Undrained stability of wide rectangular tunnels

Upper bound rigid block methods and finite element limit analysis are applied to investigate the undrained stability of rectangular tunnels. Solutions for a range of soil properties and tunnel geometries are obtained for situations in which the tunnel is wider than it is high. The upper and lower solutions for tunnel stability, which accurately bracket the true collapse load, are summarised in a series of stability charts for use in tunnel design. Crown Copyright (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.