Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering xxx (xxxx) xxx

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Journal of Rock Mechanics and

Geotechnical Engineering
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Full Length Article

Effect of pipe characteristics in umbrella arch method on controlling

tunneling-induced settlements in soft grounds
Ali Morovatdar a, *, Massoud Palassi b, Reza S. Ashtiani a
a
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, 79968, USA
b
College of Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, 14155-6619, Iran

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Recent developments in tunneling have stimulated design practitioners to more effectively utilize the
Received 20 August 2019 underground spaces. However, tunneling at shallow depth in soft grounds gives rise to concerns asso-
Received in revised form ciated with tunnel instability. Umbrella arch method (UAM), as a pre-reinforcement approach of tunnels
10 April 2020
in complex geological conditions, is widely used to maintain the tunnel stability. Quantitative assessment
Accepted 13 May 2020
Available online xxx
of the impacts of the entire approach and forepoling pipe features on tunnel stability remains chal-
lenging due to the complex nature of the UAM application. This study aimed to assess the effect of pipe
design parameters on reinforcing the tunnels excavated in soft grounds. This practical investigation
Keywords:
Tunnel reinforcement
considered the actual field conditions attributed to the tunneling procedure and UAM deployment. Then,
Umbrella arch method (UAM) the tunneling process was modeled and the tunnel excavation-induced settlements were calculated. The
Urban tunneling post-processed results confirmed that deploying the UAM substantially reduced the tunnel crown and
Forepoling pipes ground surface settlements by 76% and 42%, respectively. Investigation of various design parameters of
Finite element analysis pipes underscored the significance of incorporating the optimum value for each individual parameter
Numerical simulation into design schemes to more effectively control the settlements. Additionally, contrasting the settlement
reduction rates (SRRs) for pipe design variables showed that the tunnel stability is more sensitive to the
changes in the values of diameter and length, compared to values of the installation angle and center-to-
center distance of the pipes.
Ó 2020 Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Production and hosting by
Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction
In recent years, due to the drastic changes in urban-rural de-
velopments, underground projects such as tunneling have provided
one of the most effective solutions for transportation problems.
However, the excavation procedure requires special attention at
both design and construction stages to maintain stability during
construction. In fact, in order to find optimal excavation method
and design variables satisfying the tunnel stability, design practi-
tioners should accurately assess the tunnel and ground settlements
considering various design strategies to mitigate and control
excavation-induced settlements in actual field conditions. Other-
wise, success in construction of the tunneling project will be seri-
ously jeopardized. Particularly, in the case of tunneling at shallow
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: amorovatdar@miners.utep.edu (A. Morovatdar).
Peer review under responsibility of Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chi-
nese Academy of Sciences.
depths that the ground consists of soft soils or weak rocks, safe
construction of tunnel without causing any damages is of utmost
importance. Hence, one of the main challenges for engineers to
construct tunnels in such critical regions is to limit the settlements
to acceptable ranges. This is extremely important from not only the
tunnel stability viewpoint but also the safety perspective.
Tunnel excavation using the new Austrian tunneling method
(NATM), in combination with auxiliary supporting techniques, is
widely used to overcome the significant difficulties encountered
while tunneling in soft and weak grounds. Several reinforcement
techniques such as umbrella arch method (UAM), jet grouting,
mechanical pre-cutting, and sub-horizontal fiberglass reinforce-
ment have been deployed to limit the tunnel excavation-induced
settlements. Specifically, UAM has been used to a great extent,
due to its potential pre-reinforcement capabilities (Schumacher
and Kim, 2016; Song et al., 2013). Several field cases of tunnels
excavated using the UAM were reported by Haruyama et al. (2001),
Sekimoto et al. (2001), Ocak (2008), Aksoy and Onargan (2010), Gao
et al. (2015), Elyasi et al. (2016), Salmi et al. (2017), Taromi and
Eftekhari (2018), Klotoé and Bourgeois (2019), and Morovatdar

