PROPOSAL OF MODELING METHOD FOR SEGMENT JOINTS USING ELEMENT EXPERIMENTS OF SHIELD TUNNEL AND ITS APPLICATION TO STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

 Full-scale bending tests of segment joints in shield tunnels are important for understanding and properly evaluating the behavior of joint sections. However full-scale tests are costly and time-consuming. Therefore, numerical analysis is expected to complement these tests. In this study, a modeling method for segment joints was proposed. This method is based on the behavior observed in full-scale joint bending experiments using a three-dimensional FEM analysis. Furthermore, model cases of a shield tunnel for railway were set up. A series of steps, from setting up the rotation characteristics by finite element analysis to the frame structural analysis of the shield tunnel, was shown to illustrate the usefulness of this study.