Latest revision as of 14:14, 30 November 2021

Abstract

The development of urban mobility implies the construction of tunnels, often interacting with valuable historical structures. It is thus necessary to develop rational and reliable procedures to estimate the potential excavation-induced damage, dealing with complex soil-structure interaction problems. Classical approaches are often characterised by relatively simple schematisations for either one or both components of the problem, as, for example, springs for the soil or equivalent plates for the structure. Such simplified assumptions prove to be appropriate for simple soil-foundation cases, while show several limitations when tackling more complex problems, as those involving the excavation in the vicinity or beneath historical masonry structure. In such cases, the need for reliable prediction of the potential damage on surface structures induced by construction activities justifies the adoption of advanced numerical approaches. These need to be based on realistic constitutive assumptions for both soils and masonry elements and require the definition of the three-dimensional geometry as well as an accurate modelling schematisation of the excavation process. In this paper a 3D Finite Element approach is proposed to model in detail the excavation of twin tunnels, accounting for the strongly non-linear soil behaviour, interacting with monumental masonry structures, carefully modelling their geometry and non-linear anisotropic mechanical behaviour. The work focuses on a specific case-study related to the ongoing construction of the line C of Rome underground.

Full document

References

[1] Rampello S., Callisto L., Viggiani G., Soccodato F.M. Evaluating the effects of tunnelling on historical buildings: the example of a new subway in Rome. Geomechanics and tunnelling (2012) 5(3): 275-299.

[2] Amorosi, A., Boldini, D., de Felice, G., Malena, M. and Sebastianelli, M. Tunnelling-induced deformation and damage on historical masonry structures. Géotechnique (2014) 64(2):118-130.

[3] Brinkgreve, R. B. J., et al. "PLAXIS 2016." PLAXIS bv, the Netherlands (2016).

[4] Fargnoli, V., Gragnano, C.G., Boldini, D. and Amorosi, A. 3D numerical modelling of soil–structure interaction during EPB tunnelling. Géotechnique (2015) 65(1):23-37.

[5] Burghignoli A., Callisto L., Rampello S., Soccodato F.M., Viggiani G.M.B. The crossing of the historical centre of Rome by the new underground Line C: a study of soil structure- interaction for historical buildings. In Geotechnics and Heritage: Case Histories, CRC Press, London (2013), pp. 97-136

[6] Benz, T. Small-strain stiffness of soils and its numerical consequences. Ph.D. thesis, Universität Stuttgart (2007).

[7] Schanz, T., Vermeer, P.A. and Bonnier. P. G. The hardening soil model: formulation and verification. Beyond 2000 in computational geotechnics (1999): 281-296.

[8] Rampello S., Fantera L. and Masini L. Efficiency of embedded barriers to mitigate tunnelling effects. Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology (2019) 89:109-124.

[9] Lasciarrea, W.G., Amorosi, A., Boldini, D., de Felice, G. and Malena, M. Jointed Masonry Model: A constitutive law for 3D soil-structure interaction analysis. Engineering Structures (2019) 201.

[10] Sangirardi, M., Malena, M. and de Felice, G. Settlement Induced Crack Pattern Prediction Through the Jointed Masonry Model. In Proceedings of XXIV AIMETA Conference 2019, Springer International Publishing 24 (2020), pp. 1971-1980.

[11] Boscardin, M. D., and Cording, E. J. Building response to excavation-induced settlement. Journal of Geotechnical Engineering (1989) 115(1): 1-21.

[12] Sangirardi, M., Amorosi, A. and de Felice, G. A coupled structural and geotechnical assessment of the effects of a landslide on an ancient monastery in Central Italy. Engineering Structures (2020) 225.