Size effect of temperature field in large tunnel subjected to freeze-thaw disasters

Abstract

The change in size (transverse section and longitudinal length) of a tunnel will result in variation in the temporal and spatial distribution characteristics of the tunnel temperature field, particularly in the cold region. Understanding the size effect on the temperature field is crucial for the prevention of freeze-thaw disasters in large tunnels in high-altitude frozen soil areas. This study investigates the distribution of the tunnel temperature field, considering traffic wind through numerical simulations. The research explores how changes in size affect both the temporal and spatial distribution of tunnel temperatures and freeze-thaw depths. The findings reveal that traffic wind significantly influences tunnel temperature fields, with larger amplitudes observed when accounting for traffic wind compared to no-traffic wind conditions. Additionally, peak temperature of surrounding rock decreases logarithmically with increasing tunnel diameter and depth, while freeze-thaw depth decreases logarithmically with increased section size. Furthermore, the peak temperature of surrounding rock and the freeze-thaw depth are inversely proportional to the tunnel length. Based on these observations regarding section size and length's impact on temperature fields, a mathematical relationship between freeze-thaw depth within surrounding rock and tunnel dimensions is established to elucidate the size effect on temperature fields. These research results could provide theoretical guidance for the design, construction, and disaster prevention of tunnels in alpine regions.

Keywords

Freeze-thaw disaster / Large tunnel / Temperature field / Size effect / Traffic wind

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Naifei Liu: Funding acquisition, Writing - original draft, Data curation, Investigation. Dongqing Xu: Conceptualization, Writing - review & editing, Methodology. Yinliang Yang: Data curation, Validation, Methodology. Shuangjie Wang: Conceptualization, Supervision, Funding acquisition. Bei Yang: Data curation, Validation. Hua Liu: Writing - review & editing, Supervision. Zeming Yu: Validation, Data curation.

Conflict of interest

The author declares no conflicts of interest or competitive interests related to this study. Naifei Liu, Shuangjie Wang and Bei Yang from Postdoctoral Research Center, CCCC First Highway Consultants Co., Ltd, Xi'an China declare no conflicts of interest. Bei Yang from XAUAT Engineering Technology Co., Ltd, Xi'an, China also declares no conflicts of interest.

Acknowledgments

We would like to express our gratitude to the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52278370), the Shaanxi Natural Science Foundation (Nos. 2022JM-246, 2022JM-190), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2019M663648), and the Open Fund of State Key Laboratory of Road Engineering Safety and Health in Cold and High-Altitude Regions (No. YGY2020KYPT-03).

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