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Failure Mechanism of Deformed Concrete Tunnels Subject to Diagonally Concentrated Loads
Author(s) -
He Wei,
Wu Zhishen,
Kojima Yoshiyuki,
Asakura Toshihiro
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
computer‐aided civil and infrastructure engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.773
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1467-8667
pISSN - 1093-9687
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8667.2009.00600.x
Subject(s) - deformation (meteorology) , ultimate tensile strength , geotechnical engineering , compressive strength , structural engineering , parametric statistics , failure mechanism , diagonal , failure mode and effects analysis , softening , materials science , geology , engineering , composite material , statistics , geometry , mathematics
This article presents a brief description and summary of the testing of scale models of concrete tunnels subjected to diagonally concentrated loads. Based on the experimental findings, an extended discussion is carried out to select a rational compressive model for concrete that represents the dominant failure modes of deformed concrete tunnels. Three main dominant final failure modes are described: structural failure due to the plastic rotation of softening hinges, tensile failure caused by localized cracks, and material failure due to concrete deterioration. A parametric analysis of the material properties of concrete shows that the compressive strength of concrete has a dominant effect on the load‐carrying capacity, although the compressive fracture energy of concrete remarkably influences the post‐peak deformation behavior of the tunnel. Moreover, the soil pressure, which is regarded as a distributed external load, plays an important role in controlling the final failure modes and the deformation behavior of concrete tunnels. The size effect on the load‐carrying capacities of different‐sized concrete tunnels is also discussed based on the numerical simulations.