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrmge.2020.05.001
1674-7755 Ó 2020 Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-
NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Please cite this article as: Morovatdar A et al., Effect of pipe characteristics in umbrella arch method on controlling tunneling-induced
settlements in soft grounds, Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrmge.2020.05.001
2 A. Morovatdar et al. / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering xxx (xxxx) xxx
et al. (2020a). In this approach, prior to tunnel excavation, a series
of forepoling pipes is installed along the tunnel circumference in
the crown. Subsequently, by injecting the grout through the pipes,
the stiffened soil (between the pipes) coupled with the forepoling
pipes creates an umbrella-shaped arch above the tunnel. This
arrangement considerably enhances the stiffness properties of the
impacted soil and improves the tunnel excavation stability.
Tunneling procedure using pre-reinforcement UAM is well
explained in the literature by Carrieri et al. (2005), Kim et al. (2009),
Aksoy and Onargan (2010), and Klotoé and Bourgeois (2019).
2. Background
Several analytical and experimental studies have been con-
ducted to investigate the performance of the UAM in the tunnel
construction procedure. Ranjbarnia et al. (2018) developed an
analytical approach to evaluate the behavior of the UAM in deep
tunnels. In the proposed approach, the displacement of the sup-
ported span of the tunnel was calculated using the convergence-
confinement method. The results showed that the pipe diameter
is a significant factor controlling the excavation-induced settle-
ments in deep tunnels. Ocak (2008) studied the second stage
excavation of Istanbul Metro, which was constructed using NATM
in combination with UAM and the results showed that using the
UAM can effectively control the surface deformations, especially in
clay-bearing formations. Yoo and Shin (2003) conducted laboratory
studies on the deformation behavior of tunnel face supported by
longitudinal pipes. Their results showed that the face-reinforcing
technique could efficiently control the ground settlements during
tunneling. Shin et al. (2008), deploying a large-scale model,
investigated the UAM reinforcing mechanism in granular soils.
They found that the pipe reinforcement of heading can significantly
decrease the induced settlements, and improve the tunnel face
stability. Heidari and Tonon (2015) considered the hardening effect
of jet grouting umbrella elements in controlling of tunnel conver-
gence. Hisatake and Ohno (2008) conducted centrifugal model tests
to evaluate the effect of using UAM on tunnel displacement
reduction. They found that deploying the pipe roof supports could
decrease the ground displacements by 75%.
Several researchers have also studied numerically the overall
impacts of the UAM on tunnel stability. Elyasi et al. (2016), using a
finite difference program, numerically simulated the tunneling
procedure, as well as the UAM deployment in a case study that was
under severe geological conditions. The numerical results, accom-
panied by in situ monitoring and instrumentation efforts, in gen-
eral, indicated the effectiveness of using UAM in controlling the
tunnel displacements. Aksoy and Onargan (2010) assessed the in-
fluence of implementing UAM and tunnel face bolts on ground
surface settlements induced during tunnel construction of the
second phase of Izmir Metro, which was located in the densely
populated district. The numerical results indicated that the UAM
and face bolt applications could considerably reduce the risk of
buildings’ failure by decreasing the ground settlements by 69%.
Ocak and Selcuk (2017) deployed two-dimensional (2D) numerical
models to investigate the performance of the UAM in tunneling. It
was revealed that although implementation of the UAM is time-
consuming, it is a practical pre-supporting method that can
significantly control the tunneling-induced displacements.
A number of studies have been carried out on the design pa-
rameters of the elements in the UAM supporting system. Volkmann
and Schubert (2010), through calibration of the three-dimensional
(3D) numerical model (FLAC3D) with in situ monitoring of tunnel
settlements, investigated the influence of the UAM design param-
eters on the deployed pre-support system. Based on the back-
calculations of the in situ measurements, the authors assessed
Please cite this article as: Morovatdar A et al., Effect of pipe characteristics in umbrella arch method on controlling tunneling-induced
settlements in soft grounds, Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrmge.2020.05.001
the structural properties for the components of UAM and the
changes in load redistribution. Wang (2012) conducted a system-
atic parameter study to evaluate the effects of some of UAM design
parameters on the mechanical behavior of pipe roof reinforcement.
The study showed that each individual reinforcement parameter
has a critical value in which the tunnel reinforcing effect would be
the maximum. Oke et al. (2014) used 2D and 3D models to evaluate
the influential design parameters attributed to the use of UAM
technique. They later developed a secondeorder equation for
distributed load through a semi-analytical solution in which, it is
assumed, the beam lays on the elastic foundation (Oke et al., 2016).
Song et al. (2013) developed a finite element software package to
evaluate various conditions and variables of the UAM. The devel-
oped model was instrumental in estimating the quantity of fore-
poling steel pipes needed for the UAM at an early stage of the
tunnel design protocol.
Recently, Zarei et al. (2019) investigated the role of using the
UAM in the tunnel stability by the 3D numerical simulations. They
deployed a finite difference program, FLAC3D, for further numerical
modeling purposes. It was found that the UAM could effectively
transfer the earth pressure to the primary support systems, leading
to improvement in the tunnel stability. They also assessed the in-
fluence of pipe design parameters on the efficiency of the deployed
UAM. The results indicated that decreasing the installation angle
and transverse spacing of pipes and increasing the diameter of
pipes led to a reduction in the tunneling-induced displacements.
Qian et al. (2019), using the Winkler-spring model, developed an
analytical approach to simulate the behaviors of the UAM pipes.
They found a relatively good agreement between the results ob-
tained from the proposed model and the numerical modeling using
FLAC3D. In another study, Abdollahi et al. (2019), through the
deployment of the finite difference technique, as well as 3D nu-
merical simulations, investigated the suitable reinforcement stra-
tegies associated with a case study with mechanized tunneling. The
numerical modeling of various reinforcement alternatives in the
evaluated case study showed that the UAM was an effective
approach in order to maintain the tunnel stability. Klotoé and
Bourgeois (2019), conducting 3D finite element simulations, eval-
uated the influence of the UAM on the settlements induced by
shallow tunneling. Through a parametric analysis, they found that
the influence of using the UAM on the settlements remained
modest for the range of parameters considered in the analysis.
Previous studies have provided insights into the working
mechanism and behavior of the tunnel reinforced by the umbrella
arch technique. However, deploying nonuniform and inconsistent
analysis approaches in some studies for evaluation of the effect of
using UAM in tunneling led to widespread and even contradicting
results that sometimes defy common sense. In terms of previous
numerical studies, one of the primary sources of inaccuracy could
be attributed to the fact that some of these studies relied on several
simplified assumptions made in the analysis. For instance, in a
number of numerical analyses, the elements in the primary support
system of the tunnel, i.e. steel frame, shotcrete, and wire mesh,
were simulated by an equivalent section representing the entire
composite support system. Likewise, several studies have docu-
mented that the UAM elements, i.e. steel pipes, cement grout, and
soilcrete, were simulated as one single element with equivalent
material properties based on the weighted averages (Barla and
Bzowka, 2013). The root of the problem attributed to these ap-
proaches is that determination of the internal forces generated in
the pipes would be extremely challenging. Consequently, making
these simplifications, instead of modeling the aforementioned el-
ements individually, simulates the circumstance that is signifi-
cantly different from the actual field conditions, and hence, this can
seriously jeopardize the accuracy of the analysis results.
 A. Morovatdar et al. / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering xxx (xxxx) xxx
Another anomaly in some other previous studies pertains to the
incorporation of the typical values, instead of the laboratory-
derived geotechnical properties for the existing soil and formed
soilcrete zones into the analysis. Additionally, appropriate assign-
ment of the interactions between the UAM elements and the sur-
rounding soil sometimes was overlooked in the numerical
simulations to expedite the computation time. However, it is noted
that the UAM performance is highly sensitive to the accurate
incorporation of the material properties into the analysis, as well as
the proper definition of the existing interactions between UAM
elements and the surrounding soil. Hence, these properties should
be properly characterized and considered in numerical simulations.
Another noticeable remark from previous researches is link to
the type of analysis technique deployed in the numerical modeling
of the tunnels reinforced by the UAM. Essentially, the majority of
the previous studies used the finite difference method, a well-
known and robust method, in order to investigate the beneficial
impacts of the UAM on tunnel stability. FLAC3D program is one of
the prime examples that are based on finite difference algorithms.
It should be noted that, besides finite difference, finite element
method is another methodologically sound and robust approach
that has been deployed in a limited number of studies for evalua-
tion of the overall impacts of UAM on tunneling procedure.
Therefore, a comprehensive evaluation of the UAM deployment,
using the finite element method, still needs to be investigated and
quantified to improve the existing knowledge associated with this
tunnel reinforcement technique. The aforementioned issues were
the motivations of the authors to investigate the UAM applications
in tunneling.
3. Research objective
The primary objective of this research study was to accurately
assess the beneficial impacts of the UAM on the stability of the
tunnels in soft grounds. In this study, through a comprehensive
evaluation, initially, the information on the tunneling procedure,
UAM deployment, and the various aspects of staged construction
was gathered from Ghazvin-Rasht tunnel project, in consideration
of actual field conditions. This information coupled with
laboratory-derived geotechnical properties of the existing soil was
in turn incorporated into a series of finite element simulation
models using the ABAQUS program. An all-encompassing proced-
ure was then devised to simulate all the UAM and primary support
elements separately, in consideration of the appropriate in-
teractions. Subsequently, the tunneling-induced settlements were
calculated for further comparative analysis in this context.
Furthermore, because the majority of the previous studies have
concentrated on general practices of the UAM, and a limited
number of studies focused on the influential design parameters of
UAM pipes, the second stage of this study was to quantitatively
assess the main impacts of pipe characteristics on the tunnel sta-
bility. For this, we also investigated the optimum values of different
design parameters of the UAM pipes, i.e. diameter, total length,
overlap length, installation distance, and installation angle, to help
design engineers excavate tunnels in a stable, safe, and cost-
effective manner.
4. Theoretical principles of umbrella arch method (UAM)
4.1. Tunnel reinforcement mechanism
In tunnel excavations, the tunnel faces using UAM is reinforced
with forepoling steel pipes. This reinforcement mechanism is called
as “steel-pipe-reinforced UAM” (Song et al., 2013). Essentially, this
method has two reinforcement mechanisms: (1) structural
Please cite this article as: Morovatdar A et al., Effect of pipe characteristics in umbrella arch method on controlling tunneling-induced
settlements in soft grounds, Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrmge.2020.05.001
3
reinforcement effect of the steel pipes, and (2) ground improve-
ment effect of the cement grouting. The steel pipes installed ahead
of the tunnel face transfer the earth pressure to the primary sup-
port, i.e. on the supported span, and ground ahead of the tunnel
face, i.e. on the unsupported span (Song et al., 2013), as shown in
Fig. 1. Hence, the steel pipes enhance the stability of the unsup-
ported excavation section before installation of the primary sup-
porting system of the tunnel.
In order to clarify the effect of UAM on the tunnel reinforcement,
vertical stress distributions at tunnel crown in both cases (tunnel
excavation using UAM and without using UAM) are compared, as
shown in Fig. 2. In the case where the UAM is not employed
(Fig. 2a), due to the rapid decline of vertical stress to zero in
excavation face (Point A), concentrated stress is induced ahead of
the excavation face and zero stress continues along the unsup-
ported section (Muraki, 1997). Further vertical stress increase is
expected by installing tunnel supports in specified distances
beyond the excavation face. In the case of deploying UAM (Fig. 2b),
the umbrella arch structure covers the unsupported tunnel section
and carries the ground pressure. The Mohr-Coulomb failure enve-
lope is also shown in Fig. 2 to better evaluate the stress state of the
soil element. The initial stress condition for a soil element far from
the excavation face is demonstrated as a dashed-line Mohr circle.
During the tunnel excavation procedure, as the tunnel face ap-
proaches the soil element, an increase in the Mohr circle radius is
witnessed due to the increase in the major principal stress. Hence,
in the case without using UAM, in a close distance from the soil
element, Mohr circle is tangent to the Mohr-Coulomb failure en-
velope, and consequently, the soil failure occurs. In contrast, when
the UAM is deployed, the major principal stress is not increased
considerably; hence, the Mohr circle is not tangent to the Mohr-
Coulomb failure envelope, leading to failure prevention. Conse-
quently, implementing the UAM could enhance the stability of
tunnel excavation face by controlling the increases in major prin-
cipal stresses in soil elements during excavation (Muraki, 1997).
4.2. Design conditions and variables
Proper evaluation of design conditions and variables is of
importance for accurate assessment of the efficiency of UAM in
mitigating excavation-induced settlements. Tunnel dimensions, soil
properties, and tunnel primary support characteristics are selected
as per the design conditions associated with the tunnel excavation
process. Essentially, these parameters rely on several contributing
factors that are determined by tunnel type, existing soil profile in the
tunnel construction site, and strength properties of steel and con-
crete (as the steel supports and shotcrete). Hence, tunnel design
engineers often find limited alternatives to propose various design
schemes, specifically in weak ground conditions. On the other hand,
design variables attributed to the UAM steel pipes need to be defined
in consideration of the site-specific conditions in the field. However,
the impacts of these variables on tunnel reinforcement require
further evaluation to obtain optimized and cost-effective design
plans. The major pipe-related variables affecting the design of UAM
are categorized into geometric characteristics (i.e. length, thickness,
and diameter), and installation-related variables (i.e. longitudinal
and transversal installation intervals, installation angle, and trans-
versal reinforcement range). Fig. 3 shows the design conditions and
variables when the pre-support UAM technique is deployed to the
tunnel. This information is also tabulated in Table 1.
5. Research methodology
Using a series of 3D finite element models, the efficiency of
deploying the UAM on improving the tunnel stability, in which the
4 A. Morovatdar et al. / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 1. Reinforcement mechanism of the umbrella arch method (Song et al., 2013).

