Publisher Description

The planned construction of traffic routes through the European Alps represents a challenge for science and technology. In the past decades, Austria has gained a leading position in the field of tunnelling. This has been verified by many successful projects all over the world, which have been realised with the well-known "New Austrian Tunnelling Method". However, further development and economic success of modern tunnelling methods, which are still partly based on empirical assumptions, can only be assured if their scientific basis is improved. The book discusses the application of numerical simulation methods to assist tunnel engineers. Numerical simulation tools for the estimation of the required tunnel support and the required construction measures are described in this book. By using them, it is possible to study the impact on construction and environment during the planning stage and during construction. This will result in an improvement of the safety and economy of tunnels.

Table of Contents

1 Introduction.- 2 Tunnelling - the need for technological development and innovation.- 3 Improved site investigation.- 4 Advanced pre-processing methods.- 5 Thermochemomechanical material model for shotcrete.- 6 Material model for soil and applications.- 7 Damage mechanics of jointed rock in tunnelling.- 8 Parameter identification and its application in tunneling.- 9 Soft-computing-based parameter identification as the basis for prognoses of the structural behaviour of tunnels.- 10 Quantification of stress states in shotcrete shells.- 11 Compressed air tunnelling - determination of air requirement.- 12 A coupled FE-model for tunnelling by means of compressed air.- 13 A multilaminate model for finite element analysis of tunnel excavation.- 14 Advanced post-processing methods.- 15 Application of numerical simulation at the tunnel site.- 16 Summary and outlook.

Long Description

For many years the Austrian tunneling industry has demanded that research is urgently required to establish a theoretical basis for the New Austrian TUnneling Method and to assist site engineers in the often difficult day to day decisions. In particular it was felt that numerical models need to be improved considerably in order to be able to act as useful tools in predicting soil/rock mass behavior during tunneling. The required improvement not only refers to the quality of the models but also to their ease of use. As long as an experienced modeler is required to spend days in preparing the input and in interpreting the results the models will not be useful at the tunnel site. It is heartening therefore that a group of scientists in Austria has come together to attempt to tackle this challenging task. The initiative has been supported in a number of ways by the Austrian tunneling industry. All Aus

Feature

Presents the result of the joint research initiative "numerical simulation in tunnelling" Guides to improving the safety and economy of tunnels Enables a close correlation between numerical prognosis and in situ behaviour

Details