Analytical poro-elastic solution of deep lined tunnels in anisotropic rock with consideration of tunnel face advance

This paper aims at deriving a closed-form solution for deep lined tunnels within a saturated anisotropic poro-elastic medium. The derivation of the solution is carried out with the assumption of plane strain conditions along the tunnel axis, an isotropic elastic liner, a steady-state flow, and perfect contact between the liner and rock. For this purpose, the complex potential function approach pioneered by Lekhnitskii for the anisotropic elastic body was used to develop the mechanical response of the rock mass. A complex hydraulic potential function is also introduced to solve the steady state fluid flow. Then the well-known Biot theory is chosen to describe the hydro-mechanical coupling of the anisotropic saturated rock. The stress and displacement solutions of both the liner and the surrounding rock, considering the tunnel face advance with respect to the considered section, are derived based on the principle of the convergence-confining method. Comparisons with previous closed-form solutions for isotropic case and finite element solution for anisotropic case were made to show the accuracy of the current closed form solution. Sensitivity analysis is performed based on this analytical solution to highlight the effect of some rock parameters on the stress and displacement of the liner. © 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.