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A note on the design of fibre-reinforced shotcrete linings for underground

support

Conference Paper · March 2003

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A notg on the destgn
e ol tibre-rerntorced shotcrete lrnrngs tor under-
ground supporl
G. Barla, F. Barpi, C. Berlolino, B. Chiaia
Department of Structural Engineering and Geotechnics
Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Torino, Italy
Email : chiaia@polito. it

ABSTRACT: The ability of sprayed concrete to hold the rock mass around an opening, avoiding pro-
gressive loosening and destabilization, is widely recognized. On the other hand, design of shotcrete supports
is still more of an art than a science, with the majority of designs based on experience, on empirical recom-
mendations or on monitoring and adapting during construction. In order to improve both the mechanical and
the durability characteristics of sprayed linings. a recent trend is to replace the ordinary mesh reinforcement
with steel fibres. It is well-known, in fact, that the usage of high-strength fibres (e.g. steel fibres) in the con-
crete mixture permits to maintain a high compressive strength while considerably improving the toughness
and thus the structural ductility. In this paper, the evaluation of the strength and ductility characteristics of fi-
bre-reinforced shotcrete linings is performed by adopting suitable theoretical and numerical models. Analyses
show that failure of a shotcrete support is generally a two-step process, initially generated by loss of adhesion
to the rock, followed by flexural failure. Flexural strength and toughness play a critical role in the post-peak
region once adhesion is lost. After analysing the stress state in traditional underground configurations, the
bridged crack model is used in order to define the correct softening curve of the material, based on the fibre
content. By means of a numerical code based on the cohesive crack model, the post-peak behavior of the
structure is investigated. It is shown that the fibre reinlòrcement greatly enhances the flexural and punching
shear strength, as w-el1 as the energy absorption capacity.

