Study of the sensitivity of different building structures to tunneling induced settlements

Abstract

he sensitivity of urban buildings to tunneling induced settlements can vary according to the structural types and building materials. Very few studies deal with this particular field and, for design purposes, heuristic approaches are applied based on the studies developed in UK in the 1970's. From the statistical results of a sample of buildings located over the influ- ence zones of the L9 metro line in Barcelona, three types of structures were devised to include most of them: (1) pure masonry buildings, (2) buildings combining masonry bearing walls and RC slabs and (3) buildings with RC structural frame with masonry infill. The paper discusses the numerical simulation of such structural types in service conditions and presents the particular phenomena (cracking of masonry and concrete, gapping between masonry walls and the RC beams or columns) that should be taken into account to assess the sensitivity of these buildings to tunneling settlements.