International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 39 (2002) 905916

A closed-form elastic solution for stresses and displacements around

tunnels
G.E. Exadaktylos
a,
*, M.C. Stavropoulou
b
a
Mining Engineering Design Laboratory, Department of Mineral Resources Engineering, Technical University of Crete, GR-73100 Chania, Greece
b
Department of Engineering Science, Section of Mechanics, National Technical University of Athens, 5 Heroes of Polytechnion Av,
GR-15773 Athens, Greece
Accepted 3 July 2002
Abstract
A closed-form plane strain solution is presented for stresses and displacements around tunnels based on the complex potential
functions and conformal mapping representation. The tunnel is assumed to be driven in a homogeneous, isotropic, linear elastic and
pre-stressed geomaterial. Further, the tunnel is considered to be deep enough such that the stress distribution before the excavation
is homogeneous. Needless to say that tunnels of semi-circular or D cross-section, double-arch cross-section, or tunnels with
arched roof and parabolic oor, have a great number of applications in soil/rock underground engineering practice. For the specic
type of semi-circular tunnel the distribution of stresses and displacements around the tunnel periphery predicted by the analytical
model are compared with those of the FLAC
2D
numerical model, as well as, with Kirschs circular solution. Finally, a
methodology is proposed for the estimation of conformal mapping coefcients for a given cross-sectional shape of the tunnel.
r 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
Underground openings in soils and rocks are ex-
cavated for a variety of purposes and in a wide range of
sizes, ranging from boreholes through tunnels, drifts,
cross-cuts and shafts to large excavations such as
caverns, etc. A feature common to all these openings
is that the release of pre-existing stress upon excavation
of the opening will cause the soil or rock to deform
elastically at the very least. However, if the stresses
around the opening are not high enough then the rock
will not deform in an inelastic manner. This is possible
for shallow openings in relative competent geomaterials
where high tectonic stresses are absent. An under-
standing of the manner in which the soil or rock around
a tunnel deforms elastically due to changes in stress is
quite important for underground engineering problems.
In fact, the accurate prediction of the in situ stress eld
and deformability moduli through back-analysis of
tunnel convergence measurements and of the Ground
Reaction Curve is essential to the proper design of
support elements for tunnels [1,2].
The availability of many accurate and easy to use
nite element, nite difference, or boundary element
computer codes makes easy the stress-deformation
analysis of underground excavations. However, Carran-
za-Torres and Fairhurst note explicitly in their paper [3]:
yAlthough the complex geometries of many geotech-
nical design problems dictate the use of numerical
modeling to provide more realistic results than those
from classical analytical solutions, the insight into the
general nature of the solution (inuence of the variables
involved etc.) that can be gained from the classical
solution is an important attribute that should not be
overlooked. Some degree of simplication is always
needed in formulating a design analysis and it is
essential that the design engineer be able to assess the
general correctness of a numerical analysis wherever
possible. The closed-form results provide a valuable
means of making this assessmenty.
One of the simplifying assumptions always made by
various investigators during studyingusually in a
preliminary design stageanalytically stresses and
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +30-8210-37450; fax: +30-8210-
69554.
E-mail addresses: exadakty@mred.tuc.gr (G.E. Exadaktylos),
m.stavropoulou@mechan.ntua.gr (M.C. Stavropoulou).
1365-1609/02/$ - see front matter r 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 1 3 6 5 - 1 6 0 9 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 0 7 9 - 5
