle of the void from
the vertical axis of the tunnel profile, and d indicates the
diameter of the void. It is assumed that the shape of the
void is circular in the 2D model, and the circle centre is pre-
cisely located at the interface between the primary support
layer and the backfill layer. In the ideal case, where the pri-
mary support layer is smooth, the maximum value of the
void should be 200 mm. However, considering that the pri-
mary support layer is unsmoothed due to over-excavation
or under-excavation, as shown in Fig. 7, the diameter of
the voids would be larger than 200 mm. Table 4 shows

Table 3
Lining parameters used for numerical simulation.
Lining E (MPa) lr (m) q (kN/m3) l
Primary support 28 000 0.3 18 0.15
Backfill 15 000 0.2 10 0.25
Shield segment 34 500 0.3 27 0.20
Notes: E is the elastic modulus; lr is the radial thickness; q is the unit
weight; l is the Poisson’s ratio. Fig. 10. Schematic of void location and size.
 J.-X. Zhang et al. / Underground Space 7 (2022) 786–797 793

Table 4
Cases for FEM simulation.
Simulation cases Position of void, b (°) Diameter of void, d (mm)
I
II II-1 0 100
II-2 0 200
II-3 0 300
II-4 0 400
III III-1 45 100
III-2 45 200
III-3 45 300
III-4 45 400
IV IV-1 90 100
IV-2 90 200
IV-3 90 300
IV-4 90 400
V V-1 0 300
V-2 30 300
V-3 60 300
V-4 90 300

of the same size (d = 300 mm) voids with different positions indicating that the segments are compressed with each
(b = 0°, 30°, 60°, and 90°) on the segment. other. The axial forces on the left and right sides are larger
than those near the crown and invert. Among the axial
forces distributed in the transverse section of the tunnel,
4 Results and discussion the maximum and minimum values are obtained at the ver-
tical and horizontal central axes, respectively. The occur-
4.1 Axial force rence of voids leads to a significant increase in the axial
force near the vertical axis but a decrease in the axial force
Figure 11 shows that the axial force of the segment var- near the horizontal central axis, except in the cases of
ies with different positions of the void of diameter 300 mm. (b = 45°, d = 400 mm) and (b = 90°, d = 200–400 mm).
When the location of the void with the same size Figure 13 shows that the maximum axial force in the
(d = 300 mm) varies from the vertical central axis to the cross-section varies with the ratio of void diameter to seg-
horizontal central axis, the axial force changes slightly (ap- ment thickness at different positions. Evidently, with an
proximately 3%–8%) on the left and right sides, while it increase in the void dimension, the maximum axial force
increases near the crown and invert. Along the vertical cen- on the segment increases. In the ratio range of 0.33–1,
tral axis, the axial force increases by more than 50% (from i.e., d = 100–300 mm, the maximum axial force values of
346.5 to 530.4 N).
Figure 12 shows the axial force distribution under the
condition that the void diameter increases at fixed locations
(b = 0°, 45°, and 90° for Fig. 12 (a), (b), and (c), respec-
tively). When the void is behind the crown (b = 0°), the dis-
tribution curves of the axial force are symmetrical on both
the left and right sides. With an increase in d, the axial force
decreases near the crown and invert, whereas it increases
on both sides. When b = 45°, the axial forces in the seg-
ment sections of 45°–45° and 135°–225° change little,
while the axial forces in the areas of 225°–315° and 45°–
135° increase compared with the common segment. When
b = 90°, the increase in void diameter produces an overall
increase in the entire segment, except near the crown and
invert when d = 100 mm. The figures show that wherever
the void was located, the diameter d = 400 mm had a
remarkable effect on the axial force compared with
d = 100–300 mm. As b increases to 45° and 90°, the axial
forces become much larger when d = 400 mm, while those
of d = 100–300 mm are quite close.
Figures 11 and 12 present a similar distribution in the Fig. 11. Variation of the axial force of the segment with different void
transverse section. The axial force values are all positive, positions (d = 300 mm).
794 J.-X. Zhang et al. / Underground Space 7 (2022) 786–797

Fig. 13. Relationship between the void size and the maximum axial force
of the segment.

400 mm voids have a significant influence on the maximum

axial force of the segment compared with the 100–300 mm
voids.

4.2 Bending moment

Figure 14 shows the bending moment of the segment

when a void with a diameter of 300 mm is located at differ-
ent positions. As shown in Fig. 14, the existence of voids
leads to an overall increase in bending moment, except at
15°–45° and 120°–135° when b = 0°, and 315°–345° when
b = 90°. As the void location changes from the crown to
the right side of the composite lining, the bending moment
first increases and then decreases. In addition, in contrast
to the result of the axial force, the bending moment
changes are most comparable to the value of the common

Fig. 12. Variation of the axial force of the segment with different void
sizes.

