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In-site experiments on the swelling characteristics of a shield tunnel in

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Article in KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering · June 2016

DOI: 10.1007/s12205-016-1333-4

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KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering (0000) 00(0):1-11 Tunnel Engineering
Copyright ⓒ2016 Korean Society of Civil Engineers
DOI 10.1007/s12205-016-1333-4 pISSN 1226-7988, eISSN 1976-3808
www.springer.com/12205
TECHNICAL NOTE

In-site Experiments on the Swelling Characteristics of a Shield Tunnel in

Expansive Clay: A Case Study
Jianxiu Wang*, Jiaxing Liu**, Xiaotian Liu***, Yunhua Jiang****, and Xuezeng Liu*****
Received April 22, 2015/Revised October 9, 2015/Accepted April 20, 2016/Published Online June 15, 2016

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Abstract

Expansive soil swells, softens, and disintegrates when absorbing water, whereas it shrinks when losing water. Understanding the
swelling characteristics of a shield tunnel in expansive soil is important. However, most in-site experiences on the swelling
characteristics of a tunnel are obtained from the NATM tunnels constructed in swelling rock using drill and blast method; most
laboratory experiments or theoretical analyses on the swelling characteristics of a shield tunnel in expansive soil are under certain
hypotheses which have not been verified in actual situation. To solve the problems, the Slender West Lake tunnel was selected as the
background, laboratory and in-site experiments were performed to understand the swelling characteristics of a shield tunnel in
expansive clay. Four experimental sections were constructed in the actual tunnel. The measuring gauges were pre-installed in the
segments in factory and the segments were installed in-site to observe the actual earth pressure and temperature during construction.
The influences of expansive soil to the distributions and variations of earth pressure, bending moment, and temperature were
analyzed. The increasing earth pressure was divided into three stages. Large earth pressure was detected at the top, bottom, left, and
right sides of the tunnel. The earth pressure at the left and right sides was larger than that at the top and bottom. Large negative
bending moment was detected at the top and bottom of the tunnel, whereas large positive bending moment was detected at the left
and right sides of the tunnel. The minimum bending moment appeared at 45° oblique. The largest negative bending moment was
larger than the largest positive bending moment. Based on the observations, a load mode of swelling pressure for a beam-spring
model was suggested. It can be referred by the similar tunnels.
Keywords:expansive soil, shield tunnel, Slender West Lake tunnel, in-site experiment, load mode
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1. Introduction tunnel floors and strong swelling pressures against inverts of

The swelling phenomenon is a physiochemical reaction of rock
and water in combination with stress relief. The physiochemical
reaction involving water is typically the major contributor;
however, it can only occur simultaneously with, or following,
stress relief (ISRM, 1983). The influence of expansive soil to a
tunnel is obvious. The railway tunnel through Kappelesberg had
a heave of several meters because of the swelling of soil over
decades (Wittke-Gattermann and Wittke, 2004). An exploratory
adit in clay in the Caneva-Stevena Quarry near Pordenone, Italy,
which was excavated in 1970, has incurred dramatic failures in
the 20-cm thick unreinforced concrete liner (Barla, 2008). In
many tunnels in Baden-Wurttemberg (southwestern Germany),
swelling behaviors have caused high heaves in unreinforced
tunnels with resisting supports (Berdugo et al., 2009). Three
tunnels on the high-speed railway from Madrid to Barcelona,
excavated in anhydritic-gypsiferous claystone were affected by
extreme swelling phenomena during construction (Alonso et al.,
2013). The response of swelling rock to the tunnels constructed
with the drill and blast method and corresponding response of
the tunnels to swelling force were studied (Hawlader et al., 2005;
Schwingenschloegl and Lehmann, 2009; Tang and Tang, 2012;
Mao et al., 2011; Butscher et al., 2011a, 2011b; Serafeimidis and
Anagnostou, 2013), common impacts of swelling rocks on tunnels
included heaving of tunnel inverts and destruction of tunnel
linings. Typically, deformations observed in tunnels in swelling
rocks consist of floor heaves and an absence of comparable
deformations at the walls and the crown (Anagnoston, 1993). For