Fig. 2. Stress condition in tunnel excavation face, when (a) Umbrella arch method is not employed, and (b) Umbrella arch method is employed (Muraki, 1997). s1: minor principal
(horizontal) stress, and s2: major principal (vertical) stress.

Fig. 3. Schematic illustration of design parameters associated with the umbrella arch method (Song et al., 2013).

Please cite this article as: Morovatdar A et al., Effect of pipe characteristics in umbrella arch method on controlling tunneling-induced
settlements in soft grounds, Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrmge.2020.05.001
 A. Morovatdar et al. / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering xxx (xxxx) xxx 5

Table 1
Design conditions and variables for steel pipes in the umbrella arch method (Song et al., 2013).

Design conditions Design variables

Tunnel dimensions Soil properties Support characteristics Geometric characteristics Longitudinal sections Transversal section

Horizontal width (D) Friction angle (4)
Vertical height (H) Cohesion (c)
Advance length (Le) Unit weight (g)
Poisson’s ratio (n)
Earth pressure coefficient
(K)
Young’s modulus (E)
Overburden height (h)
Area of steel set (As) Length (Lp) Installation interval (SL) Installation interval (ST)
Young’s modulus of steel set (Es) Diameter (Dp) Installation angle (qL) Installation angle (qT)
Installation interval for steel set Thickness (Tp) Reinforcing range (qR)
(Ss)
Height of steel set (Hs)
Thickness of shotcrete (Tshot)
Young’s modulus of shotcrete
(Eshot)
Poisson’s ratio of shotcrete (w)

tunnel was excavated in soft soils with weak geotechnical proper-
ties, was investigated in this study. We gathered detailed infor-
mation on deployed UAM, tunnel construction procedure, as well as
tunnel design conditions (tunnel dimensions, soil properties, and
tunnel primary support characteristics) from the Ghazvin-Rasht
tunnel project as a case study. The field-derived information was
a direct input to the finite element analysis to more accurately
simulate the actual conditions. Subsequently, tunnel excavation
procedure with conventional NATM was simulated in ABAQUS
finite element software, considering two different conditions, i.e.
using the pre-support UAM technique, and without using it. All
UAM elements consisting of forepoling pipes, injected cement
grout, and soilcrete were separately simulated in the finite element
program to improve the analysis reliability. Then, the tunnel
excavation-induced settlements such as tunnel crown and ground
surface settlements were calculated for further comparative
analysis.
Additionally, geometric and installation-related design features
of forepoling pipes (as the key components in the UAM) such as
diameter, length, overlap length, transverse distance, and installa-
tion angle of the pipes were investigated. This was achieved by
post-processing the results obtained from numerical simulations of
the umbrella arch-supported tunnel in consideration of various
design schemes for forepoling pipes. Through another sensitivity
analysis, a new design measure, named settlement reduction rate
(SRR), was proposed for each individual pipe parameter to further
understand the sensitivity of the tunnel settlements to different
parameters of the pipes evaluated in this study. The following
sections provide detailed information on the case study used,
tunnel excavation procedure, UAM technique implemented, nu-
merical simulations, and rationale for extensive investigation of the
pipe design parameters.
characteristics of the Ghazvin-Rasht railway tunnel are tabulated in
Table 2.
In the early stages of design, field observations and measure-
ments associated with the lithology of the site indicated that the
tunnel was mainly located within the regions with conglomerate
layers, sandstone layers, and calcareous beds. Fig. 4 illustrates the
stratigraphic map attributed to the existing ground around the
tunnel. Based on the provided map, it was revealed that by moving
from point 1 towards the exit portal of the tunnel, i.e. points 5 and
6, sedimentary layers consisting of conglomerate and sandstone
layers are becoming more pronounced.
Ultimately, considering the longitudinal profile of the tunnel, as
well as laboratory investigation of the drilled boreholes in the vi-
cinity of the project site, the geotechnical soil profile of the existing
ground surrounding the tunnel was classified into three different
zones, as indicated in Table 3. The information provided in the table
showed that the existing soil around the tunnel was relatively
weak; essentially, the most portion of the tunnel was surrounded
by sand and clay soils with weak mechanical properties.
Due to the fact that clayey soils with very weak mechanical
characteristics were not able to ensure the tunnel stability during
tunnel excavation, zone 2 of the studied tunnel (middle part of the
tunnel) was excavated using the NATM in combination with the
UAM technique to improve the tunnel stability. The stability of the

5.1. Case study

Ghazvin-Rasht tunnel in Northern District of Iran was consid-

ered as a case study. This arch-shaped tunnel with a height and
width of 8 m is categorized into railway tunnels. Geometric

Table 2
Geometric properties of Ghazvin-Rasht railway tunnel.

