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Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 41 (2014) 176–192

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Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology


journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tust

Behaviour of cast-iron tunnel segmental joint from the 3D FE analyses


and development of a new bolt-spring model
Zili Li a,⇑, Kenichi Soga a, Fei Wang b, Peter Wright c, Kiwamu Tsuno d
a
Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1PZ, UK
b
Department of Geotechnical Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China
c
Halcrow Group Ltd, Elms House, 43 Brook Green, London W6 7EF, UK1
d
Structure Technology Division, Japan Railway Technical Research Institute, 2-8-38 Hikaricho, Kokubunji, Tokyo 100-0005, Japan

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The behaviour of cast-iron tunnel segments used in London Underground tunnels was investigated using
Received 19 October 2012 the 3-D finite element (FE) method. A numerical model of the structural details of cast-iron segmental
Received in revised form 27 December 2013 joints such as bolts, panel and flanges was developed and its performance was validated against a set
Accepted 30 December 2013
of full-scale tests. Using the verified model, the influence of structural features such as caulking groove
Available online 28 January 2014
and bolt pretension was examined for both rotational and shear loading conditions. Since such detailed
modelling of bolts increases the computational time when a full scale segmental tunnel is analysed, it is
Keywords:
proposed to replace the bolt model to a set of spring models. The parameters for the bolt-spring models,
Cast iron segment
Segmental joint
which consider the geometry and material properties of the bolt, are proposed. The performance of the
Bolt model combined bolt-spring and solid segmental models are evaluated against a more conventional shell-spring
Bolt-spring model model.
Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction precise manner, which is required for cross passage modelling. As


an alternative, a beam-spring model (BSM) analysis with coupled
The London Underground is one of the oldest underground hinged rings can be performed to take the relatively flexural joint
railways in the world and the condition of ageing underground into consideration (Murakami and Koizumi, 1980; RTRI, 1997;
tunnels becomes an increasingly significant issue over the years Zhu, 2001; Zhu et al., 2006). In this approach, a radial joint is mod-
(Wolmar, 2004; Laver, 2010). In particular, the engineering perfor- elled as a rotational spring and a circumferential joint is considered
mance of cross passages between adjacent cast-iron tunnels is as a shear spring, while beam or shell elements are used to simu-
considered to be critical by recent assessment conducted by Tube late tunnel segments. By determining the parameters for the joint
Lines (Wright, 2010). The tunnel openings are entrances and exits springs from experiments, for instance, the general effect of a seg-
for cross-passages and other adits by removal of several segments mental joint can be expressed in this model. However, it is difficult
of lining. The number of deep tube tunnel openings over the to apply such simple spring model to a flanged joint adopted in
London Underground system is several thousand and hence under- cast iron tunnels. The compressive tunnel loads tend to clamp
standing of the behaviour of cast iron lining and its modelling is the joints until the bending forces become sufficient to generate
very important. tensile stresses, whereupon the rotational spring may then be ap-
One of the important factors of a segmental tunnel lining is the plied. Moreover, such a model may not provide reliable results due
influence of segmental joints, which do not provide as strong bend- to deformation of the lining subjected to the longitudinal rotation
ing capacity as the main segment. A common solution is to account or circumferential relative displacement in special cases (e.g.
for the effects of joints by applying a reduction factor to the flex- openings) (Klappers et al., 2006).
ural rigidity of the continuous lining (e.g. Wood, 1975; ITA, 2000; To evaluate the magnitude of structural behaviour of joints in
Lee et al., 2001; Koyama, 2003). However, this approach considers both rotational and shear loading, three dimensional (3D) finite
the lining as a rigid bedded ring but fails to express the structural element analyses with detailed modelling of joints (such as bolts
behaviour of the joints (e.g. dislocation and rotational-opening) in and segment interfaces) can be performed (Blom et al., 1999;
Klappers et al., 2006; Gu, 2011). Previous efforts mainly focused
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 (0)1223 748588; fax: +44 (0)1223 339713.
on concrete segments (Zhang et al., 2003; Wongsaroj, 2005; Gu,
E-mail address: zl277@cam.ac.uk (Z. Li).
2011) or composite segments (Shirato et al., 2003; Zhang and
1
Formerly Tube Lines Ltd., 15 Westferry Circus, Canary Wharf, London E14 4HD, Koizumi, 2010), but less attention is paid on the performance of
UK. cast-iron segments (Thomas, 1976), which comprise many of

0886-7798/$ - see front matter Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tust.2013.12.012
Z. Li et al. / Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 41 (2014) 176–192 177

Caulking groove Cement painting

18 mm
Wood packing
Clearance

77 mm
100 mm
100 mm

Bolt

Bolt hole L
L Washer
60 mm
60 mm

Back

Radial flanges Circumferential flanges

(a) Radial joint (b) Circumferential joint


Fig. 1. Drawings of the joints.

