Structural design of tunnels - how reliable are the results of numerical calculations? Investigation using a 3D model for a mined underground railway station

State-of-the-art material laws in numerical models make it possible to integrate the structural design and the ultimate limit state analysis into the numerical model ("Implicit design"). The material laws limit the stresses to values, which the material can bear. Partial factors of safety on the load and resistance sides can also be taken into account. Using the example of a time-independent, 3D mathematical model for an underground railway station with tunnel junctions, which is being constructed by mining in soft soil, this paper investigates to what extent the material laws and the mathematical model fulfill the requirements laid down in the Eurocode for ultimate limit state analysis and how near these results are to the real situation.
Some simplifications and weaknesses of the mathematical model are explained, their effect on the results investigated and evaluated in relation to the uncertainties in the characteristics available for materials. Suggestions are made as to how the effects of defects in the model in an unsafe direction can be avoided. Further aspects, which can affect the reliability of calculations, are also pointed out.