displacements around a tunnel is that it has a circular
cross-section [1,2,4]. This is due to the fact that the
celebrated Kirschs [5] analytical solution of the circular-
cylindrical opening in linear elastic medium is available
in the literature and it is rather simple for calculations
[6]. On the other hand, Gerc# ek [7,8] was the rst
investigator who presented a closed-form solution for
the stresses around tunnels with arched roofs and with
either at or parabolic oor having an axis of symmetry
and excavated in elastic media subjected to an arbi-
trarily oriented in situ far-eld biaxial stress state.
Gerc# ek has used the method of conformal mapping and
KolosovMuskhelishvili complex potentials [9] along
with the modied method of undetermined coef-
cients of Chernykh [10]. However, Gerc# ek did not
consider (a) the incremental release of stresses due to
excavation of the tunnel, (b) the solution for the
displacements,
1
(c) the inuence of support pressure on
tunnel walls on the stresses and displacements, and (d)
the methodology to derive the constant coefcients of
the series representation of the conformal mapping for
prescribed tunnel cross-sections.
In order to add the above essential elements for
appropriate tunnel and support design, we present here
the closed-form solution for the elastic stresses and
displacements around tunnels with rounded corners in
pre-stressed soil/rock masses. This solution is derived by
virtue of Muskhelishvilis [9] complex potential repre-
sentation, the conformal mapping technique and the
properties of Cauchy integrals.
2
The proposed closed-
form solution for the stresses and displacements that is
presented here is original, although Gerc# ek following a
different methodology has derived the solution for a
different boundary value problem, that is appropriate
only for stress and not for deformation analysis of
underground excavations. The results of the analytical
solution pertaining to the stresses and displacements
around the tunnel with D cross-sectional shape are
compared with the predictions of the FLAC
2D
numer-
ical code [11,13] for two far-eld stress states. It is shown
that the numerical model predictions compare very well
with the analytical solution apart from the corner and
invert regions. Further, in Appendix A, we present a
simple methodology for the derivation of the coefcients
of the series representation of the complex conformal
mapping function that corresponds to a given tunnel
cross-section shape.
2. The closed-form full-eld elastic solution for the tunnel
In this section, a plane strain elastic model is
considered for the inuence of the excavation of an
underground opening on a homogeneous stress-defor-
mation state described by in situ principal stresses s
xN
and s
yN
referred to a Cartesian coordinate system Oxy.
That is, it is assumed that the tunnel-axis is aligned with
the direction of the third out-of-plane principal stress
s
zN
: The direction of s
xN
forms an angle a with Ox-
axis. The cross-section of the tunnel has a vertical axis of
symmetry as it is illustrated in Fig. 1a. The wall of the
tunnel is subjected to uniform pressure P (with P to be
a positive number and tensile stresses are considered as
positive quantities in this work).
Before the tunnel is excavated the resultant vector of
forces acting along any contour in the soil/rock mass is
given by the relation
f (x; y) = 2Gz
%
G
/
% z; (1)
Fig. 1. (a) Schematic diagram of the tunnel and system of coordinates,
(b) unit circle and system of coordinates.
1
The displacement solution is of interest to the geotechnical engineer
for the design of tunnel linings and for the back-analysis of tunnel
closure measurements.
2
Jaeger and Cook [6] in their celebrated book of Rock Mechanics
state explicitly that yBy far the most powerful method for the
solution of two-dimensional problems is the detailed use of complex
variable theory and conformal representation as developed in the
books of Muskhelishvili [9] and Savin [12]y.
G.E. Exadaktylos, M.C. Stavropoulou / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 39 (2002) 905916 906
wherein the overbar denotes complex conjugate, z =
x iy; i =

