Numerical analysis of mechanical behaviours of immersion joint

The immersed tunnelling technique is commonly used for river or sea crossings worldwidely. Seismic safety criterions of immersed tunnels involve the shear stiffness, axial stiffness, flexural stiffness, and opening deformations of the immersion joints. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct mechanical analysis of joint between immersed tunnel elements. A pseudo-static numerical analysis of an immersion joint is presented in this paper, mainly involving the modelling method, loading mechanism and results. In this model, anchor bolts connecting shear keys and concrete segments are replaced by an assumed equivalent layer and the vibration isolation is simplified as tolerated value of contact. Additionally, the nonlinear feature of GINA gasket is also taken into consideration in this model. It can be concluded that the mechanical property of GINA gasket is significantly affected by both flexure and axial loadings. In contrast, the loading effects on the behaviours of shear keys can be neglected, which indicates hysteresis characters under cyclic loadings. The numerical results and conclusions are benefit to the further large-scale model tests of immersion joint in progress, and more related further publications are expected in future.