Efficiency of different methods for calculating the mechanized tunnels face pressure considering an earth pressure balance

Abstract

Different methods for calculating and estimating a safe face pressure were proposed by researchers, which have some advantages and disadvantages. In each of these methods, some related parameters such as soil geotechnical parameters, dimensions of the tunnel, and geological conditions are used. In these methods, using a series of mathematical or empirical functions, the face pressure is calculated. In this study, the face displacements were obtained using the finite difference numerical FLAC3D, the COB (Netherlands Underground Science Center) empirical, and the Leca and Dormieux (1990) analytical methods. The impact of the COB method on different ground stiffnesses is studied and evaluated. The reference case of this research is the Tehran Metro Line 6 tunnel (excavation radius: 4.6 m).