1
_
is the imaginary unit and
G =
1
4
(s
xN
s
yN
);
G
/
=
1
2
(s
xN
s
yN
)e
2ia
: (2)
The methodology starts with the conformal mapping
3
of
the boundary of the tunnel and its exterior (region S in
Fig. 1a) into the interior of the circle with unit radius
(region

in Fig. 1b). The position of every point in the

physical z-plane with z = x iy = re
ia
; where r; a denote
polar coordinates, is mapped into the unit circle in the z-
plane with z = x iZ = r e
iy
by the complex function
z = o(z) = R
1
z

3
k=1
a
k
z
k
_ _
; z p1; (3)
where the constant term R is a real number and the
constant coefcients a
k
are in general complex numbers
with a
k
= a
k
ib
k
(k = 1; 2; 3; y): This relation of
conformal mapping with three terms in the series
representation is chosen because it is the simplest one
that may describe tunnels with conventional shapes and
rounded corners [8]. If excessive roundness is not wanted
then the number of terms in the series expression (3)
should be increased. This is demonstrated in Appendix
A. Note that the point z describes the contour C in the z-
plane in an anti-clockwise direction, as the point z
moves around the circle in the z-plane, likewise in a
clockwise direction (Fig. 1b). This is because the tunnel
exterior innite region is mapped into an interior nite
region. Also, the boundary of the tunnel C is mapped
onto the circumference g of the unit circle (with z = e
iy
along g).
The parametric representation of the curves in the
Oxy-plane transformed by Eq. (3) has as follows
x = R
cos y
r

3
k=1
r
k
(a
k
cos ky b
k
sin ky)
_ _
;
y = R
sin y
r

3
k=1
r
k
(a
k
sin ky b
k
cos ky)
_ _
: (4)
The above relations for a
1
= b
3
= 0; a
2
= b
2
[8] give
tunnels with an axis of symmetry that forms an angle of
p=4 with the Oy-axis, hence we apply the following
formula for rotation of the axis of symmetry of the
tunnel with respect to Oy-axis by p=4
x
/
iy
/
= (x iy) exp (ip=4): (5)
The transformation of the Cartesian coordinates
through the parametric Eqs. (4), after their correction
according to Eq. (5), will result in a new orthogonal
system of coordinates (Fig. 2a) that corresponds to the
families of curves r = constant(ct) and y = (ct) in the z-
plane (Fig. 2b). The parametric representation of the
tunnel boundary C is obtained by setting r = 1:
The role played by the series real coefcients b
1
; a
2
; a
3
may be realized by the examples illustrated in Figs. 3ac.
The value of b
1
controls the height-to-width ratio of the
tunnel and if only this term survives then the opening
takes the form of an ellipse (Fig. 3a). The value of a
2
controls the triangularity of the tunnel cross-section
(Fig. 3b). Finally, the value of a
3
depicts the resem-
blance of the tunnel with the square opening with
rounded corners (Fig. 3c).
Following Muskhelishvilis [9] complex variable for-
mulation of plane elasticity problems, the stresses and
displacements may be fully described by two analytic
complex functions f
0
(z); c
0
(z) inside the region pre-
scribed by unit circle. The excavation of tunnel can be
simulated by partially or totally relieving the surface
tractions at its periphery C due to the in situ stress eld.
The integral of the surface tractions is represented here
by the function f (x; y); i.e.
f (x; y) = 2l(G P)z l
%
G
/
% z; zAC; (6)
Fig. 2. Conformal mapping of (a) an innite soil/rock mass surround-
ing a tunnel into (b) the interior of the unit circle (rp1).
3
A transformation of the form x = x(x; Z); y = y(x; Z) is said to be
conformal if the angle between intersecting curves in the (x; Z)-plane
remains the same for corresponding mapped curves in the (x; y)-plane.
G.E. Exadaktylos, M.C. Stavropoulou / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 39 (2002) 905916 907
where l is the in situ stressrelief factor. It is this relief
of stresses that causes the displacements. For l = 0 no
excavation has been occurred, whereas for l = 1 the
tunnel has been fully excavated (i.e. 0plp1).
4
Also, in
the above relation we have set
G =
s
4
(1 k);
G
/
=
s
2
(1 k)e
2i(ap=4)
; (7)
where s
yN
= s; s
xN
= ks are the principal stress eld
before the excavation of the tunnel. The solution of the
above boundary value problem may be found by the
method developed by Muskhelishvili [9] for regions
mapped on to the circle by the help of polynomials. The
details of the solution are not given herein. In the
transformed plane, the rst complex function in Laurent
series form may be found as follows:
f
0
(z) =