London Underground tunnels. In particular, rather limited work is iron segment in half due to the limited space in the experimental
done on the details of the cast-iron tunnel joint. To the authors’ bench (see Fig. 2a). Both the segmental joint models were loaded
best knowledge, the laboratory test by Thomas (1977) is the most through two beams placed across the segment at its quarter points
reliable reference in this area of work at present. to produce a constant bending moment between them. Under the
The main objective of this paper is to investigate the structural ends of the cross beams there were wedges as illustrated in Fig. 2.
behaviour of cast-iron linings through careful finite element mod- This arrangement allowed the load from the beams to be effec-
elling of the joints (bolts and contact interfaces) and the lining seg- tively transmitted to the back of the segment at four places on
ments. Results show the details of segmental joint, especially the the circumferential flanges. The test values of flexural rigidity of
bolt behaviour, significantly influence its overall behaviour on both the segment and the moment of resistance were measured by (De-
rotational and shear movements. Based on the results, simplified mec) strain gauges, while the angular movement at the joint was
spring models are proposed for the bolts and their performance deduced from four extensometer measurements along the joint
is verified by comparing the results when the bolts are modelled as illustrated in Fig. 3.
explicitly by solid elements. Use of these simplified spring models
for bolts with a solid element model for tunnel segments allows to
conduct analysis of cast iron segment linings as realistically as 2.1. Finite element model
possible. When a large-scale segmental tunnel is analysed, the
proposed bolt-spring and solid segmental model may provide A series of three dimensional finite element analyses was con-
more reliable results than a more simplified shell-spring model ducted using ABAQUS 6.10 (ABAQUS Inc., 2010). The 1/2 structural
even though more computational resources are needed. model of the two jointed segments (Fig. 4) was used for the simu-
lations on the joints subjected to bending moment. According to
the test arrangement by Thomas (1976, 1977), the boundary of
2. Behaviour of cast iron segmental joint FE model was set to be simply supported beam as illustrated in
Fig. 4a iii. To simulate the bending force transmitted by wedges
In a typical London Underground tunnel, bolted cast iron linings in the test, a couple of uniform loads were applied on the back of
generally consist of six segments or more per ring, with a small key the panel (the red2 area as illustrated in Fig. 4a i). For investigating
segment at the crown. A significant structural feature of the bolted the shear behaviour between segments, only the bolt and the flanges
iron lining is the segmental joint as shown in Fig. 1(a) and (b) for of the joint without the panels were modelled as shown in Fig. 4b.
radial and circumferential joints, respectively. Two segments are This minimised the bending moment caused by the shearing loads
connected using flanges; the height of the flange is usually about that were applied at the two end boundaries. As illustrated in
100 mm, including a groove with the depth about 18 mm for a ra- Fig. 4b ii, the bottom of the left–right flange was fixed (i.e. the red
dial joint or even 77 mm for a circumferential joint. Waterproof area), while the right-hand flange was under bending or shear force.
materials like cement and wood packing are used for the caulking The element type used was C3D8R, an 8-node linear solid ele-
joint gap, but these materials are very flexible in comparison to ment, and typical numbers of elements were 11,000 for one seg-
cast iron. Hence they are not considered to have a significant effect ment and 7000 for each bolt. The interactions at the bolt–
on the mechanical behaviour. segment contact and the segment–segment contact were explicitly
Thomas (1977) studied the structural behaviour of bolted cast simulated using hard contact elements. This type of contact pre-
iron tunnel segments under monotonic loading in the laboratory. vents two structural components from penetrating into each in
In the experiments, two full-scale model tests were conducted compression, whereas allows them to separate when subjected
using two types of cast iron. One was a bending test on two jointed to tension. The effect of the associated washer as shown in Fig. 1
flake cast iron (i.e. ordinary grey cast iron) half-segments and the on the mechanical behaviour is considered in the geometry of
other was on two jointed whole spheroidal graphitic iron (SGI)
tunnel segments as shown in Fig. 2. A grey iron segment is about 2
For interpretation of colour in Fig. 4, the reader is referred to the web version of
twice the length of a SGI segment. Thomas therefore cut the grey this article.
178 Z. Li et al. / Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 41 (2014) 176–192

(a) Photo of the bending test by Thomas (1976; 1977)

Hydraulic Jack

Wedges

(b) Illustration of the test geometry (Oblique view)

Hydraulic Jack

Steel box section


Radial flange
Wedge
Cut position
358.6 mm

Bolt Back
Demec Stand
points
Test flake cast iron half-segments Circumferential
Boundary flange
Experimental bench
2017 mm

(c) Illustration of the test geometry (Front view)


Fig. 2. Test arrangement of the model test by Thomas (1976, 1977).