1. INTRODUCTION
We def-rne as shotcrete, or spritzbeton, a particular
concrete mixture carried under pressure into a closed
pipe system, projected against the application sur-
fàce where it realizes a supporting shell.
Fibre reint-orced shotcrete, as a parlicular case, in
addition to the classical ingredients - cement, water,
aggregates and additives, contains a reinforcing
phase made of fibres which provides the material
with enhanced mechanical (e.g. ductility and frac-
ture energy) and durability (related to the reduced
crack-ing extent due to plastic shrinkage) properties.
One of the most important field of application for
the shotcrete is the field of undergroung engineering.
Excavation of tunnels, in fact. causes the change of
the stress field in the rock mass, with consequent
stress redistribution and strain development. Without
appropriate confinement, large deformation may
converge towards equilibriun'r or induce unaccetable
damage which requires a reinforcing structure.
In the following, attention rn'ill be focused onto fi-
bre-reinforced shotcrete, possibly accompanied by a
radial bolting system, as a composite sustaining
structure. The strength and ductility aspects of this
material, together with its energy absorption capa-
bilities, will be investigated through analytical and
numerical methods.
The theoretical analysis of the shear and flexural
behavior of shotcrete shells will provide closed-form
analytical solutions which are helpful in determining
the safety factor of composite underground linings.
The numerical analysis will permit to translate the
tools of nonlinear fracture mechanics (e.g., of the
cohesive crack model) into design rules, under the
hypothesis of a monocoque support. The geotechni-
cal aspects related to the excavation of a circular
tunne[ will be investigated through the FLAC[')
commercial code, whereas, by means of the
C.CRA.P. algorithm (developed at Politecnico di
Torino), the post-peak response of the reinforcing
shell will be modelled, by considering the entire
stress-strain relation of fibre-reinforced shotcrete.
2 . COLLAPSE MECHANISMS
CRETE LININGS
The mechanical characteristics of rock masses,
which affect the stress state of the supporting shell,
depend both on the mechanical properties of the
rock and on the distribution of discontinuities.
Within a fractured rock mass, loads may transfer to
the shell by means of unstable rock wedges com-
prised between adjacent discontinuities.
The principal collapse mechanisms which can derive
are listed below:
1. loss of adhesion (Fig. 1.a);
2. bending collapse (Fig.1.b);
3. direct shear collapse (Fig. 1.c);
5. punching shear collapse (Fig. 1.d).
As can be noticed in Fig. 1, two additional collapse
mechanisms can be defined, related to the overall
loading system:
6. compression collapse (Fig. 1.e);
7. tension collapse (Fig. 1.f .
These collapse mechanisms refer to an equivalent
continuum description of the rock-support system.
Therefore, they are global damage mechanisms,
which cannot be excluded in the presence of frac-
tured rock masses although less specifical than
modes I -4.
irr É1""rru,
i;ì Di.ect Sh6r Failift
iil
:tl
<ìF; I *.ft:
,rCompressive Failure
ifr TensiÌe
Fig. I Principalcollapse mechanisms for a composite shotcrete
sLrpport in rock (Barrett & McCreath, 1 9e5)
OF SHOT- 2.1 Bendins behavior of a shotcrete shell: limit
analvsis"and structural response
In the presence of a bolting system, the in situ be-
havior of a fibre-reinforced shotcrete lining under
the action of a unstable rock mass, can be modelled
as in Fig. 2. The first peak, at a very small value of
deformation, corresponds to the loss of adhesion un-
der a substantial elastic behavior. In the subsequent
stage, under displacements of the order of some mil-
limeters, the bending behavior prevails with the pro-
gressive formation of fractures in the shell. Ultimate
strength is reached in correspondence ofa prevailing
membrane behavior.
adhesion
membrane
I
E
o
J
Fig. 2 Bending behavior of a shotcrete shell element
(Stille,1992)
tr',rr.
. Elastic bendine model bv Stille (1992)
The elastic analysis of the shotcrete lining under
bending moment (second stage of Fig. 2) has been
carried out by Stille (1992) who suggestes the fol-
lowing formula:
where Ml rs the limit elastic bending moment of the
ll
fibre-reinforced shell, / is the shell thickness, Z7 the
volume percentage of fibres, or is the material tensile
strength and k is an empirical coefhcient taking into
-.!> account the effective contribution given by the fi-
bres. This coefficient can be calculated according to
Failure
the lollowing equation:
k-
150.vf + t.05. (2)
o Elastic bendine model by Di Tommaso (1990)
Di Tommaso (1990) applies a purely elastic model
to the evaluation of the bending capacity of shotcrete
linings. The ultimate bending moment for a fibre-
reinforced shell is calculated according to the classi- The load-carrying capacity of the layer, Cqn,, with
cal beam formula: reference to the bending effects, is given by the fol-
lowing expression which is a function of the flexural
Mr,=f,, (3)
T, strength, o1tnr, of the bolt spacing, s, and of the
thickness r:
where .f1a is the design flexural strength taking into
account fibre contribution, whereas I and t are, re- t2s (5)
C1t"t=o1t"*
spectively, the width and the thickness of a shell 62
strip subjected to bending. in addition, the Authors provide, for comparison,
an equivalent expression given by Holmgren (1993),
. Ljnq.it state plate an which updates equation (5) in the presence of rein-
McCreath (1995) forcing hbres:
/,0,*/.ro,o ,'_.t.
The Authors apply limit state design to the c rt,, = 0.9. ' ,u .roo.,, . o ,tu .16 (6)
,,,, 2
evaluation of the shotcrete shell which is considered
The two parameters Itors e ljell6represent the two
as a bidimensional structure. The model is illustrated
factors of flexural toughness, determined according
in Fig. 3. The shotcrete panel is modelled as a plate
to ASTM C1018-92.
and the radial bolts are considered as vertical con-
straints. Therefore, the shotcrete shell is divided into o
a set of rectangular panels, with known dimensions,
Cohesive-hinee analvsis by Marti (1999)

