Elahe Mohammadi - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Shiraz University
Mojtaba Jahanandish - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Shiraz University
Arsalan Ghahremani - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Shiraz University
Hamid Mohammadi - Department of Mining Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Vali-e-Asr University of Rafsanjan

Influence of spatial variability of soil properties has been investigated in slope stability analysis and bearing capacity analysis. However, this concept has barely used to model tunnels in a spatially variable soil. In this study, tunnels are modelled in different spatially variable soil fields generated using Local Average Subdivision (LAS) method. Different spatial fields are chosen and the displacement of the base of tunnels and the shape and size of the yielded zone around the tunnel have been investigated and results are compared to cases with homogenous soil around the tunnel. It is shown in this paper that, ignoring the spatial variability of soil properties around the tunnel, underestimates the displacement of the tunnel and the yield zone around the tunnel facing. Also, it is shown that considering spatial variability, the yielded zone is not symmetric compared to the case with case with the tunnel in the homogenous soil.

Spatial variability, Tunnel, Local Average Subdivision (LAS) method, Yield Zone