*Professor, College of Civil Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China; Key Laboratory of Geotechnical and Underground Engineering
of Ministry of Education, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Geohazard Prevention (CICGP), Chengdu
610059, China (Corresponding Author, E-mail: wang_jianxiu@163.com)
**Master Degree Candidate, College of Civil Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China (E-mail: tj090613@163.com)
***Ph.D. Candidate, College of Civil Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China (E-mail: lxt19900211@gmail.com)
****Master Degree Candidate, College of Civil Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China (E-mail: jiangyunhua0727@outlook.com)
*****Professor Level Senior Engineer, Key Laboratory of Geotechnical and Underground Engineering of Ministry of Education, Tongji University, Shanghai
200092, China (E-mail: xuezengl@263.net)

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 Jianxiu Wang, Jiaxing Liu, Xiaotian Liu, Yunhua Jiang, and Xuezeng Liu

a shield tunnel constructed in expansive soil, the swelling load
must be determined to avoid swelling over or under design in
which case the tunnel may be required to be destructed later, thus
leading to even higher costs. However, not too many in-site
experiences for a shield tunnel constructed in expansive soil
were reported. For there are so many differences between
expansive rock and expansive soil, together with the differences
between the shield method and drill and blast method, the
resource of water, contact between lining and surrounding rock,
and excavation-retaining sequence are all different. The previous
experiences cannot be used by a shield tunnel constructed in
expansive soil.
The swell behavior of soils was usually investigated in laboratory
condition (Tang et al., 2009). Current studies on swelling pressure
of tunnel mainly focus on theoretical research under some
hypotheses (Gysel, 1977, 1987; Einstein, 1996; Hawlader et al.,
2005). Anagnostou (1993) assumed that swelling occur only
perpendicular to the bedding plane and the initial state of stress
was hydrostatic. Wittke-Gattermann and Wittke (2004) assumed
that water initiates the maximum swelling load and full swelling
available in sufficient quantities. Barla (2008) assumed a hydro-
static stress field (K0 = 1). However, some hypotheses are remained
to be not verified in actual tunnel. Meanwhile, the contact pressure
around tunnel lining is not the swelling pressure obtained in
laboratory. Guo et al. (2010) and Li et al. (2011) calculated the
internal force and deformation of tunnels in expansive soils
through numerical simulations and found that the calculated
contact pressure differed from the experimental value. In-site
experiments are necessary to verify or revise the calculation
theories for swelling pressure.
In the paper, laboratory and in-site experiments were performed
in the Slender West Lake tunnel in Yangzhou, China. The actual
soil pressure, bending moment, temperature, and deformation were
observed in-site to understand the swelling load for a shield tunnel.
2. Backgrounds
The Slender West Lake tunnel project stretches from Caohe
Road in the east to Yangliuqing Road in the west through the
Slender West Lake Park (Fig. 1). Route length is approximately
2.8 km. The tunnel, which is a double-decker and has six lanes
with an outer diameter of 15 m, is designed to be excavated by
shield method. Shield part ranges from mileage K0+897 to
K2+175. The layer in which the tunnel goes through is mainly
Xiashu clay. This layer shows hard plastic or hard state and has a
high strength under natural water content condition. However,
the mechanical properties of this layer decrease significantly
when its water content is increasing. The soil exhibits the swell-

Fig. 1. Plane Position of the Slender West Lake Tunnel (the red line represents the tunnel)

Table 1. Layers of the Slender West Lake Tunnel

Layer number The top layer Layer
Humidity Compression Lithology characteristics and distribution
and name depth (m) thickness (m)
Slightly wet ~ Mainly made of silty clay, construction waste, garbage; poor
(1)/Miscellaneous fill Ground 0.5-10.2
saturation uniformity; distributed here and there.
(2)0/Sludge 0.0~2.9 1.1-3.0 High With the clay based. Only local distribution.
(2)1/Silt 2.3~6.1 0.3-4.6 Saturation Saturation. The partial loss.
Composed mainly of silt sand; silt, fine sand local folder; dis-
(2)2/Silty sand 0.0~10.2 1.0-9.2 Saturation
tributed here and there
Xiashu clay, including iron manganese nodules, with moderate
(3)1/Clay 2.3~12.1 9.5-48.9 Medium
swelling, water easily collapse; distributed here and there.
(3)3/Coarse sand 46.0~58.5 1.1-5.2 Saturation cementation, high clay content. The lens shape distribution
(5)1/Argillaceous
50.0~60.3 1.0-9.9 Completely weathered muddy sandstone.
sandstone
(5)2/Argillaceous
50.3~53.0 1.0-4.6 Completely weathered muddy sandstone.
sandstone

