Coordinator
Prof. Dr. Günther Meschke
Institute for Structural Mechanics
Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Phone: 0234/32-29051
E-Mail: guenther.meschke@rub.de
Funded since 2010
Link
Safety in Tunnel Construction
SFB 837: Interaction Modeling in Mechanized Tunneling
So that the surroundings in tunnel construction do not collapse – as happened in Cologne with considerable damage –, the geological situation on site and the effects of tunnel drilling have to be very well known. The requirements made of safety and the environment make tunnel construction very expensive. In collaborative research centre 837 "Interaction models for mechanical tunnel construction", researchers will be drawing up models in order to make tunnel construction more economical and also safer.
Nowadays, tunnels are mainly built mechanically on various undergrounds and in various areas from mountains down to inner cities. Therefore, tunnel construction engineers need reliable knowledge about the possible effects of tunnel drilling on the (built-up) surroundings, likewise about the effects of the geological situation or existing infrastructure on the tunnel drilling process. Collaborative research centre 837 will develop numeric models, computer-supported simulation methods and draft concepts to portray the complex interactions between building ground, tunnelling shield, support measures, tunnel extension, building, drilling and mining process, construction operation in a computer model close to reality. Possible risks of building are therefore to be recognised reliably in the run-up, with the result that safety and economy in mechanical tunnel construction increase. New questions which can only be answered by complex simulations interlinked with one another in combination with experimental examinations arise in the context, for example as a result of the dynamic further development of drilling technology, the alignment to increasingly larger shield dimensions and the permanent extension of the fields of application. Bochum is a good location for such work: here, years of experience are available both in the field of computer simulation and also in tunnel construction.