loaded by the weight of rock wedges. In Fig. 4 the The analysis permits to evaluate the ultimate
moment distribution under such loading is shown: bending moment of fibre-reinforced composites, in
percentages are referred to the moment M0 eqùal to: the framework of limit analysis coupled with cohe-
Mo=l
E
, G-rf . e) sive crack approach.
Marti (1999) provides two different analyse: the
where 4 is the distributed load, s is the spacing of the general one explicitly considers the extent of the
radial bolts and c is the width of the bolt anchorage compressed zone (modelled by a stress-block)
plate. within a plastic hinge in a bent element of height h.
The second one neglects the extent of the com-
pressed area.
Figure 5 represents the scheme referring to the
i.ansverse Moménl complete analysis: the plastic hinge, within the ele-
ment of height h, is characterized by a compressed
FS
/-7 zone of height z and by a finite rotation 0 (l.r :
length of the fibres).
Uf,dcrnelh the SIab
0.r5/;

Fig. 3 Plate rnodel used for the analysis of bending collapse

of shotcrete (Barrett e McCreath, 1995)
rqi r

E-l
Fig. 5 General analysis of a cohesive hinge (Marti,
l ee9)

Fig. 4 Principal bending moment values in the shell (per-

Fig. 6 Softening curve for tension (Marti, 1999)
centages referred to M11 (Barrett e McCreath, r 995)
 It is assumed that constant compressive stresses
equal to 0.85/'. (/'": cylinder compressive strength of
the shotcrete) act upon the extension 0.82 (stress
block) of the cross section. and that a parabolic dis-
tribution of cohesive tensile stresses acts upon the
remaining area of the section (Fictitious Crack
Model, see Fig. 6).
When the parameter ( (crack opening parameter)
attains values comprised between 0 and 1, the height
z of the compressed zone and the ultimate bending
moment m can be calculated according to (see the
reference scheme in Fig. 5):
h
(:7)
l+ f 2.04. ,
o Comparison between the different analyses
Table 1 reports the formulas, relative to the ulti-
mate bending moments, obtained according to the
previous approaches, by using the reference values
described in the same Table, (i.e., the thickness r of
the layer is equal to 20 cm, and the volumetric per-
centage of steel fibres is equal to 7oA in all cases).
Different symbols are used for the same mechanical
quantity (e.g., the bending moment), in order to
maintain the original choice of the different Authors.

oo (3-38+E')
f -l
t:20
I ,6-8É+
.r t9
. =(;),, o i
cm
Stille:
rr=0.68-t'.2.10.0.+th-2.t.
' ' "rl = l. rgr elastic
v;1%
L t2-t2(+ a( ) approach
o,=4.22MPa
The value op (Fig. 6) to be used into equation (7) M1: 10.8 KN.m

can be evaluated from the following formula:

t:20 cm
V -1, .ru Di Tommaso:
v;1%
--o' = ---:---l-- Mr,=f,,
2.d, tyl elastic
approach + f1;3.24MPa
M,:21.6 KN.m
wlrere Z7 is the ,rolume percentage of fibres, T6rep-
resents the limit bond stress between fibres and t:20 cm
Barrett,
cotrcrete (.rt;2./),: 0.6:/',''t. where /i, is the con- v;\oh
McCreath: t)J
crete tensile strength), and d7 is the diameter of the limit state ap- L.1t".r=olr^'6'- o1r,,=7.1 I MPa
f-rbres. proach (plate s:1.2 m
When 4, t, instead, the following formulas theory) C7"-,:28.4 KN'm
should be used:
It Presence of the compressed
(10) zone ({=0.5): t:h-20 cm
m=0.68. f ,'..2.
v;1%
oo l- _, 'l /ì:50.4 MPa
I n r.l_ Marti: l^. 6-8I+3É'l
1U.6.:il/r-zl. ' '.1
' t2-t2(+ 4(' )
;:0.007 m
m: l9 KN.m
nr=0.68 . f . z. lo.oz+- t. (1 l) limit state ap- L
L 4É) proach
Notice that, the value { : 1 implies that all the (beam theory) Absence of the compressed
t:h:20 cm
fìbres across the cracked section (cohesive hinge) zone ((:0.5):
v;t%,
have undergone pull-out from the surrounding [o-sr+3É'.1 on:2.11 MPa
rtt -l ' ' 1.o... h'
concrete.
The simplified analysis neglects the extent of the
I t2 l" lz: 19.3 KN.m