the bolt head diameter. Both the pretension and the friction tips of the flanges are found to distort significantly after the bend-
between the bolt and the segment and the friction between the ing, while the backs of them still remain in contact. Along the
segments were explicitly modelled. The linear elastic-hardening width of the radial flange, the joint opens more at the edge than
plastic material behaviour of the segments and the linear elastic– the middle. This is confirmed in the photo of Fig. 5b, in which an
perfectly plastic behaviour of the bolts were also considered and obvious joint opening is observed but the bolts show little
their properties are summarised in Table 1. Spheroidal graphitic distortion.
iron (SGI) has both high strength in tension and compression, For the SGI joint, Fig. 6a shows that the computed bending mo-
while flake iron has a lower tensile strength due to their different ment–joint angle curve compare well to the experimental data. In
chemical components and casting technique. The properties of the Fig. 7a, the tensions computed in the middle bolt and in the outside
cast iron segments and the bolt are referred to Thomas (1977), bolt match well with the experimental data. Likewise the bending
Gilbert (1977) and technical reports from Tube Lines (Tube Lines, stiffness of the flake iron radial joint and the tensions in the bolts
2005). are plotted against the angle at joint as shown in Figs. 6b and 7b,
respectively. Unlike the SGI case, the flake iron joint has a non-lin-
2.2. Modelling the behaviour of cast iron segmental joint ear behaviour due to the non-linear stress–strain relationship of
flake cast iron. In both cases, the bolts exhibit elastic behaviour
In this study, the SGI joint and the flake iron joint reported in even when the joint is flexed to an angular deflection far larger
Thomas (1977) are modelled (see Fig. 4). As shown in Fig. 5a, the than that would be encountered in a tunnel. In consideration of
Z. Li et al. / Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 41 (2014) 176–192 179

Segments

2
1 Extensometers
Four extensometers were deployed along
the joint: two were deployed at section and
Joint the other two at section .
(a) Illustration of the extensometers deployment

SA
A1 A2

¦È
H

Extensometers

SB
B1 B2

Where θ = angle in the joint,


Sa and Sb = the joint opening
change in point A and B, respectively,
Flanges
H = the radial distance between A and B.

(b) Stretch of the angle in the joint


Fig. 3. Extensometers deployment in the bending test by Thomas (1976, 1977).

the structural behaviour of bolts and segments under bending around the bolt hole (see Fig. 10), and therefore saves up to 90%
loading, it can be concluded that the angular deflection and hinging computational time, for example, in the shear load test. Because
occur at the joint mainly because of the distortion of the flange in- of the complicated interaction between flange and bolts, the
stead of the yielding of the bolts. proposed spring-contact model offers more realistic solution
against the conventional beam-spring or shell-spring models (e.g.
Murakami and Koizumi, 1980).
3. Bolt models for cast iron segmental joint

3.2. Rotational behaviour


3.1. Continuum model versus spring model for bolts

In this study, both radial joint (Fig. 1a) and circumferential joint
In this study, the details of segmental joint (e.g. caulking groove
(Fig. 1b) were modelled. The rotational behaviour of the two joints
and bolt pretension) are carefully studied using a continuum mod-
is considered in this section, whereas the shear behaviour is con-
el as shown in Fig. 8. Since flake grey iron is much more widely
sidered in the next section.
used than SGI in London Underground, only the flake grey iron case
is examined. Based on the results, a set of ‘‘equivalent’’ bolt-spring
models is proposed for the radial and circumferential bolts and 3.2.1. Radial joint
associated washers for rotational and shear loads as shown in 3.2.1.1. Groove. In a cast iron lining, groove depth is a critical factor
Fig. 9. Both the rotational moment and shear force resistance result for assessing the bending capacity of the joint (see Fig. 1). When a
from the combined work of the bolts and the segments. For each joint is under positive bending (see Fig. 11a), the contact area when
bolt, the bending and shear behaviour is simplified using a series a joint opens is the same between the case with the groove and
of sets of normal springs (i.e. from 1 to 13 springs) and one shear that without (i.e. the back of the segment) and hence their struc-
spring, respectively. The set of normal springs is distributed as an tural performances will show little difference as shown in
array based on the diameter of the bolt (i.e. 22 mm) as shown in Fig. 12a. However, when negative bending is applied (see
Fig. 9a–e, which in turn creates rotational moment resistance. A Fig. 11b), the contact area for the case without groove is at the
shear spring is placed at the centre of the bolt (see Fig. 9e–g). On tip of the circumferential flanges while that for the case with
the other hand, the segments with flanges are modelled by 3D solid groove is at the bottom of the groove. This difference leads to dif-
elements. By doing so, the bolt-spring models can be used in con- ferent structural behaviour of the segment joint as shown in
junction with contact model between the flanges to simulate the Fig. 12b.
behaviour of both radial and circumferential joints when large- A simulation was conducted without a groove but the contact
scale numerical modelling of tunnel structures is performed. The area was modified as the same area in the model with groove
use of such equivalent bolt-spring models rather than full 3D solid (i.e. the surfaces at the groove section in the tip of flanges do not
model of bolts avoids complex mesh and contact interactions interaction with each other). As shown in Fig. 12b, the result is
180 Z. Li et al. / Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 41 (2014) 176–192