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 In-site Experiments on the Swelling Characteristics of a Shield Tunnel in Expansive Clay: A Case Study
Fig. 2. Regional Geological Structure of Yangzhou Area
shrink, over consolidation and expansion characteristics, which
may influence the safety of a tunnel during construction and
operation.
2.1 Geological Conditions
2.1.1 Strata
The strata in the area is mainly composed of the Cretaceous
Pukou group purple argillaceous sandstone, Upper Pleistocene of
Quaternary alluvial Xiashu clay, and Quaternary Holocene alluvial
silt clay, silt, and silt sand. The physical and mechanical para-
meters of the layers are shown in Table 1. Xiashu clay is the main
Fig. 3. Rotation Diagram of Staggered Assembly
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surrounding soil of the tunnel. It contains iron and manganese
nodules and has medium swelling.
2.1.2 Tectonic
Yangzhou city is located in the lower Yangtze uplift belt, and
the sub-regional tectonic is Jiangdu uplift.
The fold belt in the engineering area belongs to the Yangzhou-
Jiangdu fold belt, including Taian-Qilidian syncline (A19) and
Situ-Jinxi anticline (A20), which are inferred blind folds. They
are all composed of the Jurassic Xiangshan group, which arcs
from NWW to EW direction to NEE with a slight convex to the
south.
No fault or secondary fault is present in the area; therefore,
fault has no effect on this project. The regional tectonic of the
engineering area is shown in Fig. 2.
2.2 Shield Tunnel
The tunnel has an outer radius of 7.25 m and an inner radius of
6.65 m. Each lining has 10 segments with a thickness of 0.6 m
and width of 2.0 m. The central angle of the completed segment
(F) is 12°51'. Standard segments (B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6, and
B7) have a central angle of 38°34' for each. Both sides (L1, L2;
each with a central angle of 38°34') have one adjacency segment.
Staggered assembling method was employed for the tunnel. The
rotation diagram of the staggered assembly is shown in Fig. 3.
3. Materials and Method
3.1 Laboratory Experiment
The wetting condition of the surrounding expansive soil is not
recorded in-site during the excavation because the expansive
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 Jianxiu Wang, Jiaxing Liu, Xiaotian Liu, Yunhua Jiang, and Xuezeng Liu

Fig. 4. Experimental Sections and Corresponding Mileage

Fig. 5. Arrangement of Earth Pressure, Steel Strain, and Temperature Gauges: (a) Earth Pressure, (b) Steel Strain, (c) Temperature

surrounding soil is separated by the shield and segments, together Table 2. Swelling Pressure under Different Swelling Ratio
with the grout in the space between the shield and segments. Free Swelling ratio (%)
swell and loaded swell tests were performed to test the swelling No. Free Loaded swell test
characteristics of the expansive soil under wetting conditions. swell test 100 kPa 200 kPa 300 kPa 400 kPa 500 kPa
In the free swell test, the procedure is performed as a 1 5.35 2.30 0.30 0.25 0.50 0.10
conventional free oedometer test. In the loaded swell test, the 2 8.25 2.25 0.65 0.40 0.30 0.40
procedure is performed on a single soil specimen which is 3 6.10 1.55 0.80 0.35 0.15
subjected to a pre-determined pressure and then saturated in 4 8.50
an oedometer tester. The swelling ratio is observed under free 5 9.25
or loaded conditions. Average 7.49 2.03 0.58 0.33 0.32% 0.25%

