ARMA 11-117

Multi Stage Excavation on the Basis of Convergence-Confinement

Method (Taloon Tunnel Tehran-Shomal Freeway of Iran)
Salari rad, H.
Department of Mining, Metallurgy & Petroleum, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
Hassani, R.
IRAN OSTON Consulting Engineers, Tehran, Iran
Aghchai, M.H.
IRAN OSTON Consulting Engineers, Tehran, Iran
Copyright 2011 ARMA, American Rock Mechanics Association
th
This paper was prepared for presentation at the 45 US Rock Mechanics / Geomechanics Symposium held in San Francisco, CA, June 26–
29, 2011.
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ABSTRACT: The purpose of this paper is to analyze rock support interaction in three stage excavation and to design primary
support on the basis of Convergence-Confinement method. This is a case for the Taloon Twin Tunnels in Tehran-Shomal Freeway,
in northern Iran. Design and stability analysis of tunnels are complicated, so using conceptual approaches to estimate required
support is necessary. The Convergence-Confinement is a valid method which simplifies 3-Dimentional stress-strain state in the
vicinity of a tunnel face to 2-Dimentional state. It introduces three curves that each of them clarifies the stress-strain conditions in
the rock mass and primary support in various distances from the face of tunnel. The three basic components of the Convergence–
Confinement method are longitudinal deformation profile (LDP), ground reaction curve (GRC), and support characteristic curve
(SCC). On the basis of this method, three stage excavations have been simulated by use of 2 and 3-dimensional numerical
modeling. By interpreting LDP, GRC, and SCC curves, tunnel stability analysis and primary support design have been performed
in three stage excavations.

