Abstract The section of shield tunnel of the Chengdu Metro line passes primarily through sandy cobble strata. There are many buildings with spread foundations along the lines. Shield tunnel construction will disturb the ground, causing displacement or stress to adjacent spread foundations. Based on the similarity theory, a laboratory model test of shield tunnel driving was carried out to study the influence of shield tunnel excavation on the displacement of adjacent spread foundation. The results show that foundation closer to the tunnel has greater displacement or settlement than that further away. The horizontal displacement is small and is influenced greatly by the cutting face. The displacement along the machine driving direction is bigger and is significantly affected by the thrust force. Settlement occurs primarily when shield machine passes close to the foundation and is the greatest at that time. Uneven settlement at the bottom of the spread foundation reaches a maximum after the excavation ends. In a numerical simulation, a particle flow model was constructed to study the impact of shield tunnel excavation on the stresses in the ground. The model showed stress concentration at the bottom of the spread foundation. With the increasing ground loss ratio, a loose area appears in the tunnel dome where the contact force dropped. Above the loose area, the contact force increases, forming an arch-shaped soil area which prevents the loose area from expanding to the ground surface. The excavation also changed the pressure distribution around spread foundation.
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