Experimental investigation on damage development and failure mechanism of shield tunnel lining under internal blast considering stratum-structure interaction

Abstract

With the expansion of international terrorism and the potential threat of attacks against civil infrastructure, the dynamic response and failure modes of underground tunnels under explosive loads have become a prominent research topic. The high cost and inherent danger associated with explosion experiments have limited current research on tunnel internal explosions, particularly in the context of scaled model tests of shield tunnels. This study presents a series of scaled model tests under 1g-condition simulating internal blast events within a shield tunnel based on the prototype of the Shantou Bay Tunnel, considering the influences of surrounding stratum and equivalent explosive yield. Three different TNT explosive yields are considered in the model tests, namely 0.2, 0.4, and 1.0 kg. The model tests focus on the damage behavior and collapse modes of the shield tunnel lining under internal explosive loads. The model tests reveal that the shield tunnel is prone to damage at the joints of the tunnel crown and shoulder when subjected to internal explosive loads, with the upper half of the tunnel lining experiencing segment collapse, while the lower half remains largely undamaged. As the TNT equivalent increases, the damage area at the tunnel joints expands, and the number of segment failures in the upper half of the tunnel rises, transitioning from a damaged state to a collapsed state. The influence of “stratum-structure” interaction is investigated by comparing two models, one with overburden soil and the other positioned at the ground surface. The model tests reveal that the presence of soil pressure and confinement can significantly enhance the tunnel resistance to internal blast loads. Based on the observation of the model tests, five different damage modes of segment joints under internal explosion are proposed in this study.