(i) The bending test model (top view) (ii) The bending test model (bottom view)

Joint

Flanges
Boundary
Fixed support Roller support
(iii) The illustration of the bending test
(a) Flake iron two half-segments joint model

(i) The shear load model (ii) Illustration of the boundary and load condition
(b) Flake iron local circumferential joint model
Fig. 4. Numerical models of tunnel segments.

Table 1 diamonds). The original bolt length is 60 mm. To model a tightened


Summary of material properties for lining and bolt (after Thomas (1977), Gilbert
bolt, the length is decreased by 0.1 mm to 59.90 mm, which gives a
(1977) and Tube Lines (2005)).
pretension of 44 kN. The pretension depends on the relative stiffness
Specification Flake iron segment SGI segment Bolt between the bolt and the segment. It increases as the length of the
Young’s modulus (GPa) 80 170 206 bolt decreases as shown in Fig. 15. In such condition, the two flanges
Poisson’s ratio 0.26 0.275 0.28 are compressed and hence the stiffness of the radial joint increases
Tensile strength (MPa) 180 540 340
significantly when the joint remains firmly connected as shown in
Compressive strength (MPa) 600 540 340
Fig. 14b. In this figure, the stiffness of the radial joint is represented
as the modulus of rigidity, which is defined as the moment applied
on the joint divided by the corresponding angle. After the bending
similar to that of the model with a groove. Fig. 13 shows that the forces become sufficient to generate tensile stresses, the stiffness de-
Mises stress distribution of the joint model with groove creases gradually with increasing moment and finally approximates
(Fig. 13a) is similar to that without groove but with modified con- the case without pretension.
tact area. Hence explicit modelling of the groove is not necessary to A loose bolt is modelled by increasing the length of the bolt
simulate the bending behaviour of the radial joint as long as the from 60 mm to 60.40 (solid squares in Fig. 14) and 60.80 mm (solid
contact area is modelled accurately. Compared with the joint mod- triangles in Fig. 14). The initial stiffness of a joint with loose bolts is
el with groove, the model with modified contact area has more reg- small due to the flexibility of the contact between the bolt and the
ular finite element mesh at the tips of flanges, contributing to flange. The bolt then clamps the joint gradually with increasing
better convergence in numerical calculation. moment and strengthens the stiffness. After that, the segments de-
velop substantial plastic strain and the rigidity–moment curves
3.2.1.2. Pretension. In radial joints, the bolts may be tightened to a drop. The results illustrate the important influence on bolts on
certain degree to ensure the joints remain firmly connected under rotational resistance at the joints in the radial direction. Fig. 14 also
possible loads. In Fig. 14, the bending behaviour of a pretension case shows that the experimental data (open circle) from Thomas
(solid circles) can be compared to that of no tension case (solid (1977) fit between the 60.00 mm case and the 60.40 mm case.
Z. Li et al. / Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 41 (2014) 176–192 181

Fig. 5. Distortion of cross flanges of SGI segments after a bending test on the joint.

Fig. 6. Stiffness of the radial joint between two cast iron segments.

imperfection or built tolerance as shown in Fig. 16a. Consequently


the circumferential bolt may have a reduced rotational stiffness
and strength because its contact to the flange may be one-half of
the bolt head (see Fig. 16c) as opposed to full contact (Fig. 16b).
Hence the effect of this imperfection on the rotational behaviour
was examined in this study.
Two types of installation were considered: (a) perfect installa-
tion: the two segments are perfectly jointed by a bolt in the middle
(see Fig. 4b i) and (b) installation with built tolerance: the clear-
ance between the bolt and the bolt hole is initially used up (see
Fig. 16a). Likewise, two types of contact areas between the bolt
head and the flange were considered: (a) full surface of the bolt
head contacts with the flange (Fig. 16b); (b) only bottom half of
the bolt head contacts with the flange (Fig. 16c). Hence, a total of
four cases was examined.
Fig. 17a shows the computed moment–angle curves of the four
cases. The curves of contacts show little difference between the
‘‘perfect installation’’ case and the ‘‘installation with built toler-
ance’’ case. Hence the influence of installation is rather small on
the bending behaviour. On the other hand, when the contact area
between the bolt head and the flange is halved, the bending stiff-
ness and strength of the joint reduce to approximately half of those
computed in the full contact case; that is, the full contact cases
yields at a moment of about 115 kN m, whereas the half contact
cases yields at 50 kN m.
Fig. 7. Increase in tension in bolts plotted against angle.
Fig. 17b shows the load–displacement curves at the bolt loca-
tion. The yield loads of the bolts in the half contact cases are
3.2.2. Circumferential joint approximately 50% of those of the full contact cases, which in turn
Unlike a radial bolt, dislocation between two segments is affects the bending capacity. The yield load is governed by the area
widely observed in a circumferential joint due to the installation that the bolt head is covering the segment as shown in Fig. 18. The
182 Z. Li et al. / Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 41 (2014) 176–192