1. INTRODUCTION
Using the concept of rock-support interaction has made a
lot of promotions in underground stability analysis. One
of the methods on the basis of this concept is
convergence-confinement method, which gives a simple
understanding of the rock-support interaction in the
vicinity of tunnel face. It introduces three curves that
each of them clarifies the stress-strain conditions in the
rock mass and primary support in various distances from
the face of tunnel.
Considering the complexities in stability analysis and
design of tunnels, using conceptual approaches to
estimate required support is indispensable.
Convergence–Confinement is one of the validated of
these methods.
The stress–strain conditions in single stage excavation
(full face) are somehow clear, but in partial excavation
(heading-benching) the rock mass response becomes
more complicated. Therefore, in partial excavation the
concept of Convergence-Confinement curves is not as
plain as single stage excavation. This paper discusses the
effects of partial excavation on each of these curves. The
convergence-confinement method is also used to
estimate the load imposed on the support, installed in the
first stage, as a result of the second stage excavation.
2. THE CONVERGENCE–CONFINEMENT
METHOD OF TUNNEL DESIGN
The Convergence–Confinement method is a procedure
that allows the load imposed on a support installed
behind the face of a tunnel to be estimated. When a
section of support is installed in the immediate vicinity
of the tunnel face, it does not carry the full load to which
it will eventually be subjected [1].
Some part of the load that is redistributed around the
excavation is carried by the face itself. As the tunnel face
advances (i.e. away from the installed support), this face
effect decreases and the support must carry a greater
proportion of the load that the face had carried earlier.
When the face has moved well away from the support, it
carries effectively the full design load [1].
The three basic components of the Convergence –
Confinement method are:
1) The Longitudinal Deformation Profile (LDP)
2) The Ground Reaction Curve (GRC)
3) The Support Characteristic Curve (SCC).
The LDP is the graphical representation of the radial
displacement that occurs along the axis of an
unsupported excavation for sections located ahead of and
behind of the face [1]. Figure 1 represents such a profile.
The GRC is a function of internal pressure (pi) decrease
and excavation radial displacement increase. It can be
constructed from the elastic-plastic solution of an
opening or numerical modeling [2]. The SCC can be
constructed from the elastic perfectly plastic relationship
between the applied stress and resulting closure [3].
Fig. 1. Relationship between internal pressure (face effect) and
radial displacement of the tunnel section in various situations
[4].
3. THE RELATION OF CONVERGENCE -
CONFINEMENT METHOD CURVES
The relationship among these curves will be investigated
in 2 and 3 stage excavation.
3.1. Full face excavation
Carranza–Torres and C.Fairhurst [1] plotted the LDP,
GRC and SCC on a single diagram (Figure 2). The
horizontal axis shows radial displacement in a given
section of tunnel, The left vertical axis represents
internal pressure which acts on tunnel wall (Pi) or
support (Ps) and the right vertical axis displays distance
from a section of the tunnel to the face (ahead or
behind). In this reference system, the LDP is rotated
counterclockwise 90 degrees.
Interpreting the relationships among the LDP, GRC and
SCC makes it possible to find the final pressure that rock
mass will transmit to the support. To illustrate the
procedure, consider a support is installed in the distance
of LDs,I from the face, which corresponds in the LDP of
Figure 2 as point I. In the horizontal axis this point is
u= u0s,I and defines point K of the SCC. As long as the
face does not move, stability is maintained solely by the
ability of the face to carry the load redistributed by
excavation. The vertical segment KN in Figure 2
corresponds to this load.
As the face advances, internal pressure decreases and
pressure on the support increases then both the support
and excavation deform by the same amount. When the
supporting effect of the face disappears completely, the
system reaches equilibrium at point D, which is the
intersection of the GRC and the SCC. The pressure
defined by this point represents the final pressure and its
corresponding displacement (time dependent weakening
of the rock mass is not considered) [1].
Face
Wall and support pressures, Pi and Ps
LDPI
GRC I
Distance to the face
I D
Ls,I
0
SCC
N
D
ps,ID
k
u0s,I uDs,I
Displacement of the wall, u
Fig. 2. Relationships of LDP, GRC, and SCC [1].
3.2. Two and three stage excavation
Interpreting of curves in two and over stage excavation
is much more convoluted than the full face excavation
(single stage excavation).
At first, in order to simplify the variation procedure of
the Convergence-Confinement curves in second stage of
excavation, effect of the SCC is neglected. In the first
stage of excavation, stresses have changed, plastic region
has extended and the confinement effect of face has
disappeared completely [5, 6]. When second stage of
excavation starts, the confinement effect of bench
decreases, but the extent of plastic region and the
displacement of tunnel wall increase. This procedure is
shown in Figure 3.
Variation processes of GRC and LDP in the second and
first stage are the same. However, in the second stage
decreasing the face effect and increasing tunnel wall
displacement are in elastic-plastic condition. The
maximum pressure of GRC in this stage is equals to the
pressure that hinders the tunnel wall displacement as a
result of the second stage excavation. While this
pressure decreases, the displacement rate increases
which means the face of the second stage approaches to
the surveyed point. The LDP and the GRC in the second
stage excavation are accordance with each other just like
in the first stage (Figure 3).
 Nevertheless, by considering SCC, the variation process stage II
stage I
of LDP and GRC will change. In the second stage, total
pressure acting on support is the pressure of the first LDPI

Wall and support pressures, Pi and Ps

stage plus the second stage pressure, which starts from

Face
LDP
II
the equilibrium point of the first stage.

