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Procedia Engineering 166 (2016) 373 – 378

2nd International Symposium on Submerged Floating Tunnels and Underwater Tunnel Structures

Mechanical and failure characteristics of shear keys on immersed

tunnel segment joints under differential settlements
Zhi-nan Hua,c,*, Yong-li Xieb
a
School of Civil Engineering, Shijiazhuang Tiedao University, Shijiazhuang, 050043, China
b
College of Highway, Chang’an University, Xi’an, 710064, China
c
The Key Laboratory for Health Monitoring and Control of Large Structures, Shijiazhuang, 050043, China

Abstract

In order to research mechanical and failure characteristics of shear keys on immersed tunnel segment joints, a 1:4.69 large scale
immersed tunnel physical model test was conducted on a settlement platform. Bending and twisting working conditions of
segment joints caused by uneven settlements and uneven back-silting were simulated, by means of controlling the lifting jacks
under the settlement platform. Simultaneously, a 3-D numerical simulation which considered the nonlinearity of rubber pads and
contacting effects between segment joints was carried out. The results shows that vertical shear keys have main contribution to
resist expansion of segment joints in bending condition, and vertical shear keys on the soft layer have larger shear forces than that
on the hard layer. In addition, shear stresses were mainly concentrated at the terminal corners and connecting corners between
shear keys and segments. Correspondingly, at the terminal corners and connecting corners between shear key and segments
appeared 30e~60eand 45eextending cracks respectively. At last, some structural strengthen suggestions on shear keys were
offered for immersed tunnel design. *
©©2016
2016TheTheAuthors. Published
Authors. by Elsevier
Published Ltd. This
by Elsevier Ltd. is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of SUFTUS-2016.
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of SUFTUS-2016
Keywords: Immersed tunnel; Segment joints; Shear keys; Failure characteristics; Differential settlements

1. Introduction

Segment joints are within a tunnel element that separate an element into several discrete segments with the length
of 20~25m. In 1966, the segments were first used in the Rotterdam metro for control of early age thermal and
shrinkage cracking. Comparing to construction joints within monolithic elements, segment joints have no continuity
reinforcement through them and they allow joints to articulate, open and close when settlement occurs. Although the

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +86-131-3115-6494; fax: +86-0311-87935217.

E-mail address: huzhinan001@163.com

1877-7058 © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of SUFTUS-2016
doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2016.11.564
374 Zhi-nan Hu and Yong-li Xie / Procedia Engineering 166 (2016) 373 – 378

rotation is permitted, the vertical and horizontal displacements among adjacent segments are prevented or restricted
by shear keys[1-2]. Shear keys are the important and only guarantee to waterproof safety of segment joints, after
elements are placed on foundations and the temporary prestressed cables are cut off. Equal settlements have no harm
to structures, however, large uneven settlements may cause structural damage or leakage on joints. Actually, even
the element itself is much lighter than the soil and water it displace, the differential settlements of many immersed
tunnels are significant[3]. For instance, the element largest differential settlement on both ends of Shanghai outer ring
tunnel after sand flow construction reached 245mm, and that of Ningbo Yongjiang tunnel was 181.5mm after
11years in service, which all occur leakages and cracks near element joints[4-6]. Similarly, Baytown tunnel and For
McHenry tunnel in USA, Tingstad tunnel in Sweden and Elbe tunnel in German also produced leakage and cracks
on elements or joints in varying degrees because of large differential settlements[7-9]. So, the safety of segment joints
is important and need to be pay attention. In order to research mechanical and failure characteristics of shear keys on
segment joints, a large-scale model test and a matching 3-D numerical simulation were carried out. The cross
section drawing of immersed tunnel segment joint is shown in Fig.1.

Fig.1. cross section drawing of immersed tunnel segment joint

2. Large scale immersed tunnel segment mode test

Fig.2. (a). settlement test platform; (b) segment models of immersed tunnel

The immersed tunnel in Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge has 33 elements, and each element is divided into 8
segments. Three segments were taken as the research object, and a 1:4.69 model test was implemented on a
settlement test platform which size was 16.4m × 20.8m (shown in Fig.2 (a) and (b)). Through adjusting 138 self-
locking jacks (rated load 100t) under the test platform[10], mechanical and failure characteristics of shear keys under
bending and twisting working conditions were studied.
 Zhi-nan Hu and Yong-li Xie / Procedia Engineering 166 (2016) 373 – 378 375

Fig.3. (a) test positions of shear keys; (b) loading on segment models

By means of building model casting platform, assembling reinforcement steel, making templates and brackets,
the immersed tunnel segment models were made, which material were commodity concrete. Simultaneously, shear
key models were made by similar material concrete which had mixed amargosite, polypropylene fibers and other
materials in cement concrete[11]. Immersed tunnel segment joints and shear keys were connected by strength bolts
and plates, and in this way, the stress transfer and deformation could be ensured. Besides, the internal and external
stress of shear keys was tested by FBG sensors and strain rosette (shown in Fig.3 (a)). The fine-grained sand was
loaded on the model in order to simulate immersed tunnel actual loads, the sand stability was protected by concrete
retaining wall, sandbag walls and supporting structures around, the final total height of loading is 7.43m (shown in
Fig.3 (b)). The working condition schematic diagrams are listed in Table1.