3
k=0
c
k
z
k
; z p1 (8)
with the constant coefcients to be given by the relations
Re(c
1
) =
lR(1 a
3
)
1 a
2
3
b
3
Re
%
G
/
(P 2G)a
1
;

lRb
3
1 a
2
3
b
3
Im
%
G
/
(P 2G)a
1
;;
Im(c
1
) =
lRb
3
1 a
2
3
b
3
Re
%
G
/
(P 2G)a
1
;

lR(1 a
3
)
1 a
2
3
b
3
Im
%
G
/
(P 2G)a
1
;;
c
2
= l(2G P)Ra
2
;
c
3
= l(2G P)Ra
3
;
c
0
=a
2 % c
1
2a
3% c
2
: (9)
In the above relations bars denote complex conjugates,
whereas Re( ) and Im( )denote the real and imaginary
value of what it enclose, respectively. The second
unknown complex function may be found by the
following relation:
c
0
(z) = lR(2G P)z
1
z
z
4

3
k=1
% a
k
z
k3
1

3
k=1
ka
k
z
k1
_ _

3
k=1
kc
k
z
k1

% a
3
c
1
z
lG
/
R

3
k=1
a
k
z
k
: (10)
The nal state of stress is found by adding to the
complex functions that have been found above, the
corresponding parts that account for the in situ stress
eld, that is to say
f(z) = Go(z) f
0
(z); c(z) = G
/
o(z) c
0
(z): (11)
Fig. 3. Shapes of openings and corresponding curvilinear coordinates:
(a) elliptical opening (b
1
= 0:3 and a
1
= a
2
= b
2
= a
3
= b
3
= 0),
(b) hypotrochoidal-triangular opening (a
2
= b
2
= 0:3 and a
1
=
b
1
= a
3
= b
3
= 0), (c) hypotrochoidal-square opening (a
3
= 0:3 and
a
1
= b
1
= a
2
= b
2
= b
3
= 0).
4
It must be noted that in the elastic case l = u
i
(z)=u
i
(N); (i = x; y);
where z is the distance behind the tunnel face and u
i
is the displacement
vector.
G.E. Exadaktylos, M.C. Stavropoulou / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 39 (2002) 905916 908
Then, in polar coordinates (r; y)referring to the
conformal mapping planethe radial, tangential and
shear stresses denoted as s
r
; s
y
; t
ry
; respectively, may be
computed by virtue of the following formulae:
s
r
s
y
=4Re
f
/
(z)
o
/
(z)
_ _
;
s
r
it
ry
=2Re
f
/
(z)
o
/
(z)
_ _

z
2
r
2
% o
/
(
%
z)
[ % o(
%
z)f
/
(z)=o
/
(z);
/
o
/
(z)c
/
(z)] (12)
where primes denote differentiation (i.e. f
/
= df=dz).
Also, the incremental displacements due to stress relief
at the tunnel boundary, referred in the Cartesian
coordinate system Oxy, are given by
2G(u
x
iu
y
) = kf
0
(z)
o(z)
%
f
/
0
(
%
z)
% o
/
(
%
z)

%
c
0
(
%
z) (13)
in which k denotes Muskhelishvilis constant with k =
3 4n for plane strain conditions, G = E=2(1 n) is the
shear modulus, and E; n is the Youngs modulus and
Poissons ratio of the isotropic rock/soil mass, respec-
tively.
The nal state of stress after the tunnel is fully
excavated (i.e. for l = 1) is given by relationships (12),
as well as by relations (7)(11). This stress solution is
exactly the same with that corresponding to the
boundary value problem in which the in situ stresses
are applied after the tunnel has been excavated. This
boundary value problem has been studied by Gerc# ek
[7,8]. However, the problem of the tunnel that is
excavated in a pre-stressed rock/soil mass is another
type of boundary value problem that possess a different
displacement solution given by relation (13). This
solution for the incremental displacements tends to zero
far away from the tunnel.
The implementation of Eqs. (7)(13) into a fast
computer code is quite easy with the computational
and software (e.g. Excel, Matlab, Maple, etc.) capabil-
ities of modern personal computers. Geotechnical
engineers should begin to exploit more the results of
applied elasticity theory in rock mechanics and rock
engineering applications. This is illustrated below with
some worked examples.
3. Verication of the proposed closed-form solution with
known solutions
The solution of the complex potentials f(z) and c(z)
that has been found above, is compared here with
existing solutions for the elliptical opening subjected to
internal pressure and to far-eld uniaxial stress, and
with the square opening subjected to uniaxial stress s
along Ox-axis.
3.1. Case of the elliptical and circular openings
We consider rst the elliptical opening subjected to
uniform internal pressure P and subjected to uniaxial
stress s in a direction that forms an angle a with the Ox-
axis. The relevant conformal transformation in the case
where the exterior of the ellipse with semi-axes a =
R(1 m); b = R(1 m) with 0pmp1 is mapped into
the interior of the unit circle is the following:
z = o(z) = R
1
z
mz
_ _
; z p1; (14)
hence, in this case a
1
= m; a
2
= a
3
= 0: Then from
formulae (7)(11) it may be found
f(z) = PRmz
sR
4
1
z
(2e
2ia
m)z
_ _
;
c(z) = PRz PRmz
m z
2
1 mz
2