Table L Comparison of different theories for bending

compressed zone. Therefore, equations (8) and (11)
become:

0<6_< ,,=[9-5*] o, r,.
o^-h)
4r1, t1 =L-
t2. E',
In conclusion, if we consider a generic cross sec-
tion of the fibre-reinforced shotcrete shell as the
element of height h, we need to decide the best ap-
proach (considering or neglecting the compressive
zone) also with regard to the efficiency of the adhe-
sion to the rock. Thereby, on the basis of the value
of z, the ultimate bending moment can be calculated
with the appropriate formula. As a rule, the design
moments shall be sufflciently smaller than this limit
state.
(r2) Comparing the various theories, we observe that
the approaches by Di Tommaso (1990) and Marti
(1999) provide similar results. Instead, the ultimate
(1 3) bending moment obtained according to the theory by
Barrett & McCreath (1995) is considerably higher.
This is due to adopting the bidimensional plate the-
ory (instead of beam theory) and to the beneficial
presence of the radial bolts which has not been taken
into account by the other Authors.
Moreover, there is a clear difference between the
load-carrying capacity calculated according to
Stille's theory (1992) and the other theories. The k-'
parameter, used by Stille to take explicitly into ac-
count the bridging action of the fibres, affects di-
rectly the value of the elastic bending moment.
 Finally, it is important to stress that, since the ef-
fèct of fibres is essentially confined to the post-peak
softening branch (where they provide the shotcrete
with an unexpected reserve of ductility), adopting a
linear elastic approach does not permit to consider
the beneficial role of the reinforcement, unless a
fracture mechanics analysis is carried out consider-
ing the enhanced fracture energy of the composite.
3. NUMERICAL APPROACHES TO EVALU-
ATE THE LOAD-CARRYING CAPACITY
OF SHOTCRETE LININGS
Two different numerical codes have been used to
evaluate the load-carrying capacity of a fibre-
reinforced circular shotcrete support. The geotechni-
cal aspects related to the excavation operations and
the soil-structure interaction have been analysed by
means of the finite-difference code FLACT'. After-
wards, the post-peak behavior of the fibre-reinforced
critical cross sections has been analysed with the fi-
nite-element code C.CRA.P (Cohesive CRAck Pro-
gram), developed at Politecnico di Torino by one of
tlre Authors (Barpi, 1996). This code is able to fol-
low the entire load history of a fibre-reinforced shot-
crete section, from the linear elastic ascending
branch to the softening stage, since it is based on the
fictitious crack model.
3.1 The FLAC@] numerical code (vers.3.40)
The commercial code FLACI" ldeveloped by the
ITASCA Consulting GrouprM), is commonly used in
geotechnical engineering, especially in the presence
of excavation operations. It is based on an explicit
fìnite-difference algorithm and permits simulation of
two-dimensional plane stress, plane strain or axi-
symmetrical conditions. In our simulation, we
adopted a plane strain condition, which is close to
the situation of long tunnels excavation (constant
cross section and loads acting in the plane). A deep
circular hole was considered, inspired by an existing
engineering situation encountered in the Frasnadello
/Antea tunnel in San Pellegrino Terme (BG-Italy).
The stress coefflcient k6was put equal to 1, 0.3, 0.
The cases when ko:0.3 and k6: 0, which are typical
of shallow tunnels or of stratified and fractured rock
masses with considerable stress release around the
hole, were chosen in order to analyse the role of ten-
sile stresses (as well as their extent) arising in the
shotcrete support.
The Mohr-Coulomb plastic criterion was adopted
in the analyses. Due to the symmetry, the simulation
was carried out only for a quarter of the domain
(Fig. 7). The fibre-reinforced shotcrete support was
simulated by assigning the pertinent mechanical
properties to a shell of elements at the boundary of
the hole. By applying localized rock gravity loads,
tensile stresses arise in the upper part of the support,
although the plastic zone around the hole is always
of limited size.
JOB lilLE . modellÒ rid.no
FLAC lyetsion 3-10)
LEGENO
I
o 28 1
i
i
L
_
l--
Fig. 7 Undeformed mesh for the FLAC simulations of rock-
support interaction
3.2 The finite element code C.CRA.P. (Cohesive
CRAck Program)
The finite element program C.CRA.P. was im-
plemented to simulate the entire behavior of fibre-
reinforced shotcrete linings in the framework of the
cohesive crack model.
Since the loading conditions are those typical of
Mode I fracture propagation, the crack path can be
determined a priori by symmetry reasoning.
Moreover, in the cohesive crack model, stress
singularities are absent, since the maximum princi-
pal stress at the apex of the fictitious crack is equal
to o, (ultimate tensile strength of concrete), and re-
mains constant during crack propagation.
This permits to define a subset of the finite ele-
ment mesh, named 'rosette', which is constructed
upon a moving reference system, with the origin
coincident with the fictitious crack tip, which fol-
lows crack propagation as a gauge area where the
stresses are highest. The rosette is made by an odd
number of regions in order to have, in any loading
situation, at least one element symmetrical to the x-
axis of the moving system.
The crack propagation condition is that the
maximum principal stress in the centroid of such
element attains the ultimate tensile strength of the
material.
Due to the symmetry conditions, numerical
analyses have been carried out on an archetype of
tunnel support, by modelling only one half of the
circular lining. The resulting circular arch was gen-
erated, by means of GiD 6.1.2, possessing the inter-
nal radius Ri,;5.7 m and the external radius R,,f5.9
m, i.e. a 20 cm thick shotcrete support was mod-
elled. As shown in Fig. 8, the boundaries of the arch
were constrained symmetrically.
 Steel fibre
content l%l 0 I 1.5
(Dramix@ ([kg/m3]) (0) (78.5) (l 17.5)
zc 30/.s0)

