A comparison of elastic–plastic soil models for 2D FE analyses of tunnelling

Abstract Based on 2D FE analyses, simulating the excavation of a tunnel and subsequent lining with shotcrete, the impact of the employed soil model on the predicted displacements and stresses in the soil mass as well as on the predicted sectional forces in the shotcrete lining is investigated. In particular, four different soil models are considered: linear–elastic constitutive relations, the elastic–plastic models according to the Drucker–Prager and to the Mohr–Coulomb criterion as well as an elastic–plastic cap model. The computed results are compared with available field data for the vertical strains.