Development of Analysis Method of Soil Deformation Due to Installation of Circular Open Caisson

Abstract

At present, with the limited space in several cities around the world, the utilization of underground space rapidly increases, resulting in more attention on the excavation works (e.g., tunneling and caisson). Under dense urban environment, the caisson constructions unavoidably take place near the existing structures. Hence, an appropriate analysis method for impact assessment is necessary. In this study, a method to simulate the ground movement due to the installation of an actual case of circular open caisson is developed. The kinematic mechanical model is adopted for three-dimensional numerical analysis in which the dependability of the proposed model is verified through measurement data. The obtained results were found to be satisfactory with the measurement results and it was also found that the horizontal movement occurred mostly in soft clay layers, while the settlement mainly occurs within 0.75 times the depth of the caisson. From the foregoing result, the developed installation model can be used as an effective alternative for analyzing impact assessment.