Table 1. Working condition schematic diagram of model test

Subject
Schematic diagram Differential settlement
Working condition

Segment longitude
Bending working
differential settlement is 8
condition
mm

Segment transverse
Twisting working
differential settlement is 5
condition
mm

3. FEM Numerical simulation

Matching with model test, a 3-D numerical model (1:1) was adopted to simulate the load-carrying capability of
segment joints (shown in Fig.4 (a) and (b)), and the computing parameters were shown in table2.
376 Zhi-nan Hu and Yong-li Xie / Procedia Engineering 166 (2016) 373 – 378

Table 2. Numerical model parameters.

Parameters Elastic modulus E
Poisson ratio ȝ Unit weight (kN/m³)
Materials (MPa)
Soil 20.00 0.35 17.00
Gravel layer 30.00 0.32 20.00
Segments 3.45h104 0.20 25.82
Shear keys 3.45h104 0.20 25.82
Immersed tunnel segments and shear keys were simulated by Solid45, and contacting effects between joints were
simulated by the elements of Target170 and Contact174. In addition, the rubber pads on shear keys were analyzed
by the element Link10, which could only endure compression but not tension. Their stiffness was distributed by area
weight, and that is, the central, margin and corner elements were 4, 2 and 1 respectively[12-13]. Through adjusting
imposed displacements on nodes of soil under segments, the bending and twisting working conditions could be
achieved.

Fig.4. (a) the whole numerical model; (b) immersed tunnel segment model.

4. Mechanical characteristics of segment joint shear keys

4.1. Mechanical characteristics

The first principle stress, third principle stress were obtained, depending on the relationships between three
direction strains tested in physical model test. Meanwhile, according to strength theory, the shear stress and shear
force at the end cross section of shear keys could be got. The shear stress and shear force on shear keys under
bending and twisting working condition are listed in Fig.5 to Fig.6.

Fig.5. (a) shear stress of shear keys under bending condition; (a) shear stress of shear keys under twisting condition

It can be seen in Fig.5 (a) that shear stress at the corner place (1, 2, 3 and 9) of side wall shear key is the biggest,
through analyzing principle stresses at different places of shear key. In other words, the corner place of side wall
shear key has bigger shear stress than other places. Similarly, in Fig.5 (b), the corner place (1, 3 and 9) still has
 Zhi-nan Hu and Yong-li Xie / Procedia Engineering 166 (2016) 373 – 378 377

bigger shear stress than other places.

Fig.6. (a) shear force of shear keys under bending condition; (b) shear force of shear keys under twisting condition

Fig.6 (a) and (b) provides shear force results of physical model tests (deducing to engineering entity) and
numerical simulations. From the Fig.6 (a), it can be seen that under bending working condition, vertical shear keys
take most of shear forces and have main role to the segment joint shearing resistant. The shear force ratio of vertical
shear keys is about 90%, and the horizontal shear keys have little contribution to the shearing resistant of segment
joint. According to the Fig.6 (b), it can be concluded that under twisting condition, side wall shear keys and mid
wall shear keys on the soft layer (left side) have the main role to the segment joint shearing resistant, which shear
force ratio is about 62%. Besides, horizontal shear keys have some contribution to the segment joint shearing
resistant under twisting working condition.

4.2 Failure Characteristics

Fig.7. (a) crack schematic diagram on shear keys; (b) failures on terminal corners of mid wall shear keys
Increasing the soil layer uneven settlement, in the bending working condition, the faults of vertical shear keys
were mainly focused on external terminal corners, as well as connecting corners between shear key and segments
(shown in Fig.7 (a)). The extending direction of cracks on external terminal corners have about 30°~60° with plane
(shown in Fig.7 (b)), and extending direction of cracks on connecting corners between shear key and segments have
about 45° with plane. Meanwhile, increasing the soil layer uneven settlement, in the twisting working condition, the
connecting corners between shear key and segments firstly appeared faults, which have about 45° with plane (shown
in Fig.8 (a) and Fig.8 (b)). These results have a good accordance with the results of stress laws of shear keys.
378 Zhi-nan Hu and Yong-li Xie / Procedia Engineering 166 (2016) 373 – 378

Fig.8. (a) failures on connecting corners of mid wall shear keys; (b) failures on connecting corners of side wall shear keys

5. Conclusions

Through abstracting the shear forces of shear keys at different places and analyzing the shear force percentage,
studying the stress law of shear keys and comparing it to the shear key fault features, some conclusions could be got.
In the bending working condition, the vertical shear keys undertake most of shear forces and the horizontal shear
keys barely participate in undertaking forces. In the twisting working condition, the vertical shear keys at the soft
layer side make mainly contribution to the shear forces, however, the vertical shear keys at the other side undertake
little shear forces.
In bending and twisting working condition, the shear stress was mainly concentrated at the terminal corners and
connecting corners between shear keys and segments. Correspondingly, at the terminal corners and connecting
corners between shear key and segments appeared 30e~60eand 45eextending cracks respectively.
There is a suggestion to take some structure optimization at the terminal corner of the shear keys and embed
some reinforcing steels on connecting corners between shear keys and segments to avoid cracks of concrete.

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