Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association ISSN:2233-8292(Print) 2287-4747(Online) 한국터널지하공간학회 논문집

Face stability of a tunnel is a main concern during tunnel excavation. However, there has been only a few studies on this problem while a lot of researches on the support systems have been carried out. In addition, when tunneling is performed below the groundwater level, the groundwater flows into the tunnel so that the seepage forces generated on the tunnel face might give rise to a serious potential for the face instability. In this study, the face stability was evaluated by simultaneously considering two factors: one is the effective stress calculated by upper bound theorem; the other is the seepage forces acting on the tunnel face obtained by numerical analysis under the condition of steady-state groundwater flow. Tunneling in difficult geological conditions often requires auxiliary techniques to guarantee safe tunnel excavations and/or to prevent damage to structures and services around the tunnel. The steel pipe-reinforced multistep grouting has been recently applied to tunnel sites in Korea. Face stability of a tunnel with the steel pipe-reinforced multistep grouting was also analyzed in this study.