< PreviousVol. 21, No. 2 117Simplified Numerical Load-transfer Finite Element Modelling of Tunnelling Effects on PilesAbstractTunnelling in urban environments is very common nowadays as large cities are expanding and transportation demands require the use of the underground space for creating extra capacity. Inevitably, any such new construction may have significant effects on existing nearby infrastructure and therefore relevant assessment of structural integrity and soil-structure interaction is required. Foundation piles can be rather sensitive to nearby tunnel construction and therefore their response needs to be evaluated carefully. Although detailed three-dimensional continuum finite element analysis can provide a wealth of information about this behaviour of piles, such analyses are generally very computationally demanding and may require a number of material and other model parameters to be properly calibrated. Therefore, relevant simplified approaches are used to provide a practical way for such an assessment. This paper presents a simple method where the pile is modelled with beam finite elements, pile-soil interaction is modelled with soil springs and tunnelling-induced displacements are introduced as an input boundary condition at the end of the soil springs. The performance of this approach is assessed through some examples of applications.Keywords: tunnelling, piles, finite element modelling, soil-structure interaction.Simplified Numerical Load-transfer Finite Element Modelling of Tunnelling Effects on PilesKoon Lok (Stephen) NipResearch Student, Department of Architecture & Civil Engineering, University of Bath, UKLoizos PelecanosAssistant Professor, Department of Architecture & Civil Engineering, University of Bath, UKNext >