Geometric characteristic Unit Value

Length m 1800
Longitudinal slope %
1.14
Maximum overburden height m 20
Tunnel span m 8
Tunnel height m 8
Fig. 4. Geological structure map of existing soil around the tunnel site.

Please cite this article as: Morovatdar A et al., Effect of pipe characteristics in umbrella arch method on controlling tunneling-induced
settlements in soft grounds, Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrmge.2020.05.001
6 A. Morovatdar et al. / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering xxx (xxxx) xxx

Table 3 80 m; the variations of the calculated tunnel crown vertical

Geotechnical soil profile around the evaluated section of the tunnel.
Zone Soil layer Relative location
1 Clay and sand with relatively weak Entrance part of tunnel
mechanical properties
2 Clay with very weak mechanical Middle part of tunnel
properties
3 Sandstone layers End part of tunnel
tunnel was crucial not only because of the engineering-related is-
sues but also from the safety point of view, since the tunnel was
exactly located beneath the constructed roadway with a large
volume of truck traffic operations. The whole tunnel construction
procedure, as well as the post-processed laboratory investigation
results, was further incorporated into a 3D finite element system, as
explained below.
5.2. Numerical simulation
5.2.1. Model dimensions and boundary conditions
Proper characterization of the geometry of the model is of
utmost importance to mitigate the systematic errors associated
with boundary effect problems (Ashtiani et al., 2019; Morovatdar
et al., 2019). We carried out a sensitivity analysis to determine
the adequate model dimensions for simulation purposes. For this,
the model dimensions were incrementally increased from 20 m to
displacement were monitored accordingly. It was found that the
sensitivity of the tunnel crown vertical displacement was negligible
when the simulated model dimensions exceed 50 m, 50 m and
70 m for height, width, and length of the model, correspondingly.
Therefore, a 3D soil block with dimensions of 50 m  50 m  70 m
was modeled in ABAQUS using continuum rigid elements, as shown
in Fig. 5.
Fig. 6 shows different types of boundary conditions defined in
the simulation of the tunnel. Encastre boundary condition was used
only at the bottom of the model, restraining the displacement and
rotation in all directions (Morovatdar et al., 2020b, c). Moreover,
two other boundary conditions were defined in the finite element
models to restrict the displacement in the orthogonal direction to
the surfaces highlighted with red, as shown in Fig. 6.
5.2.2. Mechanical behaviors and material properties
In order to properly evaluate the geotechnical properties of the
tunnel surrounding soils, the Mohr-Coulomb model was assigned
to the soil and soilcrete elements (Satvati et al., 2019; Beizaei et al.,
2020; Dehghani et al., 2020; Rahimi et al., 2020). Mechanical be-
haviors of shotcrete, steel frames and pipes were defined as classic
elastoplastic and elastic, respectively. Defined mechanical behavior
models are summarized in Table 4.
Additionally, a number of boreholes were drilled in the studied
site to obtain the desirable geotechnical characteristics. The post-
processed results from the laboratory experiments on the sam-
ples extracted from the boreholes, in terms of the geotechnical
properties of the soil, are indicated in Table 5. Moreover, to char-
acterize these properties associated with the jet grouted soilcrete in
the vicinity of the tunnel, a few core samples were taken from the
formed umbrella at the tunnel crown region. Table 5 also indicates
the analysis results attributed to the soilcrete zone. Table 6 shows
the material properties associated with the primary supporting
system as well as the forepoling pipes. It should also be noted that
the forepoling pipes deployed at this tunneling project were made
of steel with a yield stress of 392 MPa.

5.2.3. Meshing and load allocation

Considering the fact that the most critical response points
during tunnel excavation are located at the tunnel crown region, we
defined a finer mesh in this area to obtain more accurate results.
However, to expedite the computation time and reduce the output
files size, a coarser mesh in the areas far from the tunnel axis is
used, as shown in Fig. 7. The meshing of the soil block surrounding
Fig. 5. Simulated soil block in ABAQUS.
the tunnel was assigned using the C3D8 elements (eight-node

Fig. 6. Assigned boundary conditions in (a) XZ plane, the bottom surface ðUX ¼ 0; UY ¼ 0; UZ ¼ 0Þ, (b) YZ plane (UX ¼ 0), and (c) XY plane (UZ ¼ 0).

Please cite this article as: Morovatdar A et al., Effect of pipe characteristics in umbrella arch method on controlling tunneling-induced
settlements in soft grounds, Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrmge.2020.05.001
 A. Morovatdar et al. / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering xxx (xxxx) xxx 7

Table 4 linear brick). Furthermore, gravity load was applied to the whole
Mechanical behaviors of different elements. simulated soil block to monitor the settlements induced by the
Soil Soilcrete Shotcrete Steel frame Pipes weight of soil elements during tunnel excavation procedure
Mohr- Mohr- Classic elasto- Classic elasto- Elastic
(Alimohammadi et al., 2019; Beyzaei and Hosseininia, 2019).
Coulomb Coulomb plastic plastic Additionally, due to the complexity of the simulated model con-
sisting of various element types, different contact interactions, and
a huge number of elements, we deployed the explicit analysis
Table 5 method to optimize the iteration process adopted for convergence
Geotechnical properties attributed to the soil and soilcrete. (Zamanian et al., 2020a, b).
Parameter Unit Material
5.2.4. Tunnel primary supporting system
Soil Soilcrete
As stated earlier, the tunnel was excavated using the NATM. In
Density (r) kg/m3 1900 2300 this approach, the primary supporting system consisted of steel
Young’s modulus (E) MPa 5 2600
Poisson’s ratio (n) 0.3 0.3
frames and shotcrete. The supporting system in the implemented
Cohesion (c) KPa 40 4200 NATM process was comprised of shotcrete of 20 cm in diameter and
 IPE18 as the steel frames. These components with the assigned
Internal friction angle (4) 30 38
dimensions were simulated, as shown in Fig. 8. The following steps
describe the tunnel excavation sequences:
Table 6
Mechanical properties of the supporting system components. (1) Excavating 1 m of the tunnel, and
Element Density (kg/ Young’s modulus Poisson’s 28-d strength
(2) Installing associated primary support system.
m3) (GPa) ratio (MPa)
Hence, the tunnel excavation process was followed in a full-
Shotcrete 2200 26 0.3 30
Steel 7800 200 0.25 section excavation method with 1 m steps. After each excavation
frame step, steel sets were modeled by wire elements with 1 m intervals.
Pipes 3200 210 0.35 Then the tunnel excavation face, tunnel wall, and tunnel invert
were covered by shotcrete shell elements. It should also be noted
that at each excavation step, the gravity load is applied to the whole
excavated tunnel, including the supported and unsupported spans
of the tunnel. Hence, it deems necessary to properly consider the
unsupported span, which is defined as the distance between the
tunnel face and the closest installed support.
In this study, by defining a series of analysis steps in the finite
element program, the unsupported span, formed after each exca-
vation step, was intended in the numerical modeling to consider
the excavation sequences better and to more realistically simulate
the actual in situ conditions in the studied tunnel project. Essen-
tially, the weak mechanical characteristics of the existing soil and
relatively large tunnel diameter, coupled with operational re-
strictions on support installation, were the major reasons that the
unsupported span of the tunnel was determined to be no more than
1 m. This explains the rationale behind selecting the 1 m intervals
for both tunnel excavation process and steel frame installation, in
consideration of the sufficient space required for installation of the
Fig. 7. Soil block meshing. subsequent set of tunnel support systems.