Distance to the face

GRC I
SCC
Wall and support pressures, Pi and Ps

Face
Face

stage I stage II
D
Ls,I

Distance to the face

0
LDP I LDP II E
ps,II E
GRC
I E
Ls,II
E
GRC II
D
0 pDs,I
k
u0 uDs,I uEs,II uFs,III
GRC II
Displacement of the wall
Displacement of the wall, u
Fig. 5. Combination of LDP, GRC and SCC in tow stage
excavation.
Fig. 3. Relationships of LDP and GRC, in two stage
excavation without support effect. In equilibrium state of two stage excavation, the total
pressure acting on support is represented by PEs,II
Assuming that the trait of the installed support in the (Figure 5). The corresponding displacement in
first stage is constant during the second stage horizontal axis, which is common with the LDP, is uEs,II .
excavation, the process is just like applying support Therefore, if a dashed line is drawn from point E to uEs,II,
ahead of face in full face excavation. As shown in Figure
it will intersect the LDP at point E′ .The corresponding
4, the GRC of the second stage shifts upward from the point of right vertical axis with E′ is LEs,II. This
equilibrium point of the first stage (point D). Thus, the indicates that a section of tunnel which has a distance of
system reaches to final equilibrium at point E, which is LEs,II from ahead of the second stage face reaches to its
the intersection of the second stage GRC and SCC. The equilibrium state and the confining effect of bench
final pressure acting on support and the corresponding disappears, so the final pressure acting on support
displacement are represented by points PSE,II and U SE,II increases and becomes equal to PEs,II. Thus, on the basis
(Figure 4). of Convergence-Confinement method LDP, GRC and
SCC of the two stage excavation can be used to
determine support pressure and its distance to the face.
Pi and Ps
Wall and support pressures, Pi and Ps

Critical situations in the excavation can also be

determined.

GRC I
Variation processes of GRC and LDP in the second and
third stage excavation are alike.
By Drawing the LDP and GRC in the third stage
E
ps,II E SCC excavation on the basis of previous section point uFs,III,
GRCII
PFs,III, LFs,III will be defined. Point uFs,III shows the
D
ps,ID
u
displacement of supported excavation in the third stage.
u0 uDI uEII
Point LFs,III indicate the distance of face of third stage
excavation within the behind the support system which
Displacement of the wall
is in equilibrium and load applying on the support
Fig.4. Effect of the SCC on GRC in second stage excavation. system is defined by point PFs,III.
Thus, on the basis of Convergence-Confinement
The combination of LDP, GRC and SCC can be plotted method, LDP, GRC and SCC curves of the multi stage
in a single diagram in two stage excavation (Figure 5). excavation can be used to determine final pressure on the
The second stage LDP starts from the displacement of support and its optimum distance to the face of the
equilibrium point in the first stage (uDs,I ) which is zero tunnel. Critical situations in the excavation can also be
displacement point for the second stage excavation. determined.
When the second stage excavation starts, the
displacement inaugurates and increases until the SCC
intersects the second stage GRC (point E), which means
the equilibrium is satisfied.
 stage III
stage II
stage I
Wall and support pressures

LDPI

Distance to the face

Face
LDPII

GRC I LDPIII
SCC
F F
ps,III
Ls,III
0

GRC II

u0 uFs,III
Displacement of the wall

Fig.5. LDP, GRC and SCC in tow stage excavation.

4. TALOON TUNNEL
The Tehran–Shomal Freeway, approximately 120 km in
length, is one of the largest civil projects under
construction in Iran. This project, which is to run
through the highest portions of the Alborz mountain
range, connects the capital city of Tehran to coastal
regions of the Caspian Sea in the north. The freeway has
twin road tunnels, varying from 300 m to 6300 m in
length. The 6 km long Taloon twin tunnels are the Fig. 7. Sketch map showing the location of Tehran –Shomal
Freeway (location of the Taloon twin tunnels is shown by
longest tunnels in the project (Figure7) [7].
letter A) [7].
Initially a 5.2 m diameter pilot tunnel is going to be
excavated in both main tunnels by use of a tunnel boring
machine (TBM). The pilot tunnels will then be enlarged
to 12 m using conventional drill and blast excavation [5].
Considering the geological longitudinal profile, there are
four main rocks types at the tunnel elevation including
sandstone, limestone, anhydrite and tuff. The average
overburden is about 400 m and 30 percent of the tunnel
length crosses through sandstone [5]. Therefore, a
section is selected in tuff with 400 meter overburden.
The rock mass has been characterized by use of
geological surveying and rock mass classification. The
geomechanical parameters in the selected section of the
tunnel shown in Figure 8 are provided in Table 1 [6].
Table 1. Geomechanical parameters of the selected section [6] Fig. 8. Geometry of tunnel section and stages of excavation
[5].