sR
2
e
2ia
z

e
2ia
z
m
_

(1 m
2
)(e
2ia
m)
m

z
1 mz
2
_
; z p1: (15)
Fig. 4. Comparison of u
r
; u
a
for the cylindrical hole in an innite
elastic medium characterized by Poissons ratio n = 0:3 subjected to
uniaxial compression along Oy-axis s=E = 0:01:
Fig. 5. Comparison of the prescribed and predicted semi-circular
tunnel.
G.E. Exadaktylos, M.C. Stavropoulou / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 39 (2002) 905916 909
The above formulae are exactly the same with
that reported by Muskhelishvili [9] if z is sub-
stituted by 1=z (since he employed the con-
formal mapping on the exterior of the unit circle).
Further, the simpler case of the circular opening
subjected to the same stress eld is obtained by setting
m = 0:
Herein, a comparison is attempted between the
displacements around the circular tunnel wall given by
Kirschs solution and the proposed closed-form solu-
tion. Assuming conditions of plane strain the radial and
tangential displacements in polar coordinates (r; a) are
given by the formulae [6]
2Gu
r
=
1
2
s(1 k)
R
2
r
_ _

R
2
2r
s(1 k)
4(1 n)
R
2
r
2
_ _
cos 2a;
2Gu
a
=
R
2
2r
s(1 k) 2(1 2n)
R
2
r
2
_ _
sin 2a: (15a)
Fig. 4 displays the exact agreement between the two
displacement solutions for the case at hand.
Fig. 6. (a) Finite-difference mesh and (b) detail of the D tunnel model employed in FLAC
2D
.
G.E. Exadaktylos, M.C. Stavropoulou / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 39 (2002) 905916 910
3.2. Case of the square opening
Next we consider the case of the square opening
subjected to uniaxial stress s along Ox-axis. The
conformal transformation in the case where the exterior
of the square with a length of its side (5=3)R is mapped
into the interior of the unit circle is the following [10]:
z = o(z) = R
1
z

1
6
z
3
_ _
; z p1; (16)
hence in this case a
3
= 1=6; a
1
= a
2
= 0: Then from
formulae (4)(7) it may be found
f(z) = sR
1
4z