each diameter are quite close, and the values under the con-
ditions of b = 0° and b = 90° are larger than those for
b = 45°. However, when the ratio increases to 1.33, i.e.,
d = 400 mm, the maximum axial force values of the seg- Fig. 14. Variation of the bending moment of the segment with different
ment increase dramatically. This result indicates that the void positions (d = 300 mm).
 J.-X. Zhang et al. / Underground Space 7 (2022) 786–797
section at the corresponding position where the voids are
located. The increments at the positions b = 0°, 30°, 60°,
and 90° are 72.5, 81.8, 70.6, and 83.1 N
m, respectively.
Fig. 15. Variation of the bending moment of the segment with different
void sizes.
795
Figure 15 shows how the distribution of the bending
moment varies with the presence of voids of different diam-
eters at fixed locations behind the segment (b = 0°, 45°, and
90° in Fig. 15 (a), (b), and (c), respectively). The bending
moment increases with an increase in void size (d) for
almost the entire segment. When b = 0°, the positive bend-
ing moment increases near the crown and decreases at the
invert with an increase in void diameter. The increase in d
also causes a slight increase in the negative bending
moment on the left and right sides. The maximum bending
moment was observed in the corresponding location of
b = 0° in the segment section. When b = 45°, the bending
moment is relatively constant for d = 100–300 mm, and
only d = 400 mm causes a noticeable increase in the area
of 0–30° in the segment section. When b = 90°, the positive
bending moment in the segment section 30°–30° and
150°–210°, and the negative bending moment in the seg-
ment section of 240°–300° and 60°–120° increase with the
increase in the void size. The maximum value of the bend-
ing moment was obtained at the position where the void
was located. However, the bending moment in the other
areas remained nearly unchanged. Similar to b = 45°,
d = 400 mm produces a significant increase in the bending
moment in the segment section, especially on the right side.
When comparing Fig. 15 (a), (b), and (c), the difference
between the distribution curves in Fig. 15 (b) is minimal,
except for d = 400 mm. However, when the void is located
at the vertical and horizontal central axes (i.e., b = 0° and
b = 90°), the bending moment changes more noticeably
than that at b = 45°. The results indicate that the size of
the voids located at the top, left, and right sides of the tun-
nel has a greater influence on the bending moment
distribution.
Figures 14 and 15 show that the distribution of the
bending moment exhibits similar characteristics to the dis-
tribution of axial forces. The bending moments near the
crown and invert are negative and positive on the left
and right sides, respectively, because the entire section is
compressed. In particular, the maximum negative and pos-
itive bending moments were obtained at the horizontal and
vertical central axis, respectively.
The change in the maximum bending moment in the
cross-section when voids are present at different positions
of the composite lining is shown in Fig. 16. It can be seen
that the maximum bending moment increases significantly
as the diameter of the void increases, except at b = 45°,
where the maximum bending moment ranges from 281.2
to 285.1 N
m, and only when the ratio of void diameter
to segment thickness reaches 1.33, i.e., d = 400 mm, the
maximum bending moment increases to 302.7 N
m. The
results indicate that the size of the void at b = 0° and
b = 90° has a stronger influence on the maximum bending
moment in the cross-section of the segment than that at
b = 45°. In contrast to the variation of maximum axial
force, the maximum bending moment does not differ signif-
icantly when the void diameter is larger than the segment
796 J.-X. Zhang et al. / Underground Space 7 (2022) 786–797
Fig. 16. Relationship between the void size and the maximum bending
moment.
thickness (d = 400 mm) compared to when the diameter
ranges from 100 to 300 mm.
4.3 Suggestions for construction
The results of the numerical simulation show that the
void induces a noticeable change in the stress distribution
of the segment. Compared with the axial forces of the seg-
ments without voids, the axial force of the segments with
voids increases significantly on the left and right sides at
the transverse section, while it varies slightly at the crown
and invert. The decrease in the axial force leads to a
decrease in the compressive pressure between the rubber
gaskets at the crown and invert, which may cause ground-
water leakage during the service life of the segment. In
addition, the void increases the bending moment in the
entire cross-section of the segment. The increase in the
bending moment may result in the occurrence and propa-
gation of cracks at the segment joint in the circumferential
direction. Furthermore, the maximum values of the axial
force and the bending moment of the segment increase sig-
nificantly when a large void occurs behind the segment.
The results indicate that the voids at the top of the tunnel
and the large size voids significantly impact the safety of
the segment, thus requiring treatment. In addition, it is nec-
essary to conduct compensation grouting to avoid voids
when the grout solidifies and shrinks.
5 Conclusions
This paper presents a novel joint construction method
combining shield tunnelling with mining. To investigate
the influence of the voids in the backfill layer and the voids
between the primary support and backfill layer on the
stress state of the segment, FEM was conducted, based
on which the following conclusions can be drawn:
(1) The position of the void has a significant effect on the
internal forces, for example, bending moment and axial
forces. When a void of the same size (d = 300 mm) occurs
in different positions from the crown to the right side of the
composite lining, the axial force increases on both sides
and decreases near the crown and invert area of the
segment.
(2) The increase in the void size at a fixed position
induces an increase in the bending moment in the entire
segment. The axial force varies in different areas of the sec-
tion. With an increase in d from 100 to 300 mm, the axial
force increases on both sides. The variation trend of the
axial force near the crown and invert changes from decreas-
ing to increasing.
(3) The maximum values of the axial force and the
bending moment in the cross-section increase as the void
diameter d increases. There exists a threshold value of
void size (d = 300 mm), over which there is a significant
increase in both the bending moment and axial force.
Therefore, large voids should be avoided during
construction.
(4) The voids in the outside backfill cause groundwater
leakage in the service life of the segment and may result
in the occurrence and propagation of cracks at the segment
joint. In particular, voids occurring at the top of the tunnel
and large voids should be of concern because of their sig-
nificant influence on the segment. Therefore, compensation
grouting is necessary for the construction of a backfill layer
to reduce the occurrence of voids.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing
financial interests or personal relationships that could have
appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
The research work described herein was funded by the
Pearl River Talent Recruitment Program (Grant No.
2019CX01G338), Guangdong Province and the Research
Funding of Shantou University for New Faculty Member
(Grant No. NTF19024-2019).
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