Fig. 8. Primary supporting system components: (a) 3D model, and (b) Dimensions of the steel frames.

Please cite this article as: Morovatdar A et al., Effect of pipe characteristics in umbrella arch method on controlling tunneling-induced
settlements in soft grounds, Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrmge.2020.05.001
8 A. Morovatdar et al. / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering xxx (xxxx) xxx
Accordingly, the maximum allowable length for the unsupported
span of tunnels needs to be properly determined and incorporated
into the design schemes, considering the project-specific charac-
teristics of the studied tunnel. Particularly, this is a key step in design
procedures of the tunnels excavated in shallow ground with weak
geotechnical properties. Based on our experience in relevant pro-
jects, it is not practically feasible to maintain the stability of a large
span of such tunnels, without immediate installation of the
appropriately-spaced steel frames after each excavation step.
5.2.5. Deploying the umbrella arch method
The UAM elements consisting of pipes, injected cement grout
and soilcrete were simulated in the finite element program, as
shown in Fig. 9. Forepoling pipes (wire elements) were embedded
at the tunnel crown. Additionally, injected cement grout and
improved soil around the pipes (soilcrete) were separately modeled
in the ABAQUS software to accurately simulate the UAM imple-
mentation. Regarding the incorporation of the radius of injected
cement grout and the thickness of the formed soilcrete into the
numerical simulations, it should be noted that these parameters are
greatly interconnected with the injection pressure magnitude.
Additionally, in design practices, the transversal distance between
pipes is another major factor in determination of the radius of
injected grout and soilcrete’s thickness. Therefore, in this study, the
soilcrete zone was continually simulated in consideration of the
values of pipes’ transverse distance in different design scenarios.
However, it is noted that the applied injection pressure, under
actual field conditions, directly changed with the variations in the
transversal distance of the pipes to ensure the continuity of the
formed cement grout and soilcrete zones.
Considering the pipes’ total length (Lp) and overlap length (Lov)
with the next set of pipes, the whole procedure of umbrella arch
Fig. 9. Cross-section of the umbrella arch components.
Fig. 10. Schematic view of the simulated UAM-reinforced tunnel, after the 5th set of pipe installation.
Please cite this article as: Morovatdar A et al., Effect of pipe characteristics in umbrella arch method on controlling tunneling-induced
settlements in soft grounds, Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrmge.2020.05.001
installation was consistently repeated after LpeLov of drilling. Fig. 10
illustrates the simulated tunnel using the UAM after the 5th set of
pipe installation.
5.2.6. Interactions between simulated elements
Appropriate assignment of the interactions between different
elements is one of the key steps in numerical simulations
(Mansourkhaki et al., 2020a, b). This concern is even more impor-
tant in modeling tunnels that have numerous contributing ele-
ments with distinct material properties. Hence, in this study,
careful attention is devoted to properly assigning the interactions
between UAM elements in order to improve the reliability of the
analysis results. To do this, using the tie constraint, the primary
support system consisting of shotcrete and steel frame elements
was connected to the simulated soil around the tunnel. Moreover,
forepoling pipes were defined as embedded elements in the sur-
rounding soil. Soilcrete elements were also modeled by partitioning
of the improved soil around the pipes with better geotechnical
properties compared to the whole simulated soil elements.
5.2.7. Design variables of assembled forepoling pipes
Tunnel engineers, at the initial stages of the project, generally
designed the features of the forepoling pipes in consideration of the
site-specific project characteristics of the Ghazvin-Rasht railway
tunnel. This information is tabulated in Table 7. However, in order
to more accurately assess the impact of forepoling pipes on tunnel
stability, various parameters such as length, diameter, installation
distance and installation angle of the pipes were investigated in
this study. Fig. 11 illustrates the various design parameters of
forepoling pipes evaluated for further comparison purposes.
Table 8 indicates several cases through parametric study to
capture the effect of forepoling pipe parameters on controlling the
induced settlements. It should be also noted that to evaluate the
effect of each pipe parameter, the other parameters were consid-
ered as the initial values defined in the design plan of Ghazvin-
Rasht tunnel.
Table 7
Characteristics of the forepoling pipes employed in the Ghazvin-Rasht railway
tunnel.
Length, Lp Diameter, Dp Installation distance, ST Installation angle, qL
(m) (cm) (cm) ( )
12 12 30 6
 A. Morovatdar et al. / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering xxx (xxxx) xxx 9

Fig. 11. Illustration of the design variables of forepoling pipes.

Table 8 36 mm as a result of adopting this method, which in turn translated

Design schemes devised considering different variables for forepoling pipes. into greater stability of the tunnel. In other words, in the case
Design Length, Diameter, Installation distance, ST Installation angle, qL evaluated in this study, using the UAM technique in combination
scheme Lp (m) Dp (cm) (cm) ( ) with the NATM can significantly control the tunnel crown
Case 1 8 9 40 9 displacement and the induced ground settlement by approximately
Case 2 10 76% and 42%, respectively.
Case 3 12 Additionally, the pre-support umbrella arch technique was
Case 4 15
found to be more efficient in mitigating the tunnel crown vertical
Case 5 6 12 40 9
Case 6 9 displacements compared to measures of induced ground surface
Case 7 12 displacements. However, controlling the settlements at ground
Case 8 15 level in urban tunneling, in which the tunnels are mostly located
Case 9 12 9 20 9 under adjacent buildings in densely populated areas, is of utmost
Case 10 30
importance. Hence, based on the post-processed results of this
Case 11 40
Case 12 50 study, a 42% reduction of ground surface settlements due to UAM
Case 13 12 9 40 3 deployment can greatly contribute to the improvement of the
Case 14 6 safety and stability during the tunnel construction procedure.
Case 15 9
Case 16 12

