Fatigue Performance of Tunnel Invert in Newly Designed Heavy Haul Railway Tunnel

Abstract

The Haoji railway in China is the longest heavy haul railway in the world, including 235 tunnels located along the 1837 km railway. With the increasing axle load of the new line and the basal deterioration of the existing heavy haul railway in China, studying the fatigue performance of the newly designed tunnel structure is essential. To study the coupling effect of the surrounding rock pressure and 30 t axle load train, in this study, we combined three-dimensional numerical simulation and three-point bending fatigue tests to investigate the fatigue performance of the basal structures. The results of numerical simulation indicate that the center of the inverted arch secondary lining is the position vulnerable to fatigue in the lower tunnel structures; the surrounding rock pressure performance exerts a stronger influence on the stress state of the vulnerable position than the dynamic train loads. The S–N formula obtained from the experiment showed that the fatigue life of tunnel bottom structures decreases with increasing surrounding rock pressure and dynamic load. In typical grade V surrounding rock and 30 t axle loads, fatigue failure will not occur in the newly designed tunnel bottom structures within 100 years if bedrock defects are lacking and pressure of surrounding rock is not excessive.