Overburden K C E Ρ
φ ‫ט‬ 5. VARIATION PROCESS OF CONVERGENCE
(m) (σh/σv) (MPa) (GPa) (kg/m3)
– CONFINEMENT CURVES
400 1.4 0.85 39 0.3 7 2600 As mentioned before establishing and interpreting the
Convergence-Confinement curves in two stage
excavation are convoluted. As a result, in this research
2D and 3D numerical modeling is used to define the
curves and their effect on each other [8, 9].
5.1. GRC Variations
The geometry of tunnel in the selected section is
modeled by use of 2D finite difference element software
(FLAC) and three stage excavations are taking into
account in modeling (Figure 9). Without considering the
support effect, GRC of each excavation stage is defined
(Figure 10).

Fig. 11. 3D model in FLAC3D to define LDP.

Fig. 9. 2-Dimentional geometry of model in FLAC. 0

-5
ِ◌ isplacement(mm)

-10
-15
LDP _step I
-20 LDP _step II
11
10 -25 LDP _step III
9 -30
D

8 GRC_step I
Pressure(Mpa)

-35
7 -40
6 GRC_step II
-30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50
5
Distance to the face (m)
4 GRC_step III
3
2
1
0 Fig. 12. Three stage excavation LDP, defined by 3D numerical
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 modeling.
Displacement(mm)

5.3. SCC variations

Fig. 10. GRC of three stage excavation, defined by 2D-
numerical modeling.
5.2. LDP variations
In order to define LDP of each excavation stage the 3D
finite difference element software (FLAC3D) is used to
model the stages of excavation (Figure 11). In this 3D-
modeling the effect of support is not considered. As
shown in Figure 12, the general shape of LDP in the
second stage is just like the LDP in the first stage but the
rate is not as much as the first stage LDP.
In this section the SCC is defined by use of analytical
method introduced by Hoek–Brown [10]. The installed
support is a combination of a 20cm thick shotcrete and 4
m rock bolts spaced at 2 m x 2 m at distance 4 meter
from the face. The resulted SCC is illustrated in Figure
13. The stiffness of the first stage support is more than
the stiffness of the second and third stage due to the fact
that the excavation section in the second and third stage
becomes greater than the first stage. Combination
support is resulted on the basis of simple assumption by
Oreste [3].
 stage excavation are given in Figure 16. This diagram is
derived on the basis of factor of safety equal to 1.5. The
results indicate that the considered support is adequate.

Fig. 13. Support characteristic curve of the excavation stages.