Elastic
Modulus [MPal 30400 33100 34800
E
Poisson
coefficient t-l 0.25 0.25 0.25
Fig. 8 The rnodel for crack propagation used in C.CRA.P.
under the action of a localized gravity load Extension of
the area
[ml I

As a feedback from the FLAC@ simulations of the Ultimate ten-

rock-support interaction, an initial notch has been sile strength [MPa] 3.63 4.22 5.55
generated into the C.CRA.P. model, in correspon- o,,
dence of the zones where the highest tensile stresses Fracture
developed. The subsequent crack propagation starts energy [N/ml I50 s200 6300
fiom there, permitting to follow the post-peak be- Gr
havior of such archetype of support. Critical
Numerical analyses yield the history of the ap- crack open-
[ml 0.0000826 0.002464 0 00227
plied load as a function of the vertical displacement irg
ò_, (measured at the top of the support) and as a .tt.
function of the crack mouth opening displacement Specific
(C:MOD). The experimental material data have been weight Ikg/m'] 2265 2279 2355
selected, in the literature, among the most important
researches on fibre-reinforced concrete. They are Tab. 2 Experimental material data adopted in the C.CRA.P.
mentioned in Table 2. In this Table, the most im- simulations (data by Bekaert Robocon, 1996)
portant results found during a wide research carried
by Bekaert on fibre-reinforced shotcrete are re- (load-vcrtical displacement), Bekaert Robocon
ported. In particular, we refer to a linear cohesive , '120000
law (e.g. linear dependence of the bridging stress o 100000
on the crack opening displacement w). 2 Boooo

In our simulations we loaded five nodes, symmet- ì ooooo

rically with respect to the top of the support. This !

s 40000
20000
condition is corresponding to a localised punching lo
load due, for instance, to the self-weight of a unsta- I I.C
Vertical displacement (cm)
ble rock wedge. t--
I