3
7
z
1
24
z
3
_ _
;
c(z) =
sR
2
1
2z

91z 78z
3
84(2 z
4
)
_ _
; z p1: (17)
The above expressions are in full agreement with those
displayed in [10]. Hence, the proposed analytical
solution may be also employed for the stressdeforma-
tion analysis of caverns in rocks.
4. Stressdeformation analysis of the semi-circular tunnel
In order to demonstrate the potential applications of
the proposed solution in soil/rock engineering, a number
of examples have been worked out and they are
illustrated below. Namely, the comparability of analy-
tical model results concerning the distribution of stresses
and displacements around the semi-circular tunnel with
those predicted by FLAC
2D
numerical code is demon-
strated. It may be argued that a boundary element code
would be more suitable for the comparison of boundary
stresses and displacements with the analytical solution.
However, we would like here to consider a numerical
code that is used extensively worldwide for the design of
tunnels and underground excavations.
First the unknown conformal mapping coefcients
b
1
; a
2
= b
2
; a
3
are determined by an appropriate non-
linear constrained optimization algorithm presented in
Appendix A. As it is illustrated in Fig. 5 the Oy-axis is
an axis of symmetry of the tunnel whereas its oor is
located at y = 0:53 and its width is 2.64. The values of
the constant conformal mapping coefcients have been
found by virtue of the methodology described in
Appendix A to be
R = 0:9945; b
1
= 0:2836;
a
2
= b
2
= 0:092; a
3
= 0:0389: (18)
The comparison of the predicted tunnel shape with the
actual one is illustrated in Fig. 5. As it may be seen from
this gure the truncated conformal mapping transfor-
mation with three terms in the series expansion (3) gives
corners with nite radius of curvature. However, for
b > 101 and for xo0:72X (radius of the tunnel) the
predicted boundary almost coincides with the specied
tunnel boundary. It should be noted that more terms in
the conformal mapping series representation would
result in a better approximation. This is demonstrated
in Appendix A.
Furthermore, the geometrical model for the same
shape of tunnel that was prescribed into the FLAC
2D
model is displayed in Fig. 6. The symmetry of the
problem with respect to Oy-axis has been exploited in
the numerical model by considering only the right-hand
part. A roller boundary is used to model zero displace-
ment along the line of the symmetry. The bottom of the
mesh and the right-hand boundary are pinned in both
Ox- and Oy-displacements.
Next, the distribution of tangential (hoop) stress at
the traction-free boundary of the semi-circular tunnel
predicted by the analytical model is compared with the
numerical code FLAC
2D
, as well as with the Kirschs
circular solution for the following two far-eld stress
states:
Case I : s
xN
= 0 MPa; s
yN
= 1 MPa;
Case II : s
xN
= s
yN
= 1 MPa;
where compressive stresses are taken as negative
quantities.
Fig. 7. Plot of (a) hoop stress concentration s
y
=s
yN
along tunnel
semi-circular boundary and (b) plot of the horizontal stress
concentration s
x
=s
yN
along the oor of the tunnel (Case I loading).
G.E. Exadaktylos, M.C. Stavropoulou / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 39 (2002) 905916 911
The comparison of the hoop stress around the tunnel
predicted by the three models are illustrated in Figs. 7
and 8, respectively, for the two far-eld stress states at
hand. For both loading cases it is observed that the
numerical model is in close agreement with the
analytical solution with some difference of results close
to the corner of the tunnel (i.e. for bo151) that occurs
due to the following two reasons:
a. The conformal mapping representation introduces a
certain amount of rounding of the corner as it is
displayed in Fig. 5.
b. In contrast to the analytical solution, the FLAC
model predicts nite tractions at the corners of the
tunnel (e.g. Fig. 8a).
It is also interesting to note from Fig. 8b and
Table 1 that the greater discrepancy between the
analytical and numerical solutions occurs at the
invert of the tunnel for the isotropic loading case.
Further, the analytical model predicts that the hoop
stress concentration factor at the crown of the tunnel is
0.96 while the numerical model predicts the value of
0.8 (Fig. 8a). It is known that the stress concentration
factor for this stress state is always equal to 1
irrespective of the shape of the tunnel [1], hence the
analytical model leads to an improvement of prediction
of stresses compared to the numerical model.
It is also worth noting from Fig. 8a, as well as Table 1,
that the absolute values of the hoop stress concentration
predicted by both analytical and numerical solutions at
the crown of the tunnel that is subjected to isotropic
loading is appreciably smaller than that predicted by
Kirschs circular solution.
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
[degrees]
S
t
r
e
s
s

c
o
n
c
e
n
t
r
a
t
i
o
n
Hoop stress (FLAC)
Radial stress (FLAC)
Shear stress (FLAC)
Hoop stress (Analytical)
Kirsch
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
x [m]
H
o
r
i
z
o
n
t
a
l