6. ANALYSIS OF CONVERGENCE-
CONFINEMENT CURVES IN ONE SINGLE
DIAGRAM
Convergence–Confinement curves of each stage in
Taloon Tunnel have been defined in previous sections. Fig. 14. Convergence- Confinement Curves in three stage
Regarding practical situations, the distance between excavation of Taloon Tunnel.
support and face is 4 m. In fact this point represents the
8 mm displacement of the tunnel roof. Regarding the
low stiffness and loading of support system, the support
does not activate so much. It has been assumed that
shotcrete (20 cm) is installed 18 m from the face. It has
also not been activated so much in this stage of
excavation.
In the second stage excavation, regarding section 3-2,
the GRC shifts upward from the equilibrium state of the
first stage (Figure 14). As shown in Figure 14, the
displacement corresponding to the intersection of SCC
and GRC in the second stage excavation is equal to 0.85
cm. This equilibrium point on LDP indicates that when a
section of supported tunnel in the first stage is within 16 Fig. 15. Proposed tunnel support.
m from the second stage face, a state of equilibrium is
achieved.
In the third stage excavation regarding section 3-2, GRC
shifts upward from the equilibrium state intersection of
GRC and SCC from the second stage (Figure 14).
As shown in Figure 14, the displacement corresponding
to the intersection of SCC and GRC in the third stage
excavation is equal to 1.65 cm. This equilibrium point
on LDP indicates that when a section of supported
tunnel in the first stage is within 8 m distance from the
second stage face, a state of equilibrium is achieved.
In some sections of tunnel steel sets (IPB140) are also
installed along with the previously mentioned support
(Figure 15). Using the described method, the final load
is determined on the support. It is worthwhile to study
the induced internal forces i.e. axial forces and bending
moments in the support [11, 12]. The loading of the
staged excavation induces internal forces (axial forces Fig. 16. Axial force-bending moment interaction diagram.
and bending moments) in the support. Maximum values
of the induced internal forces in the support for a three
7. CONCLUSION
Stress – strain state in the vicinity of tunnel face is a 3-
dimensional state. Convergence- Confinement method
on the basis of its curves simplifies the 3-Dimensional
stress–strain state to the 2-dimensional state. In this
method, GRC by considering the stress release concept
represents the imposed pressure on support, LDP
displays the radial displacement of a section in a specific
distance to the face, and SCC presents support capacity
to bear the applied load. Interpreting the relationships
among LDP, GRC and SCC makes it possible to find the
final pressure that rock mass will transmit to the support
in various distances to the face in each stage. Optimum
distance between support and tunnel face can also be
determined. Furthermore, it is possible to specify the
effect of third stage excavation on the support installed
in first stage. All of these cases have been investigated in
this paper. It is concluded that the primary support
designed for the Taloon tunnels is suitable for three
stage excavation and factor of safety is acceptable.
It should be mentioned that the stiffness of the support
varies in different stage of excavations due to the
enlarged cross section of tunnel.
Increasing vertical pressure acting on the primary
support of tunnels in staged excavation makes the
induced internal forces in the support section (axial
forces and bending moments) increase considerably. In
the case of the illustrated example, plotting critical
section forces of the support in the axial force-bending
moment interaction diagram showed that the proposed
support (20 cm shotcrete + IPB140 steel set + 4 m
rockbolt with the spacing of 2 m x 2 m) is adequate.
Moreover, after excavating the third stage, the installed
support can tolerate the increased load and the factor of
safety is acceptable.
5. Hassani, R. 2006. Influence of Sequential Excavation in
Confinement-Convergence Curves, Amirkabir
University of Technology, Msc. Theses.
6. Hassani, R., H. SlariRad, and M.H. Aghchai. 2009.
Primary support design in two stage excavation on the
basis of Convergence-Confinement method, 8th Iranian
Tunneling Conferences, Tehran, Iran
7. Yassaghi, A. 2004. Geology Report of Tehran-Shomal
Freeway. Laniz Consulting Engineers.
8. Itasca Consulting Group, 2002. FLAC3D Fast
Lagrangian Analysis of Continua in 3 Dimension. s.
Version 2.0. Minneapolis.
9. Itasca Consulting Group, 2002. FLAC2D Fast
Lagrangian Analysis of Continua in 2 Dimensions.
Version 4.0. Minneapolis.
10. Hoek, E., and E.T. Brown., 1980. Underground
Excavations in Rock. London, Institution of Mining and
Metallurgy, 527 pages.
11. Hoek, E., C. Carranza-Torres, M.S. Diederichs, and B.
Corkum. 2008. Integration of geotechnical and
structural design in tunnelling. Proceedings University
of Minnesota 56th Annual Geotechnical Engineering
Conference, 29 February 2008. Minneapolis, pp. 1–53.
Available for downloading at Hoek’s Corner.
<www.rocscience.com>.
12. Carranza-Torres, C., and M. Diederichs. 2009.
Mechanical analysis of circular liners with particular
reference to composite supports. For example, liners
consisting of shotcrete and steel sets. Tunnelling and
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September 2009, Pages 506-532.

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