6. Numerical results and discussion 6.2. Bearing capacity of the tunnel primary supporting system

Fig. 12a and b plots the vertical displacements for the cases of
tunnel excavation with and without using the UAM, respectively.
Based on the provided plots, it is revealed that the UAM has
effectively controlled the excavation-induced settlements, espe-
cially in critical locations, i.e. tunnel crown and ground surface
regions. Another observation was that the area close to tunnel
invert experienced upward movements. This is primarily attributed
to the fact that the tunnel invert sustains an intense pressure from
the underneath soil caused by stress relaxation mechanism of the
tunnel, explaining the rationale behind applying the shotcrete to
the tunnel inverts in the weak soil conditions.
6.1. Influence of deploying umbrella arch method on controlling the
settlements (quantitative assessment)
Fig. 13 shows the post-processed results for tunnel crown and
ground surface settlements after 42 m tunnel excavation, for the
cases with and without UAM deployment. The descending nature
of the settlement patterns in both cases in Fig. 13 truly justifies that
the maximum settlements tend to occur at the tunnel entrance
portal, while the values are decreasing along the tunnel axis. For
this reason, tunneling-induced settlements at the tunnel portal,
representing the most critical situation, were contrasted
throughout this study. As evidenced in the plots, deploying the
UAM resulted in a decrease in the tunnel crown vertical displace-
ment (at the tunnel portal) from 166 mm to 40 mm. Likewise, the
maximum ground surface settlement was reduced from 62 mm to
As stated in Introduction, the main reason behind the reduction
of the settlements when the UAM system is deployed is its influ-
ence on transferring the earth’s pressure to the primary support
system. Fig. 14 shows a comparison of the maximum axial forces
applied to the primary supporting system of the tunnel for the
cases with and without UAM deployment. As illustrated in the
figure, the deployment of the UAM system has resulted in an in-
crease of approximately 66% in the maximum axial forces induced
in the primary support systems.
Despite the beneficial impacts of this behavior of the UAM
system on transferring the loads to the primary support system, it
deems necessary to investigate the robustness and stability of the
primary supporting systems against the increased applied loads.
Hence, we initially extracted the associated loads and moments at
different cross-sections of the tunnel. Subsequently, the bearing
capacity diagrams were developed to properly assess the robust-
ness of the primary support system against the induced loads, in
consideration of the specific properties of the supporting systems
used in this study. Figs. 15 and 16 show the analyzed results
attributed to the bending moment vs. axial force and shear force vs.
axial force, respectively, at the entrance part of the tunnel and for
different design schemes of forepoling pipes. As shown in the
figure, all the case scenarios evaluated in this study are located
within the permissible region. Similar results were also found for
different sections of the tunnel. Consequently, the results of the
stability analysis indicated that the deployed primary support
system was sufficient to sustain the loads induced by tunnel
excavation.

Please cite this article as: Morovatdar A et al., Effect of pipe characteristics in umbrella arch method on controlling tunneling-induced
settlements in soft grounds, Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrmge.2020.05.001
10 A. Morovatdar et al. / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 12. Contours of vertical displacement (m), in the cases (a) without UAM application, and (b) with UAM application.

Fig. 13. Comparative results between tunnel excavation-induced settlements for the cases with and without deploying the umbrella arch method.

6.3. Validation of the numerical modeling results
In order to verify the finite element analysis results and the
accuracy of the simulated excavation procedure of the tunnel
reinforced with UAM, we initially extracted the information on the
in situ measurements from the available historical records of the
project. Subsequently, tunnel crown vertical displacements from in
situ measurement records were compared with the corresponding
values calculated by the numerical simulation models. This was
accomplished in the case of the tunnel reinforced by the UAM
system. As evidenced in Fig. 17, the values of tunnel vertical
displacements based on the finite element analysis were in good
agreement with those achieved from the in situ measurement re-
cords. The comparison results also show some variations between
the two methods, which can be attributed to the anomalies arising
from in situ measurements; however, the differences fit in a limited
range.
Subsequent to the stability analysis of the support systems, and
the validation of the numerical modeling results, the influence of
different design parameters of the forepoling pipes was compre-
hensively evaluated; the associated results and discussions are
provided in the following section.

Please cite this article as: Morovatdar A et al., Effect of pipe characteristics in umbrella arch method on controlling tunneling-induced
settlements in soft grounds, Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrmge.2020.05.001
 A. Morovatdar et al. / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering xxx (xxxx) xxx 11

Fig. 17. Tunnel crown vertical displacement values obtained from in situ measure-
Fig. 14. Maximum axial forces applied to the primary support system for the cases ments and numerical simulations.
with and without deploying UAM.

Fig. 15. Axial force vs. bending moment of the primary support system of the tunnel.

Fig. 16. Axial force vs. shear force of the primary support system of the tunnel.

Please cite this article as: Morovatdar A et al., Effect of pipe characteristics in umbrella arch method on controlling tunneling-induced
settlements in soft grounds, Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrmge.2020.05.001
12 A. Morovatdar et al. / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 18. Tunnel crown vertical displacements along the tunnel axis and the maximum settlements at tunnel portal for various values of the pipe design parameters: (a) Diameter
(Dp), (b) Length (Lp), (c) Installation angle (qL), and (d) Installation distance (ST). Red rectangles in right-side panels indicate the optimum value of pipe design parameter.

6.4. Influence of design variables of forepoling pipes on the
efficiency of the UAM
Fig. 18 presents the results of the parametric study of the various
design parameters of the forepoling pipes. Crown settlements
along the tunnel axis (panels on the left side of the figure), as well
as the maximum settlements at tunnel portal (panels on the right
side of the figure), are calculated and illustrated in the plots as the
major critical measures for excavation-induced displacements.
Fig. 18aed provides relative comparisons of these settlements
associated with various design parameters of the pipes: (1) geo-
metric parameters such as diameter (Dp) and length (Lp); and (2)
installation-related parameters such as installation angle (qL) and
installation distance (ST). It should be noted that a non-remarkable
change in settlements at tunnel portal was seen after 42 m exca-
vation length; hence, the comparative results are provided for the
first 42 m excavated tunnel segment in the subsequent section, to
apply similar conditions in various cases.
Based on the analysis results provided in Fig. 18a, a consistent
trend of decreasing tunnel crown vertical displacements with
increasing pipe diameter from 6 cm to 12 cm is evident, which in
turn translates into higher tunnel stability. This observation was
expected as the increase in the moment of inertia with enlargement
of the pipe diameter, leading to a higher bending capacity of the

