Numerical Simulation of Swelling in Tunnels

Swelling of soils and rocks is a phenomenon that is experienced in different geological conditions around the world. The design of tunnels in a saturated swelling ground is a difficult task. Difficulties are generally met for characterisation and testing of swelling soils and rocks and for prediction of the response to tunnel excavation and support loading. This paper is intended to describe the methodology to predict the behaviour of tunnels in swelling ground with an application to a case study. Special triaxial laboratory tests were used to obtain the governing parameters. Numerical analyses were performed to simu- late swelling by generating a volumetric strain increment in a given zone of the model based on the volumetric strain measured by laboratory tests.