Centrifugal model tests on the stability of the tunnel face

Abstract

But now there are no criteria to evaluate the stability of the tunnel face easily, so some accidents of the tunnel face collapse have happened owing to the lack of the countermeasures for the tunnel face collapse.
In this paper, centrifugal model tests on unsaturated sand were carried to investigate the ground condition when the tunnel face collapse happens and the results of the model tests were analyzed by the three-dimensional stability analysis. From the model tests and the analysis, the author could obtain a criterion to evaluate the face stability.