3.2 In-site Experiment

In the in-site experiments, the gauges measuring earth pressure,
temperature, and steel strain were pre-installed in the segments in
factory before installed in tunnel. The experimental segments
were then installed in four mileages (K2+140, K2+010, K1+640,
and K1+330) (Fig. 4).
PAD string-type flexible soil pressure gauge was adopted to
observe earth pressure. Its size was 750 mm × 450 mm. One soil
pressure gauge was used for each shield lining segments and a
total of 10 for each cross-section (Fig. 5(a)).
FBG was used to observe steel strain. They were installed
inside and outside of each segment to observe the main reinfor-
cement strain; a total of 20 FBGs were used. FBGs were
installed inside and outside of F and B4 segment to observe the
longitudinal reinforcement strain; there were 4 FBGs in on
section (Fig. 5(b)).
FBG is also used to monitor temperature. They were tied on
the main reinforcement of a reinforcing cage. Terminal block
was embedded before the construction of segment with the use
of fiber optic cable. A FBG for temperature was installed both
inside and outside of each segment to observe the main reinfor-
cement strain; there were 20 FBGs in one section (Fig. 5(c)).
The in-site experiments were performed from April 11 to
September 27, 2013. The influences of expansive soil to the shield
tunnel were observed and recorded by the measuring gauges.
4. Results
4.1 Laboratory Swelling Pressure under Wetting Conditions
The swelling ratio of free swell test and loaded swell test are
shown in Table 2. In the loaded swell test, the swelling pressure
corresponding to the swelling ratio is regarded as the swelling
pressure of surrounding expansive soil exerting on the deformable
lining after equilibrium condition is reached. The swelling pressure
increases with the decreasing deformation.

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 In-site Experiments on the Swelling Characteristics of a Shield Tunnel in Expansive Clay: A Case Study

Fig. 6. Earth Pressure-time Curves (Time is calculated since the segment installation): (a) R1, (b) R2, (c) R3, (d) R4

4.2 In Site Earth Pressure Observation

The earth pressure-time curves of the four sections are shown
in Fig. 6. Some volatility caused by the shield machine nearby,
especially for section R3 and R4, were observed. After approxi-
mately seven days, the shield machine passed the experiment
section and the distance was approximately 40.0 m, the influence
of the shield operation decreased. The earth pressure tended to be
the preliminary stable stage. After the relatively larger fluctuation
in early time, stable earth pressure still was not fully achieved,
instead, it fluctuated slightly. With R3 as an example, its earth
pressure continued to increase for approximately five months

Fig. 7. Earth Pressure Distribution (kPa) of Sections R1-R4: (a) Fig. 8. Average Temperature Inside and Outside of Each Obser-
R1, (b) R2, (c) R3, (d) R4 vation Point

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 Jianxiu Wang, Jiaxing Liu, Xiaotian Liu, Yunhua Jiang, and Xuezeng Liu

Fig. 9. Bending Moment-time Curves (Time is calculated since the segment installation): (a) R1, (b) R2, (c) R3, (d) R4

Fig. 10. Temperature-time Curves (Time is calculated since the segment installation): (a) R1, (b) R2, (c) R3, (d) R4