Fig. 8. Continuum models for a bolt in a cast-iron segmental joint.

(a) (b) (c) (d) (e)

(f) (g)
Fig. 9. Spring models for a bolt in a cast-iron segmental joint: (a) Illustration of 13 springs model (b) Illustration of nine spring model a (c) Illustration of nine spring model b
(d) Illustration of five spring model (e) Illustration of single spring model (f) The front view of single spring model in a joint (g) The side view of single spring model in a joint.

Fig. 10. Mesh of the FE model.

initial stiffness of the bolt is unaffected by contact conditions, illus-


trating the axial elongation of the bolt in rotational load is mainly
dominated by the bolt core rather than the nut connected with the
segment.

3.2.3. Simplified bolt-spring model


In order to save computational time, an equivalent normal
spring model can be used to represent the mechanical behaviour
of the bolts. In this study, a series of normal springs is distributed
as an array to simulate the bolt with a length of 60 mm as shown in
Fig. 9. The modelled bolt yields at 130 kN at 0.1 mm and fails at
7 mm in tension (Thomas, 1977; Tube Lines, 2005). Considering
that the bolt is modelled by a number of springs (e.g. n springs),
Fig. 11. The deformation mode of segmental joint under bending moment (the each spring yields at 130 kN/n (i.e. 130 kN divided by the number
distortion is exaggerated). of springs) as shown in Fig. 19c. The normal spring cannot sustain
Z. Li et al. / Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 41 (2014) 176–192 183

Fig. 12. Stiffness of the flake cast iron joint with/without groove.

Fig. 13. Mises stress contours of the joint model.

compression since the bolt becomes loose when a joint is


compressed.
In the past, each bolt of the lining was generally simplified as
one spring as shown in Fig. 9e (Klappers et al., 2006; Ove Arup
et al., 2004; Supot and Tanan, 2010). However, such model can lead
to misleading results. Fig. 20 shows the contact pressure contours
of (a) the continuum bolt model case (bolt is modelled by 3D solid
elements), (b) the one bolt-spring case, (c) the five bolt-spring case,
(d) the nine bolt-spring case a, (e) the nine bolt-spring case b, and Fig. 14. Stiffness of the radial joint subjected to different bolt lengths.
(f) the 13 bolt-spring case when the radial joint was subjected to
bending load. In the continuum model and the 13 bolt-spring mod-
el cases, the maximum contact pressure is located to the left
bottom side of the bolt. The moment–angle curve and the rigid- pressure indicates that the joint distorts considerably both in the
ity–moment curve of the 13 bolt-spring model match well with vertical and horizontal direction. Hence it is concluded that the
those of the continuum model as shown in Fig. 19a and b. When behaviour of bolts can only be realistically modelled using suffi-
a bolt model with fewer springs is used, on the other hand, the cient number of springs, which are distributed in an equivalent
magnitude of contact pressure is bigger and it concentrates more array. If limited computational resources prohibit the use of the
at a location underneath the bolt location. This in turn under- 13 bolt-spring model in a large-scale 3D model, the nine bolt-
predicts the bending resistance. The distribution of the contact spring model b can be used as an alternative. Fig. 21 shows the
184 Z. Li et al. / Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 41 (2014) 176–192

3.3. Shear behaviour

In this section, the joint behaviour under shear loading as


shown in Fig. 25a is investigated. The shear behaviour of a cast-
iron joint is governed mainly by pretension of bolts and friction be-
tween the bolt and the segment.