s
t
r
e
s
s

c
o
n
c
e
n
t
r
a
t
i
o
n
FLAC
Analytical
(a)
(b)
Fig. 8. Plot of (a) hoop stress concentration s
y
=s
yN
along tunnel
semi-circular boundary and (b) plot of horizontal stress concentration
s
x
=s
yN
along the oor of the tunnel (Case II loading).
Table 1
Comparison of the hoop stress (in MPa) at the crown and invert of the
D tunnel predicted by the three solutions for the two far-eld stress
states at hand
Position Stress
state
Kirschs
solution
Analytical
model
FLAC
2D
Relative
error (%)
Crown
(b = 901)
Case I 1 0.96 0.80 16.6
Case II 2 1.50 1.55 3.3
Invert
(x = 0)
Case I 0.97 1.06 9.3
Case II 0.43 0.33 23.2
-1.E-03
-8.E-04
-4.E-04
0.E+00
4.E-04
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
[degrees]
D
i
s
p
l
a
c
e
m
e
n
t

[
m
]
ux (FLAC)
ux (Analytical)
uy (FLAC)
uy (Analytical)
-4.E-04
0.E+00
4.E-04
8.E-04
1.E-03
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
x [m]
D
i
s
p
l
a
c
e
m
e
n
t

[
m
]
ux (FLAC)
ux (Analytical)
uy (FLAC)
uy (Analytical)
(b)
(a)
Fig. 9. Plot of displacements u
x
; u
y
along (a) tunnel semi-circular
boundary with respect to the polar angle b and (b) along the oor of
the tunnel.
G.E. Exadaktylos, M.C. Stavropoulou / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 39 (2002) 905916 912
Finally, a comparison between the FLAC model and
the analytical solution is attempted for the displace-
ments along the boundary of the tunnel for the isotropic
loading case. For this comparison the following values
of the elastic constants of the soil/rock mass were
assumed
E = 10 GPa; n = 0:3:
Fig. 10. Contour plots of the vertical displacement u
y
around the semi-circular tunnel that is subjected to isotropic far-eld loading (Case II)
predicted (a) by FLAC and (b) by analytical solution.
G.E. Exadaktylos, M.C. Stavropoulou / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 39 (2002) 905916 913
The comparison of the horizontal and vertical displace-
ments around the tunnel predicted by the two models
are illustrated in Fig. 9. Both these gures demonstrate
that the numerical model is in close agreement with the
analytical model except for some discrepancy of results
close to the corner of the tunnel (i.e. bo151). It may
also be noted that FLAC model predicts higher
horizontal displacements than the analytical solution
along the invert region of the tunnel boundary (Fig. 9b).
Fig. 10 also displays the contour plots of vertical
displacements that are predicted by the numerical
FLAC model and the analytical solution for the above
values of the elastic constants. The general agreement of
both predictions may be seen from these gures.
5. Conclusions
An exact solution has been presented for stresses and
displacements around tunnels with rounded corners. It
has been shown that the complex potential formulation
together with the conformal mapping representation can
be used successfully for the solution of plane elasticity
problems for any tunnel cross-sectional shape with an
axis of symmetry with prescribed surface tractions. The
solution method has been compared with the FLAC
2D
numerical model for the particular case of the semi-
circular tunnel. It has been illustrated that both models
predict boundary stresses and displacements that are in
general agreement apart from the corner and invert
regions. Also, the formulation employed here is suitable
for the groundsupport-interaction analysis of tunnels
constructed by the New Austrian Tunnelling Method.
Finally, a methodology is proposed for the estimation of
conformal mapping coefcients for a given cross-
sectional shape of a tunnel.
Appendix A
Herein, the procedure is described that is proposed for
the computation of the constant coefcients of poly-
nomial conformal mapping functions that map piece-
wise smooth opening contours onto the circular disc of
unit radius. First, it may be shown that along the
boundary C of the opening in the Oxy-plane the angle a
that is formed between (r) and Ox axes measured from
the latter anti-clockwise is given by the relation [9]
(Fig. 11)
e
ia
=
z
r
o
/
(z)
o
/
(z)
= e
iy
o
/
(z)
o
/
(z)
= a = arg e
iy
o
/
(z)
o
/
(z)
_ _
; (A:1)
where we have to set r = 1 and z = e
iy
for the
corresponding contour of the opening g in the (x; Z)
plane. Hence, from Eq. (3) the conformal mapping
function is given by relation:
z = o(z) = R
(n)
e
iy