− 6 −after the section was installed. TheKSCE

earth pressure
Journal of did
Civilnot become
Engineering
 In-site Experiments on the Swelling Characteristics of a Shield Tunnel in Expansive Clay: A Case Study
Fig. 10. (continued)
stable until January 2014.
The earth pressure of sections R1-R4 on May 16, 2013,
September 6, 2013, January 10, 2014, and April 25, 2014 are
shown in Fig. 7. The distribution of earth pressure in the same
experimental section varied less with time. Large earth pressure
appeared at the top, bottom, left, and right sides of the tunnel.
The earth pressures at the left and right sides were considerably
larger than that at the top and bottom for sections R1 and R2. The
earth pressures at the top and bottom were almost the same as
that at the left and right sides for section R3. For section R4, the
earth pressures at the left and right sides were less than that at the
top and bottom, the maximum earth pressure was observed at the
top. The location of the minimum earth pressure was generally at
45° oblique. The earth pressure of these locations was approxi-
mately 10%-30% of that at left and right sides of the tunnel.
The distribution of earth pressure for the Slender Lake Tunnel
was different from that of NATM tunnels. For a NATM tunnel,
earth pressure at the top and bottom was less than that at the left
and right sides. For the Slender Lake Tunnel, earth pressure was
Vol. 00, No. 0 / 000 0000
larger at the left and right sides.
4.2 Steel Strain
The steel strains observed with the gauges were calculated as
bending moment of the segments (Fig. 8). The bending moment
diagrams of sections R1-R4 are shown in Fig. 9.
The bending moment varied approximately 20% with time.
Large negative bending moment appeared at the top and bottom
of the tunnel, whereas large positive bending moment appeared
at the left and right sides. The minimum bending moment generally
appeared at 45° oblique. The magnitude of the largest negative
bending moment was larger than that of positive bending moment.
4.3 In Site Temperature Observation
The varying trend of temperature for each gauge is similar.
Environment temperature was an important factor that affected
segment temperature. The average temperature inside and outside
from November 22, 2013 to April 25, 2014 are shown in Fig. 10.
The temperature inside was lower than that outside by approxi-
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 Jianxiu Wang, Jiaxing Liu, Xiaotian Liu, Yunhua Jiang, and Xuezeng Liu

mately 0.3-2.0°C, because the inner surface of the tunnel was

connected with the environment, whereas the outer surface of the
tunnel contacts with soil.
The temperature rose with increasing depth of tunnel lining.
The sections R1 and R2 were installed in shallow strata. The
buried depth of section R1 was only 4.8 m. By contrast, the
sections R3 and R4 were installed in deep strata, the depth of
section R4 was 23.8 m. The temperatures of sections R3 and R4
were higher than that of sections R1 and R2 by approximately Fig. 11. Water Content Variation Induced by Mud and Slurry Around
2.0-3.0°C. Shield Machine
For the temperature gauges are installed in segments, the
boundaries of their thermo-field include both the inside free
surfaces of segments and outside surrounding swelling soil. The
temperature of the inside surface varies with the air temperature
for the inner tunnel space is connected with the outside atmosphere
through the excavated part of the tunnel. Meanwhile, the tunnel
is not buried too deep, the observed temperature varies under the
varying thermo boundary and the variation is consistent with the
environmental temperature.

5. Discussions

5.1 Earth Pressure Fluctuation

The earth pressure of sections R1 and R2 showed a large
fluctuation in June and July, which did not occur at R3 and R4.
Weather statistics showed that Yangzhou experienced 15 rainy
days in June 2013, most were moderate-to-heavy downpour with
large precipitation. A total of 13 rainy days were recorded in July
2013. Atmospheric precipitation affected shallow strata water Fig. 12. Load Around Tunnel Without Swelling Pressure
content. The depths of sections R1-R2 were shallow. The depth
of R1 was only 4.8 m and close to the tunnel entrance, it was
more likely to be influenced by the precipitation. Atmospheric
precipitation increased the soil water content. Thus, the earth
pressure of sections R1 and R2 increased significantly in June
and July. In August and September, precipitation was reduced,
the decreasing soil water content decreased swelling pressures.
The earth pressure of sections R1 and R2 decreased significantly
in August and September. The earth pressure of sections R3 and
R4 did not show similar variation of sections R1 and R2 because Fig. 13. Earth Pressure and Corresponding Swelling Pressure of
Section R4: (a) Earth Pressure, (b) Swelling Pressure
of their larger depth which was hardly influenced by precipitation.

5.2 Earth Pressure Variation Stages 5.3 Swelling Pressure Recognition

According to the analysis, the variation of earth pressure can
be divided into three stages. (1) Preliminary stability stage. It was
approximately seven days after the segments were installed. The
disturbance of surrounding soils and vibration impact occurred.
Some volatility of the earth pressure was observed after the
installation. (2) Slowly changing stage. This stage followed the
preliminary stable stage and the duration was approximately five
to seven months. In this stage, earth pressure was dramatically
affected by the expansive soil. The variation of earth pressure
was complex. (3) Final stable stage. After the last stage, earth
pressure no longer varied and reached the final stable state.
When the shield machine is driving, mud or foam is injected
into the soil of digging face to help moist soil, and slurry is also
injected at the tail of shield machine to decrease the deformation
of soil to ensure the stability of the tunnel (Fig. 11). This increases
the water content of the surrounding expansive soil. The increasing
water content motivates swelling characteristic. The increasing
swelling pressure increases earth pressure.
The theoretical load for a tunnel in the soil without swelling
pressure is shown in Fig. 12. It can be rewritten as earth pressure.
The swelling pressure of the expansive soil can be obtained by
subtracting the theoretical earth pressure from the observed earth
pressure. For some earth pressure gauges were damaged or