3.3.1. Radial joints


3.3.1.1. Pretension. In the first series of simulation, the friction coef-
ficient between the bolt and segment was fixed to f = 0.2 and the
pretension values were varied by changing the bolt length as de-
scribed before. The computed shear load–displacement curves
are shown in Fig. 25b. The shear force firstly increases and yields
due to the friction between the bolt head and the segment. The
greater the pretension value is, the higher the initial yield load be-
comes due to the higher friction between the bolt and the segment.
Fig. 15. Pretension of the bolt at the different length. When no pretension applied, there is no shear resistance at the
beginning as shown by the solid line in Fig. 25b. The initial yield
load increases with pretension as shown in Fig. 26.
After the initial yielding, displacement increases under this
nine bolt-spring model b saves up to 41.9% elements than the 13
small load as the clearance between the bolt and the bolt hole is
bolt-spring model for a tunnel segment.
used up. In this study, it is assumed that the clearance is 3 mm
Fig. 22 shows how the joint behaviour changes with the spring
at each end as shown in Fig. 25a. After using up the clearance,
stiffness (i.e. from the 1000% of the bolt stiffness to the 5% bolt
the shear load increases and there is the second yield load of about
stiffness case) in the 13 bolt-spring model. Like the effect of the
60 kN under a small further displacement (i.e. about 1 mm). This
bolt looseness, the decrease in spring stiffness increases the flexi-
yield load is governed by the shear strength of the bolt (i.e.
bility of the joint. By adjusting the spring stiffness, the general ef-
60 kN), which is approximately 46% of its tensile strength (i.e.
fect of bolt looseness/pretension on the joint performance (see
130 kN). This ratio is similar to the ratio of 0.48 for a bolt in EN 3
Fig. 14) can be modelled.
(1993). The shear force consequently levels off and reaches failure
To examine the effect of springs at different locations, the 13
at a movement of about 17 mm.
bolt-springs were divided into two areas: the centre area and the
Fig. 27 shows the Mises stress contours of the bolt model at dif-
peripheral area as illustrated in Fig. 23. The springs in each area
ferent displacements. Before the bolt reaches the boundary of the
were applied to the joint model respectively and their results are
bolt hole, the stress and distortion with increasing displacement
compared in Fig. 24. Both the centre area model and the peripheral
are insignificant (Fig. 27a–c). After using up the clearance, the
area model result in a joint stiffness much more flexible than the
stress increases dramatically, in particular in the middle of the bolt
13 bolt-spring model. This indicates that the joint behaviour is sub-
(Fig. 27d–f). There is large plastic shear distortion in the middle of
jected to the performance of a group of springs rather than just
the bolt. Hence, the shear load–displacement curves in Fig. 25b are
relying on several individual springs.
influenced largely by the behaviour of the bolt.
For the circumferential joint, the 13 bolt-spring model was also
applied and the summed load–displacement behaviour of the
model is shown by the solid line in Fig. 17b. The stiffness is the 3.3.1.2. Friction. In the second series of simulation, the friction va-
same as that of the bolt-spring model used for the radial joint lue between the bolt and the segment was varied between 0.1 and
(see Fig. 19c), but the summed yield strength is 95 kN rather than 0.4 (Blau, 2008) but the pretension value was fixed as 59.86 mm,
130 kN. The reduction in yield strength is due to uncertainty in which gave a pretension load of 62 kN. The computed shear
built tolerance as discussed in the previous section. As shown in load–displacement curves are plotted in Fig. 28. The first yielding
Fig. 17b, the full contact model yielded at 130 kN, whereas the half point increased with friction value and a linear trend was observed
contact model yielded at 60 kN. Hence, the average of the two (i.e. as shown in Fig. 29. The first yielding occurred at a displacement of
95 kN) can be used as the yield strength of the bolt-spring model about 0.2 mm when sufficient stress develops around the bolt head
for the circumferential joint. As shown in Fig. 17a, such bolt-spring allowing sliding. On the other hand, the behaviour of the subse-
model gave reasonably good match to the bending behaviour com- quent stages was similar. Hence the friction between the segment
puted using the full continuum model. and the bolt is only important at the first stage of shearing.

Fig. 16. Model of a local segmental joint.


Z. Li et al. / Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 41 (2014) 176–192 185

Fig. 17. Stiffness of the circumferential joint under different contact condition.

Fig. 18. Contact pressure of the bolt at bending of 4.3 kN m.

3.3.2. Circumferential joints up, the shear force increases substantially. As shown by the magni-
Like the radial joints, the behaviour of circumferential joints by fied plot in Fig. 30b, the stiffness at this stage depends on the flexibil-
shear loading depends on pretension and friction between the bolt ity of the contact between the bolt and the flange. If pretension
and the segment. In London Underground tunnels, the bolts in the applied (35 kN for l = 59.75 mm), a joint is tightly clamped by the
circumferential joints may be installed loosely, which in turn de- bolt along with increasing shear movement as shown in Fig. 31a.
creases its shear stiffness. In this study, the bolt length was varied In loose bolt installation (e.g. l = 62 mm), the bolt can displace more
to give different pretension values (35 kN for l = 59.75 mm) or dif- before yielding as shown in Fig. 31b. The incremental displacement
ferent degrees of looseness (l = 61 mm and 62 mm). between the point when the bolt yields and the point after using up
The computed load–displacement curves are shown in Fig. 30a. the clearance has a linear trend with the length of the bolt as shown
As discussed earlier, there is a small shear resistance at the beginning in Fig. 32. All the curves finally levels off at about 60 kN, which indi-
due to friction between the bolt and the flange. The displacement in- cates that the ultimate shear resistance of the circumferential joint is
creases as the clearance becomes smaller. Once the clearance is used independent of bolt tightness.
186 Z. Li et al. / Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 41 (2014) 176–192

Fig. 19. Stiffness of the segmental joint using different spring models.