m
k=1
a
(n)
k
ib
(n)
k
_ _
e
iky
_ _
; (A:2)
where the superscript in parenthesis (n) denotes the
iteration level and m is the degree of the polynomial
function (m = 0; 1; y):
From Eq. (A.2) the parametric equations for the
coordinates x
c
; y
c
of the boundary of the opening in the
Oxy plane have as follows:
x
c
= R cos y

m
k=1
a
(n)
k
cos ky b
(n)
k
sin ky
_ _
_ _
;
y
c
= R sin y

m
k=1
a
(n)
k
sin ky b
(n)
k
cos ky
_ _
_ _
: (A:3)
Also, from Eqs. (A.1) and (A.2) after some algebraic
manipulations the following formula for the angle a is
derived:
a =tan
1

sin y

m
k=1
ka
(n)
k
sin ky

m
k=1
kb
(n)
k
cos ky
cos y

m
k=1
ka
(n)
k
cos ky

m
k=1
kb
(n)
k
sin ky
_ _
:
(A:4)
The piecewise smooth contour prescribing the opening is
divided into a number of smooth and simple curves or
arcs
5
that are represented in the form
x = x(s); y = y(s); s
a
psps
b
; (A:5)
Fig. 11. Denition of angle a that is formed between Ox and (r)
axeswith the latter being normal to the tangent axis (y) at some point
of the smooth curvemeasured in an anti-clockwise sense.
5
Curves are called smooth when they have continuous rst
derivatives, i.e. dx(s)=ds; dy(s)=ds; inside their interval of denition.
They are also called simple if x(s
1
) = x(s
2
); y(s
1
) = y(s
2
) are
incompatible for s
a
ps
1
; s
2
ps
b
; s
1
as
2
:
G.E. Exadaktylos, M.C. Stavropoulou / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 39 (2002) 905916 914
in which s
a
; s
b
are nite constants dening the interval of
the curve, x(s); y(s) are continuous functions in the
interval of denition and s denotes the arc coordinate.
Due to symmetry considerations only the one-half of the
contour may be considered. Next, the tangent line to
the arc which coincides with (y) (Fig. 11) at any point of
the arc can be found by the formula
t
B
=
dz
ds
=
dx(s)
ds
i
dy(s)
ds
; (A:6)
where the curly underline denotes that the quantity is a
vector. The normal line to t
B
denoted by the symbol n
B
;
which is also normal to the boundary of the hole and
coincides with the (r) axis (Fig. 11) is then found from
the condition
n
B
t
B
= 0; (A:7)
where the dot denotes operation of the inner (or scalar)
product. Having found the relation between the arc
coordinate s and the angle a we may easily correspond
its point (x; y) to (x
c
; y
c
) that is predicted by the
polynomial conformal mapping function.
Finally, the constant coefcients a
k
; b
k
(k = 1; y; m)
are found by any of the available constrained nonlinear
minimization routines of the sum d of the distances
between the predicted coordinates (x
c
; y
c
) and actual
coordinates (x; y) of the contour C of the opening, i.e.
d = min

N
j=1

(x
j
x
cj
)
2
(y
j
y
cj
)
2
_
pe; (A:8)
where N is the total number of points along the contour
and e is the prescribed error tolerance.
As an example of the application of the above
methodology we present in Fig. 12 the predicted cross-
sectional shape of a tunnel with arched roof and invert.
As it can been seen in this gure by increasing the
number of terms in the series expansion (3) a smaller
rounding of the corner is achieved. Of course, in this
case the corresponding terms in the Laurent series
representation (8) for the potential function f(z) should
increase accordingly. This is a formidable task in the
frame of the proposed general complex variable
formulation [14].
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Fig. 12. Comparison of the prescribed tunnel with arched roof and oor and predicted tunnel shapes for the number of terms in the conformal
mapping series at hand.
G.E. Exadaktylos, M.C. Stavropoulou / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 39 (2002) 905916 915
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G.E. Exadaktylos, M.C. Stavropoulou / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 39 (2002) 905916 916