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 In-site Experiments on the Swelling Characteristics of a Shield Tunnel in Expansive Clay: A Case Study

Table 3. Mechanical Parameters of Strata

Soil name Natural density (N/m3)
Miscellaneous fill 16.4
Silty sand 18.3
Clay 20.3

Fig. 15. Bending Moment Calculated using the Theoretical Load

Mode (Unit : kN·m)

elements, and the interaction between the shield lining and the
surrounding soil is simulated with link elements that can only be
compressed. The model is established on the basis of tunnel
design documents. The stratigraphic characteristics and the
mechanical parameters used in the numerical model are listed in
Table 3. According to the in-site observation, the swelling load
Fig. 14. Suggested Structure-load Mode for a Shield Tunnel in mode complies the best with the in-site observation is shown in
Swelling Soil
Fig. 14. The calculated and observed bending moments for
section R4 are shown in Fig. 15.
destroyed in the sections R1, R2 and R3 during excavation,
their data is incomplete, while the section R4 is comprehensive. 5.5 Earth Pressure and Temperature
The theoretical earth pressure of the section R4 is shown in The earth pressure-temperature scatter diagram for each
Fig. 13 (a). The observed earth pressure of the section R4 is observation point is shown in Fig. 15. They are simulated by the
shown in Fig. 7. The swelling pressure is shown in Fig. 13(b). square curve equation:
The swelling pressure is larger at left and right than that at top
and bottom. Table 4. Coefficients and Constant of Square Curve Equation
Observing Quadratic Linear Constant
5.4 Theoretical Load Mode of Swelling Pressure Section
point coefficient a coefficient b c
The tunnel lining structure calculation method can be divided L1 -0.0002 0.01463 -0.24895
R1
into load-structure method and stratum structure method depending B1 -0.00057 0.02864 -0.39368
on the interaction between the tunnel linings and the surrounding L1 -0.00025 0.01099 -0.17173
rock. The load-structure method is typically used in the structural R2 B1 0.00028 0.00527 -0.18617
mechanics analysis of tunnel linings (Takano et al., 2000). B7 0.00021 -0.00500 -0.0264
According to the hypothesis of the mechanical processing mode F 0.00026 -0.00753 -0.1749
of a segment joint, the design methods can be divided into L1 0.00012 -0.00175 -0.20823
traditional, modified traditional, multiple-hinge, and beam-spring R3 B4 0.00062 -0.01626 -0.08151
model methods. The beam-spring model method is considered to B5 0.00058 -0.01826 -0.04893
be a relatively important method. B6 0.00104 -0.03826 0.14722
The beam-spring model is implemented in the load-structure F 0.00024 -0.00819 -0.26359
model with ANSYS software. The segment lining structure is L1 0.00009 0.00050 -0.0767
modeled with curved beam elements, and the bending effect of R4 L2 0.00042 -0.01144 -0.0502
the segment joints is modeled with rotatable spring elements. B4 0.00002 0.00320 -0.39212
The shearing effect of ring joints is simulated with shear spring B7 0.00012 -0.00330 -0.00545

Vol. 00, No. 0 / 000 0000 −9−

 Jianxiu Wang, Jiaxing Liu, Xiaotian Liu, Yunhua Jiang, and Xuezeng Liu

Fig. 16. Earth Pressure-temperature Curves Simulated by Square Curve Equation: (a) R1, (b) R2, (c) R3, (d) R4