3.3.3. Simplified spring model and then fails at 17 mm (6 mm clearance, plus 11 mm shear to fail-
When tunnel lining analysis is conducted, the sliding friction ure). The 11 mm shear displacement to failure is in line with pre-
between segments will be modelled explicitly if the segments are vious test results (Graham and Brian, 1989) that bolt core can
modelled by solid elements. The bolts can then be modelled by a distort by approximately 50% of its diameter (22 mm) in shear
set of springs in the normal direction and two non-linear springs prior to failure.
in the two shear directions. In this study, the solid line shown in Similar to the radial joints, a bolt-spring model for shear loading
Fig. 28 is proposed for the bolt-spring model for shear loading in in the circumferential joints is proposed as the solid line in Fig. 30.
the radial joints. At the first stage of shear, the maximum friction To reflect that the bolts in the circumferential joints are often in-
value can be defined by multiplying the pretension force with stalled loosely, the model starts from zero point to point (6 mm,
the friction coefficient. After using up the clearance, the joint 2 kN) before using up the clearance and then the load increases
reaches its yield shear strength approximately 46% of the bolt’s dramatically to 60 kN under a further displacement (e.g. 2 mm),
tensile shear strength by a further displacement of about 1 mm which can be defined using the curve in Fig. 32. The failure in shear
Z. Li et al. / Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 41 (2014) 176–192 187

Fig. 20. Contact pressure contours of the segment at bending load of 7.6 kN m.

Fig. 21. the mesh for different spring models.


188 Z. Li et al. / Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 41 (2014) 176–192

Fig. 24. The effect of springs in different locations on the radial joint.

plain strain condition, but it fails to take account of the details of


bolted joints. As an alternative, beam-spring or shell-spring model
(BSM) is widely adopted in tunnel engineering (ITA, 2000; RTRI,
1997). The joints including bolts and segment interfaces are mod-
elled by springs connected to the beam or shell elements that rep-
Fig. 22. The effect of spring stiffness on the radial joint.
resent the segments. However, for cast-iron tunnel linings, results
from the parametric study conducted here (see Table 2) highlight
load is assumed to occur at 30 mm. This is based on observations in the importance of bolt–segment interactions when the joints are
London Underground that some bolts have moved about 30 mm in subjected to bending and shearing. In order to examine the details
shear and not failed (Ove Arup et al., 2004). of cast-iron tunnel lining behaviour, it is proposed to model the
segments by solid elements with the associated interface contact
between the segments, while the joints are modelled by adopting
3.4. The proposed modelling approach versus previous conventional the bolt-spring models derived in the previous sections. Table 3
models summarises the proposed bolt-spring models: (1) the parameters
of the rotational models are determined by bolt-pretension and
To evaluate tunnel behaviour, the conventional analytical bolt–segment contact area and (2) the parameters of the shear
assessment (e.g. Wood, 1975; Lee et al., 2001; Koyama, 2003) usu- models are subjected to pretension as well as bolt–segment inter-
ally assumes a segmental lining as a continuous ring in the 2D action. The advantages of the proposed approach against previous

(a) The thirteen spring model (b) The centre area model (c) The peripheral area model
Fig. 23. The distribution of springs in the two areas of the 13 spring model.
Z. Li et al. / Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 41 (2014) 176–192 189

Shear force

3 mm
Clearance
Bolt hole

3 mm
L Bolt
60 mm

Shear force

(a) Illustration of a joint under a shear force (b) Stiffness of the joint with different pretension
Fig. 25. Stiffness of the radial joint in shear load with different pretensions.

Fig. 26. Friction between the bolt and the segment under different pretensions.

efforts, in particular shell-spring models, are summarised as


follows: Fig. 28. Stiffness of the radial joint in shear load with different friction factor.

