Application of Centrifugal Model Tests in the Preliminary Support of the Tunnel: A Review

Abstract

Centrifugal modeling technology has been applied to geotechnical engineering for more than half a century. It has been an important and indispensible means to simulate the geotechnical behavior because it has the same material, the similar boundary conditions and the same stress level. And it is also commonly used in tunnel-related research. Centrifugal tests of pipe-roof and small pipe grouting in tunnel were analyzed, the important effects of centrifugal tests on preliminary support of the tunnel were also emphasized. Problems often met in model tests of tunnelling were solved, such as structure model, modeling soil, preliminary support model and general programming of experiment proposal. The future development of centrifuges in tunnelling is also presented.