The development and application of a micro-geomechanical approach to investigate the long-term performance of subsurface structures

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Many of our underground tunnels are more than 50 years old, and Canada invests billions of dollars each year on transportation, pedestrian and sewer tunnel repair. This has established a need to understand the long term failure mechanism of different tunnel lining systems. Most research has considered tunnels in their initial configuration over their service life, setting that service life by considering how the tunnel lining alone degrades. Actual failure often involves changes in soil and lining conditions and their interaction. The mechanics of soil weakening in the vicinity of subsurface structures (tunnels, vertical shafts and buried pipes) is a challenging soil-structure interaction problem that involves particle movement and lining separation from the supporting ground. Research is, therefore, needed to explain the interaction of different components considering the effect of soil and lining conditions. The underlying theme of this Discovery Grant application relates to the development and application of a Micro-Geomechanical approach to solve complicated soil-structure interaction problems involving large deformations with emphasis on the following: (i) Developing an efficient discrete particle method to analyze large scale nonlinear geotechnical engineering problems (ii) Investigating the mechanics of soil weakening and particle movement in the vicinity of subsurface structures and understanding the progressive changes in contact pressure distributions due to the soil weakening process, (iii) Examining the adverse effects of local soil weakening on the static and seismic response of deteriorated structures, (iv) Evaluating the damage to tunnels caused by construction activities. These topics are critically important to geotechnical endeavours, which have an impact on the quality of our lives, particularly as these subsurface structures are considered lifelines that provide critical services vital to the function of our communities. The above research program will involve training three Master and six Doctoral students in addition to several summer students over the five year funding period.