Development of Modified Flexibility Ratio - Racking Ratio Relationship of Box Tunnels Subjected to Earthquake Loading Considering Rocking

Abstract

Tunnels may undergo a larger or a smaller response compared with the free-field soil. In the pseudo-static procedure, the response of the tunnel is most often characterized by a curve that relates the racking ratio (R) with the flexibility ratio (F), where R represents the ratio of the tunnel response with respect to the free-field vibration and F is the relative stiffness of the tunnel and the surrounding soil. A set of analytical and empirical curves that do not account for the depth and the aspect ratio of the tunnel are typically used in practice. In this study, a series of dynamic analyses are conducted to develop a set of F-Rm relations for use in a frame analysis method. Rm is defined as an adjusted R where the rocking mode of deformation is removed and only the racking deformation is extracted. The numerical model is validated against centrifuge test recordings. The influence of aspect ratio, buried depth of tunnel on results is investigated. The results show that Rm increases with the increase of the buried depth and the aspect ratio. The widely used F-R relations are highlighted to be different compared with the obtained results in this study. Therefore, the updated F-Rm relations with proposed equations are recommended to be used in practice design. The rocking response decreases with either the decrease of the difference of stiffness between surrounding soil and tunnel or the larger aspect ratio of the tunnel section.