Please cite this article as: Morovatdar A et al., Effect of pipe characteristics in umbrella arch method on controlling tunneling-induced
settlements in soft grounds, Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrmge.2020.05.001
 A. Morovatdar et al. / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering xxx (xxxx) xxx
whole umbrella arch system under earth pressure. However, the
settlements tend to level off at 12 cm, indicating that any further
increase in the pipe diameter would not contribute to a significant
reduction of the tunnel crown vertical displacements. Hence, such
limiting value (12 cm) represents the optimum value of the pipe
diameter, giving the best performance in controlling the tunnel
crown vertical displacements for the case evaluated in this study.
Fig. 18b shows the variations of tunnel settlements corre-
sponding to different pipe lengths. As illustrated in the figure,
similar settlement trends were observed for pipe length. Essen-
tially, increasing pipe length from 8 m to 12 m resulted in a sig-
nificant decrease in tunnel crown vertical displacements, while
employing pipe length that exceeds 12 m could not make a
remarkable reduction in the settlements. This is attributed to the
fact that a certain part of the forepoling pipes designed to resemble
cantilever beams, far beyond the failure zone, would offer no extra
benefits in terms of the structural capacity of the umbrella arch
system. Considering the equivalent tunnel diameter (Dtunnel ¼ 8 m),
the results indicate that the optimum value of the pipe length is
approximately 1.5Dtunnel (12 m).
Installation-related variables of forepoling pipes such as instal-
lation angle and installation distance were also evaluated, and the
corresponding results are shown in Fig. 18c and d, respectively.
Generally, these plots reflect an opposite trend in the variations of
the tunnel crown vertical displacements with the changes in the
installation angle and installation distance of the pipes. Comparing
the results for different installation angles of the pipes showed that
decreasing this parameter from 12 to 6 resulted in a substantial
reduction in the tunnel settlements, as shown in Fig. 18c. Essen-
tially, by increasing the installation angle of the pipes, the
umbrella-shaped arches formed above the tunnel crown keep a
considerable distance apart from the other counterparts. Hence, in
this case, the umbrella arch system could not efficiently transfer the
overburden stresses across the various sets of installed pipes. It
should also be noted that any further decrease in the critical value
of pipes’ installation angle (6 ) leads to an increase in the
settlements.
Fig. 18d also shows that as the installation distance of the pipes
decreases from 60 cm to 30 cm, the tunnel crown vertical dis-
placements witness a noticeable drop. This is in line with our ex-
pectations since the reinforcing effects of the UAM would be more
significant when the steel pipes are installed with a closer trans-
verse distance from the other pipes. However, similar to the other
design variables, this parameter has an optimum value (30 cm),
after which the descending trend of the tunnel settlements was
halted. In other words, installing the forepoling pipes at a closer
distance than 30 cm is not likely to secure the improvement of
tunnel stability. Additionally, since the local arching between pipes
has a significant effect on determination of the transversal distance
of the pipes, in design practices, the distance needs to be calculated
in consideration of the minimum value of the local arching to
properly utilize the load-bearing capacity of the ground, and to
optimize the design schemes. It should also be noted that injection
pressure, soil properties and structural capacity of the pipes are
other contributing factors in determination of the installation dis-
tance of the pipes.
As shown in Fig. 19aed, similar analysis results were obtained
associated with the influence of the pipe design parameters on
controlling the ground surface settlements. However, the analysis
of the ground surface displacements resulted in comparatively
lower values for settlements compared to those values calculated
associated with the tunnel crown vertical displacements. As evi-
denced in the figure, the overall patterns of the variations of ground
surface settlements indicated similar trends for optimized design
Please cite this article as: Morovatdar A et al., Effect of pipe characteristics in umbrella arch method on controlling tunneling-induced
settlements in soft grounds, Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrmge.2020.05.001
13
parameters of the pipes to those suggested by the analysis carried
out for the tunnel crown vertical displacements.
6.5. Settlement reduction rate (SRR) for pipe parameters
Considering the costs, constraints and complexities of deploying
the UAM in the field conditions, it is necessary to keep on refining
the design schemes to develop an optimized and cost-effective
plan, proposing the best stability performance of the reinforced
tunnel. In line with this need, we conducted another sensitivity
analysis to assess the influence of different pipe parameters on
controlling the excavation-induced settlements. To achieve this,
analyzing the obtained results from finite element simulations, we
calculated the maximum settlement reductions caused per one unit
change (either decrease or increase) in the investigated design
parameters of the forepoling pipes. Then, SRR, as a new design
measure tailored towards the pipes’ parameters, was defined,
indicating how intensely the incurred tunnel settlements rely on
different characteristics of the pipes.
Fig. 20 illustrates the results of the performed sensitivity anal-
ysis for key design parameters of the forepoling pipes. As shown in
Fig. 20, the efficiency of the UAM technique in terms of controlling
the tunnel settlements is found to be more sensitive to the diameter
of the pipes compared to the other design variables. In fact, with a
1 cm increase in the diameter of the pipes, tunnel crown vertical
displacements decrease by 6.9% approximately.
Comparing the general trends of SRRs showed that the geo-
metric design characteristics of the pipes, such as diameter with
6.91% per centimeter and length with 4.83% per meter, are the key
factors that are substantially more contributing to the settlement
reductions, in comparison with installation-related parameters.
This is primarily attributed to the fact that the bending strength
capacity of the pipes is highly affected by their geometric properties
rather than the installation-related characteristics. Another obser-
vation was that the installation angle of the pipes with 3.4% per
degree SRR acted in a more controlling manner compared to pipe
installation distance with the corresponding rate of 0.9% per
centimeter. Hence, full care and attention should be paid in situ,
where the pipes are inserting the tunnel crown to ensure that the
installation angle of the pipes complies with the design schemes,
resulting in improvement of the tunnel stability. Based on our
experience in relevant projects, installing the pipes in their pre-
defined desired angle in soft and weak grounds could be
challenging.
6.6. Effect of pipes’ overlapping length
By approaching the end parts of the forepoling pipes during the
tunnel excavation process, their beneficial impacts on the tunnel
stability are minimized, and the UAM system is not well capable of
transferring the overburden-related loads to the primary support
system and ground ahead of the tunnel face anymore. Therefore, it
is imperative to insert the subsequent set of forepoling pipes into
the tunnel crown to provide a desirable overlapping region to
maintain tunnel stability. In design practices, the overlapping
length of the forepoling pipes is one of the critical design param-
eters that substantially impact the stability of the tunnels sup-
ported by the UAM system. This parameter greatly depends on the
effective length of the forepoling pipes and their supporting effects
on the tunnel, which are noticeably interconnected with the
characteristics of the tunnel geometry and the ground conditions.
We conducted a separate series of sensitivity analyses in this
study in order to investigate the influence of pipes’ overlapping
length in the tunneling-induced settlements. To achieve this, a new
14 A. Morovatdar et al. / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 19. Ground surface settlements along the tunnel axis and the maximum settlements for various values of the pipe design parameters: (a) Diameter (Dp), (b) Length (Lp), (c)
Installation angle (qL), and (d) Installation distance (ST). Red rectangles in right-side panels indicate the optimum value of pipe design parameter.

parameter named overlapping length ratio was defined, which
represents the ratio of overlapping length to the total length of
forepoling pipes. The case studies of forepoling pipes with 15 m
length, and different overlapping length ratios, i.e. 20%, 25%, 30%
and 40%, were investigated in this section.
Fig. 21 shows the results attributed to the maximum settlements
calculated at tunnel crown and ground surface levels, corre-
sponding to different overlapping length ratios for forepoling pipes.
As illustrated in the figure, an overall decreasing trend of the set-
tlements with increasing overlapping length ratio from 20% to 40%
is apparent. This is expected since increase in the effective length of
the contributing pipes results in a higher reinforcement capacity of
the whole UAM system. However, in consideration of the high
construction costs, as well as the difficulties pertaining to
implementation of the pipes with higher overlapping length, it is of
great interest to design practitioners to determine the optimum
value of this design parameter. Based on the results provided in
Fig. 21, it is also found that the minimum appropriate ratio of
overlapping length should be approximately 25%, meaning that
employing consecutive pipe sets with overlapping length ratio
below 25% leads to a noticeable increase in the tunneling-induced
settlements.
Theoretically, the minimum overlapping length of the pipes
could also be calculated by.
L ¼ H tanð45
4 = 2Þ
where L represents the length of the failure zone ahead of the
tunnel face. Using this equation, the minimum overlapping ratio for

Please cite this article as: Morovatdar A et al., Effect of pipe characteristics in umbrella arch method on controlling tunneling-induced
settlements in soft grounds, Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrmge.2020.05.001
 A. Morovatdar et al. / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering xxx (xxxx) xxx 15

Fig. 22. Maximum axial forces induced in forepoling pipes at different sections of the
Fig. 20. Settlement reduction rate (SRR) per one unit change associated with various tunnel.
design parameters of the forepoling pipes.

the case studied in this section was calculated to be 26%. Accord-

ingly, the minimum acceptable overlapping length of the forepoling
pipes, in consideration of the site-specific characteristics of
different projects, and allowable settlements defined for each
tunnel, should be determined and incorporated into the design
protocols of the tunnels reinforced by the UAM system.