(1) The proposed approach expresses the 3D features of the cast-


iron tunnel segment. Unlike the rectangular shape of a modern (2) The proposed approach considers the segment–segment
concrete segment, a cast iron segment is comprised of panel, contact pressure, which greatly affects the joint behaviour
radial flange and circumferential flange as shown in Figs. 4 as shown in Fig. 20. Figs. 19 and 20 demonstrates that the
and 21. The complex geometry needs to be accurately modelled effect of bolt on the rotational behaviour (e.g. contact pres-
using solid elements in the proposed approach rather than sim- sure) can only be realistically modelled using sufficient
plified as shell elements in the shell-spring model. number of springs, which are distributed in an equivalent

Fig. 27. Mises Stress contours of the bolt model at different displacements.
190 Z. Li et al. / Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 41 (2014) 176–192

Fig. 32. Further displacement of the joint after using up the clearance.
Fig. 29. Friction between the bolt and the segment different friction coefficients.

array. However, the shell-spring cannot model the contact only considers the general joint deformation in an indirect
pressure explicitly and thus may overly under-predict the way; that is, the magnitude of the deformation has to be
bending resistance by using only one rotational spring. converted from the forces in the spring and shell elements.
(3) The detailed deformation mode in the joint is explicitly pre- (4) Fewer laboratory tests are required for the proposed
sented in the proposed approach but not in the shell-spring approach than the shell-spring model. In the shell-spring
model. For example, Figs. 5 and 31 show the detailed rota- model, the stiffness of the axial, rotational and shear spring
tional distortion and the shear deformation, respectively. has to be calibrated from a series of compression/tension,
The ‘‘small’’ dissimilar deformation mode of the joint may bending and shear tests of the two jointed segments. In
result in radically different structural failure mode and terms of the coupling of the abovementioned forces, rather
water leakage mode of the segmental tunnel (Thomas, more experiment tests are necessarily needed for building
1976; Wang et al., 2012). However, the shell-spring model up their relationships. In the proposed bolt-spring model,

Fig. 30. Shear stiffness of the circumferential joint in different bolt length: (a) Overall behaviour and (b) detailed behaviour after using up the clearance.

Fig. 31. Deformation contours of the joint at different length before and after shear movement: (a) I = 59.75 mm case and (b) I = 62 mm case.
Z. Li et al. / Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 41 (2014) 176–192 191

Table 2
Summary of the parametric study on the joint behaviour.

Description Cases
Rotational behaviour
Radial joint
Groove With groove Without groove
Pretension (the bolt length, l) 44 kN 0 kN (l = 60.00 mm) 0 kN 0 kN
(l = 59.90 mm) (l = 60.40 mm) (l = 60.80 mm)
Circumferential joint
Installation Perfect Installation with built
installation tolerance
Contact area Full contact Half contact
Simplified spring model
Different spring models 1 Spring model 5 Spring model 9 Spring model a 9 Spring model b 13 Spring
model
Spring at different locations Centre area Peripheral area model
model
Spring stiffness 1000% Bolt 100% Bolt stiffness 10% Bolt 5% Bolt stiffness
stiffness stiffness

Shear behaviour
Radial joint
Pretension (the bolt length, l) N.B. friction coefficient fixed 62 kN 44 kN (l = 59.90 mm) 0 kN
to be 0.2 (l = 59.86 mm) (l = 60.00 mm)
Friction coefficient N.B. pretension fixed to be 62 kN 0.1 0.2 0.4
Circumferential joint
Pretension (the bolt length, l) N.B. friction coefficient fixed 35 kN 0 kN (l = 60 mm) 0 kN (l = 61 mm) 0 kN (l = 62 mm)
to be 0.2 (l = 59.75 mm)
Simplified spring model
Further displacement after clearance (the bolt length, l) 1 mm (l = 60 mm) 2.3 mm (l = 61 mm) 3.6 mm
(l = 62 mm)

Table 3
Summary of the proposed bolt-spring model.

Description Load–displacement relationship Parameters


Rotational behaviour
Radial bolt-spring model Bolt-pretension (see Fig. 15)
Circumferential bolt-spring model Bolt–segment contact area (see Fig. 17b)

Shear behaviour
Radial bolt-spring model Pretension (see Fig. 25), Bolt–segment friction (see Figs. 26, 28 and 29)
Circumferential bolt-spring model Bolt–segment interaction (see Figs. 30–32)

the stiffnesses of the normal spring and shear spring are complex behaviour can only be carefully considered using
based on the bolt stiffness, which can be referred to standard the proposed approach rather than conventional shell-
codes. spring models.
(5) When conducting analysis of a large-scale segmental tunnel,
the proposed approach provides more reliable results than In comparison to the conventional shell-spring model, the pro-
the shell-spring model. In special cases (e.g. cross-passage), posed approach necessitates more computational time and re-
the deformation of the lining is subjected to the longitudinal sources. Rather than simple shell elements, more expensive solid
rotation, circumferential relative displacement, lintel bend- elements are used for the simulation on the tunnel segment, and
ing deformation and so forth (Klappers et al., 2006). This also their explicit surface contacts increase iterative computation.
192 Z. Li et al. / Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 41 (2014) 176–192

4. Conclusions References

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