Fi6rJ contcnt: 09o ;-';="';- piUre c.,nteni: ld"

The following diagrams (Figs. 9, 10) show the Fihre content: 1.57n
applied load as a function of the vertical displace- I

ment ò-,, at the top, and of the CMOD. Notice that,

due to the symmetry conditions, the horizontal dis- Fig. 9 Numerical response (applied load vs. vertical displac
placement at the top node is zero. ment)
In Fig. 1 1, an enlargement of the crack propaga-
tion zone is depicted. Notice the special finite ele- (load-Cl{OD), Bekaert Robocon
ments belonging to the rosette and the crack propa-
120000
gated to a certain extent through the thickness of the
1m000
shotcrete layer. *1r"':tn :,*
80000 ...--..../r+
z^ "r,r'tt
"'

i= 60000,,,,,,,"'''
I d

-;:ffir\-*
la-Lr
J 40am
.i:r'

--.L--

ol
o o.o2 o.o4 o 06 o.oe I

Ci\lOD (cm)
Fibre conlenl: 0o,o Fibre content: lqo I

Fibre conlcnt: l.5oo

Fig. 10 Numerical response (applied load vs. CMOD)


c50
3 a big difference (of the shape and of the absolute
a rzz
Fig. I I Enlargement of the crack propagation zone
The maximum load that the support is able to
sustain is one of the numerical outputs. It is plotted
in Fig. 12. For instance, considering a volumetric
percentage of fibres equal to l.5oA. the maximum
punching load that the support can resist results
equal to almost l2 tons.
The hrst points of the curves shown in Figs. 9 and
10 correspond, instead, to the load of first crack
formation P,,. which is a function of concrete ulti-
mate tensile stress (o,,), of the cross-section area of
the support (b,h). and of the radius of the hole (R)
according to the following formula (which is valid
under the hypothesis of infinite axial stiffness):
o .b.h2.6.0.t82
,,R
n_l/
(1
The shape of the curve beyond the first crack load
depends deeply on the bridging action of the hbres.
Considering, as an example, the situation depicted in
Fig 10, we can notice that the action of the fibres not
only raises the load-carrying capacity of the support,
but, more imporlantly, improves the fracture energy
of the shotcrete and favours the transition from a
brittle behavior towards a ductile behavior of the
structure. Notice. in fact, that the post-peak response
is very close to a horizontal (pseudo-plastic) branch.
This means that, once the maximum load P,,* is at-
tained. further deformation of the shotcrete support
is possible under constant, or slightly decreasing
load. Of course, this result is possible because nu-
merical analyses are carried out by C.CRA.P. under
crack length control.
Nlaxirnum load
120000
1 00000
z 80000
60000
40000
20000 -
0
100 120
Fibre contents (kg/m3)
Fig. 12 Increase of the maximurn load as a function of the fibre
content (nun.rerical simulations by C.CRA.P.)
The analysis of various numerical simulations
permits to put into evidence the optimal volumetric
percentage of steel fibres with respect to strength
and ductility. With reference to Fig. 10, for example,
values) is present between the curves corresponding
to the absence of fibres and the I oZ content. On the
contrary, the curves corresponding to 1oA and 1.5oA
are remarkably similar. This implies that excessive
quantities of fibres may result in a very expensive
mix design, withouth a coffesponding increase of
performances.
Finally, once the maximurn load bearing capacity
of a fibre-reinforced shotcrete shell has been fixed
(see, e.g., Fig. l2'), we can calculate the maximum
height of a unstable rock wedge pushing against the
top of the hole (see Fig. 13). Consider the worst
situation for the support, i.e., the presence of a py-
ramidal block whoJe size is compaìable to the cliar-
acteristic size of the hole (e.g., diameter of the hole
: 11.8m). For a volumetric percentage of fibres
equal to l.5oÀ (117.5 kg/ m'; Pn,^:12 tons), the
maximum height of the wedge sustainable by the
shotcrete support alone is equal to 1.5 m. In the
presence of lòwer fibre contents (e.g., V1:30 kg/m3
: 0,38Yo; Pn,or:6 tons), which are more common
4) for undergroung mixtures, the maximum height of