2 the final stable stage, the swelling pressure decreased with the
Pswell = a ⋅ T + b ⋅ T + c (1)
where Pswell is earth pressure (kPa); T is temperature (oC); a, b are
coefficients; c is a constant.
Fifteen earth pressures-temperature curves were obtained. The
coefficients and constant of the fitting curves are shown in Table
4. Most of the curves are concave curves, except for L1, B1 of
section R1, and L1 of section R2. The two coefficients are mostly
in 0.0002-0.001 range.
The earth pressure decreases when temperature increases. The
phenomenon can be explained by the decreasing swelling pressure
with increasing temperature. Except for mineral composition and
water content, temperature can also influence swelling pressure
of expansive soil. Villar and Lloretb (2004) presented the results
on the influence of temperature on the hydro-mechanical properties
of a compacted bentonite. Temperature-water retention curves
under confined and unconfined conditions were determined, and
swelling pressure, hydraulic conductivity and swelling strains as
a function of temperature were successfully observed. At 20-
80°C, suction decreased with the increasing temperature. Therefore,
the swelling pressure decreases when temperature increases.
Jacinto et al. (2009) studied the influence of variables such as
temperature and porosity (dry density) on the water retention
curve of expansive clays for the analysis of thermo-hydro-
mechanical coupled processes. The study also found that suction
decreased with the increasing temperature. For the Slender West
Lake Tunnel, the variation of temperature in surrounding expansive
soil resulted in the variation of swelling pressure. As reflected in
increasing temperature.
5.6 Earth Pressure Difference between Shield Tunnel and
Drill and Blast Tunnel
The variations of earth pressure observed in the Slender West
Lake Tunnel are significantly different with that of a NATM
tunnel. In the first few days after injecting concrete in a NATM
tunnel, the observed contact pressure has a small value because
the strength of concrete is low and the deformation of retaining
structure is large. The pressure gauges move toward the room
with retaining structure. With the increasing strength of concrete
and stiffness of the retaining structure, the earth pressure on the
retaining structure increases rapidly. However, for the Slender
West Lake Tunnel, the increasing of earth pressure lasts for a
longer time than a NATM tunnel, and was slower than a NATM
tunnel. The increasing was a slow but steady process.
6. Conclusions
In-site experiments were performed in the Slender West Lake
tunnel to understand the swelling characteristics of a shield
tunnel in surrounding expansive soil. Although the results cannot
solve all the problems for the shield tunnels in expansive clay, it
provided the in-site observation of the response both for swelling
clay and shield tunnel. The following conclusions were reached:
1. In the loaded swell test, the swelling pressure corresponding
to the swelling ratio was observed. If it is regarded as the

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 In-site Experiments on the Swelling Characteristics of a Shield Tunnel in Expansive Clay: A Case Study
swelling pressure of surrounding expansive soil exerting on
a deformable lining, the swelling pressure is larger when the
deformation is less.
2. The variation of earth pressure for shield tunnels in expan-
sive soil can be divided into three stages: preliminary stable,
slowly changing, and final stable. For Slender West Lake
Tunnel, slowly variation stage lasted for five to seven months.
In this stage, properties of expansive soil dramatically affected
earth pressure. Earth pressure variation was complex.
3. Large earth pressure was detected at the top, bottom, left,
and right sides of the tunnel. The earth pressure at the left
and right sides was larger than that at the top and bottom,
which was different from that of NATM tunnel.
4. Large negative bending moment was detected at the top and
bottom of the tunnel, whereas large positive bending moment
was detected at the left and right sides of the tunnel. The
largest negative bending moment was larger than the largest
positive bending moment. A theoretical load mode of swell-
ing pressure is suggested based on the beam-spring model.
5. Earth pressure decreased with the increasing temperature.
Temperature variation had no significant influence on bend-
ing moment.
Acknowledgements
This work is supported by the research grant (2014CB046900)
from National Key Basic Research Program of China, the research
grant (No. 2012K68) from China Railway Siyuan Survey and
Design Group Co. Ltd., the CCCC Key Lab of Environment
Protection & Safety in Foundation Engineering of Transportation,
GDUE Open Funding (SKLGDUEK1417) and the Foundation
of China Railway No.2 Engineering Group Co., Ltd. (No. 201218).
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