6.7. Investigation of the pipes’ internal forces

In addition to evaluation of the design variables of pipes and their

impacts on controlling the tunneling induced settlements, design
protocols of the UAM systems should also account for the internal
forces applied to the forepoling pipes during excavation process.
Hence, in this study, the associated internal forces, including the
axial forces and bending moments, were extracted from the nu- Fig. 23. Maximum bending moment induced in forepoling pipes at different sections
merical modeling of the studied tunnel for three different cross- of the tunnel.

sections. Evaluated sections were comprised of the entrance part

of the tunnel (i.e. 0-1 m distance from the portal), the middle section
of installed pipes at the first stage (i.e. 6-7 m distance from the
portal), and ultimately the end section of the installed pipes at the
first stage (i.e. 11-12 m distance from the portal).
Figs. 22 and 23 show the maximum axial force and maximum
bending moment induced in the pipes for different cross-sections of
the tunnel, respectively. Generally, the figures for axial force and
bending moment were characterized by a similar trend. As displayed
in these figures, the pipes installed at the first 1 m length of the
tunnel tolerated the highest internal forces; while the corresponding
values associated with the middle and end sections of the forepoling
pipes were noticeably lower compared to the other counterparts.
Subsequently, the bearing capacity of the forepoling pipes
against applied forces also needs to be accurately assessed.
Considering the most critical designed pipe with the lowest cross-
sectional area and 60 mm diameter, 5 mm thickness and the yield
stress of around 392 MPa, the maximum force that can be endured
by the pipe was calculated as 338 kN. Furthermore, based on the
analysis results in Fig. 22, the maximum axial force induced in the
pipes was found to be 284 kN, indicating that the deployed fore-
poling pipes are capable of tolerating the loads applied during
excavation process.

Fig. 21. Effect of pipes’ overlapping ratio on the maximum tunneling-induced settlements: (a) Tunnel crown vertical displacements, and (b) Ground surface settlements.

Please cite this article as: Morovatdar A et al., Effect of pipe characteristics in umbrella arch method on controlling tunneling-induced
settlements in soft grounds, Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrmge.2020.05.001
16 A. Morovatdar et al. / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering xxx (xxxx) xxx
7. Conclusions
In this study, the efficiency of the UAM as a tunnel reinforcing
approach in controlling the settlements induced by tunnel exca-
vation in soft grounds was quantitatively investigated. Based on the
information gathered from the Ghazvin-Rasht railway tunnel
project, an all-encompassing approach was adopted to more real-
istically simulate the UAM deployment. Subsequently, using a se-
ries of 3D finite element models, tunnel crown and ground surface
settlements due to excavation were accurately assessed. In a
separate effort, various design parameters of forepoling pipes in
terms of geometrical and installation-related design features were
evaluated to obtain the optimized values for each individual
parameter. Additionally, through a sensitivity analysis, an infor-
mative index named SRR was introduced, representing how
induced tunnel settlements were sensitive to various characteris-
tics of the pipes. The major findings of this research are summa-
rized as follows:
(1) The numerical results confirmed that deploying the UAM in
the tunnels in soft grounds can adequately decrease the tun-
nel crown and ground settlements by approximately 76% and
42%, respectively. Mitigating the settlements at the ground
surface by 42% in tunnels located beneath the adjacent
roadways and buildings in urbanized regions is significant.
(2) Analysis of the settlement variations indicated a clear
descending trend with the increase in the values of the
diameter and length of the pipes, up to a specific value.
Additionally, to deliver a better performance, the values of
the installation angle and installation distance of the pipes
require to be decreased, up to a certain point.
(3) In any actual field conditions, the optimized values of the
design parameters should be analyzed and incorporated in
the design procedure to ensure tunnel stability. For the case
used in this study, the best performance of the UAM was
achieved when the pipes diameter, length, installation angle
and installation distance were in the neighborhood of 12 cm,
12 m, 6 and 30 cm, respectively.
(4) It was also found that the optimum value of the pipe length is
approximately 1.5Dtunnel, where Dtunnel stands for the
equivalent tunnel diameter.
(5) The overlapping length of the forepoling pipes was a signif-
icant design parameter of the tunnels supported by the UAM
system. For the case evaluated in this study, 25% was found to
be the optimal ratio of pipes’ overlapping length.
(6) Juxtaposing the optimized values of the pipe design variables
from numerical simulations with those extracted from the
design plans of the Ghazvin-Rasht project has yielded iden-
tical results. This underscores the significance of incorporating
the field-derived information into the numerical simulation
models to improve the reliability of the analysis results.
(7) Overlooking different impact levels of the pipes’ parameters
on tunnel stability can jeopardize the safety and cost-
efficiency of the UAM method. Introducing the SSR can
bridge this gap, providing tunnel design practitioners a
valuable insight into the efficiency of each design parameter.
Tunnel stability was found to be more sensitive to values of
the pipes’ diameter and length, compared to the other
counterparts. Additionally, the installation angle of the pipes
had a greater influence on tunnel reinforcement compared to
the center-to-center distance of them, determined by the
injection pressure of the grout.
(8) Determination of pipe diameter and pipe length is the pri-
mary concern in the design of the UAM. Using pipes with
higher structural capacity in combination with higher
Please cite this article as: Morovatdar A et al., Effect of pipe characteristics in umbrella arch method on controlling tunneling-induced
settlements in soft grounds, Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrmge.2020.05.001
injection pressure contributes more to the settlement re-
ductions, instead of installing the pipes with a close trans-
verse distance that imposes operation and installation
restrictions on the UAM deployment.
(9) Employing the UAM requires considerable costs; however,
the costs due to the tunnel collapse or imparting any damage
to adjacent buildings when this approach has not been
applied should also be considered. Consequently, utilizing
the UAM as a practically sound and robust approach to
improve tunnel stability, especially in the shallow ground
with weak geotechnical properties, is becoming more com-
mon in the tunneling industry.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors wish to confirm that there are no known conflicts of
interest associated with this publication and there has been no
significant financial support for this work that could have influ-
enced its outcome.
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Ali Morovatdar is a graduate research assistant in the
Center for Transportation Infrastructure Systems at the
University of Texas at El Paso, TX, USA. He obtained his
MSc degree in Transportation and Pavement Engineering
from University of Tehran. He is being actively involved in
a number of research projects funded by State Department
of Transportation, emphasizing in assessment of the
longevity and serviceability of the transportation infra-
structure facilities. He has contributed to several scholarly
publications, including project technical reports, journal
papers, and international conferences. His research interests include geotechnical
engineering, tunnel reinforcement techniques, urban tunneling, mechanistic-empirical
pavement design and analysis, non-destructive evaluation of transportation infrastruc-
tures, numerical simulations, finite element analysis, and application of statistical
analysis.