the rock wedge becomes equal to 0.8m.
Considering a less dramatic situation, e.g. a
punching rock wedge with a smaller size, compara-
ble for instance to the tunnel radius (equal to 5.9 m),
the following values of the maximum height are
provided by the analysis:
- Vf :l17.5 kgim' :l ,5%o; P*o,:12 t è hn o,: 3,4 m
- Vf: 30 kg/m3 :0,38Yo; P*o,:6 t h.^: 1,8 m.
=
l
l
q 26m
I
Fig. 13 Qualitative representation of the potentially unstable
rock wedges
I
4 CONCLUSIONS nistic approach, Tunnelling and Underground Space
Technology, V. 10, N. 1, pp. 79-89.
The role of concrete supports in tunnel engineer-
ing is not only that of sustaining loads but also that Bertolino C. (2002),Il calcestruzzo sprùzzato fibro-
of stabilizing the rock mass around the hole by con- rinforzato nelle costruzioni in sotterraneo, Master
trolling its deformations. The load-bearing action, in Thesis, Dipartimento di Ingegneria Strutturale e Ge-
fàct, is very often accomplished by the rock itself. otecnica, Politecnico di Torino.
The shotcrete lining, behaving like a membrane,
permits redistribution of stresses around the hole and Carpinteri A. (1999), Nonlinear crack models for
contributes to avoid localized stress releases and nonmetallic materials, Kluwer Academic Publishers.
separation of unstable rock blocks.
Thereby, the requirement of ductility for rock
supports seems to be a very important issue in un- Di Tommaso A. (1990), Le opere preliminari di so-
derground engineering. In this context, the principal stegno in spritzbeton fibroarmato, Officine Macca-
characteristics of a fibre-reinforced shotcrete lining ferri.
is the high fracture energy accompanied by the ca-
pacity to develop large deformations (provided the Holmgren J. (1993), Tunnel linings of steel fibre
thickness of the layer is not too high). This permits reinforced shotcrete, Proceedings ofthe 5th Interna-
to maintain remarkable load-carrying capabilities tional Congress on Rock Mechanics, Melbourne.
well beyond the maximum load, as shown by the
numerical simulations reported in this paper. Karihaloo B. (1995), Fracture mechanics and struc-
Our results indicate that the fibre-reinforced shot- tural concrete, Longman Scientific & Technical,
crete lining, in the presence of sufficiently good London.
geomechanical conditions of the rock, provides ex-
cellent mechanical performances and is therefore Marti P., Pfyl T., Sigrist V., Ulaga T. (1999), Har-
perfèctly capable to play the role of the final tunnel monized test procedures for steel fiber-reinforced
support. The maximum sustainable loads have been concrete, ACI Materials Journal, V. 96, N. 6, pp.
shown to be high. This result, accompanied by the 676-68s.
excellent post-peak performances, implies that high
safety factors can be reached also with respect to Stille H. (1992), Rock support in theory and prac-
unpredictable rock instabilities and localized tice, Proceedings of the International Symposium on
punching loads. At the same time, adding a fraction Rock Support, Sudbury, Canada, 16-19 June.
of short fibres to the mixture provides an efficient
method to reduce shrinkage cracking, improving the Vandewalle M. (1992), Tunnelling the world,
durability of the structure Bekaert SA, Zwevegem, Holland.
Adequate structural theories should be adopted to
take into account the ductility of the material at the
design stage, otherwise the beneficial effects of fi-
bre-reinforcement are missed. As a conclusion of
this paper, we suggest that a step forward would be
represented by implementing into the commercial
codes commonly used for underground engineering
(e.g., FLACT*'; the softening constitutive law. In this
way, a complete analysis of the rock-support inter-
action will be possible for the entire loading history.

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Barrett S.V.L., McCreath D.R. (1995), Shotcrete

support design in blocky ground: towards a determi-

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