EVALUATION OF DAMAGE IN MASONRY BUILDINGS DUE TO TUNNELING IN CLEYEY SOILS

This paper presents the first results of a numerical study aimed at the evaluation of tunneling-induced damage in masonry buildings in which the effect of soil-tunnel-building interaction was considered at different levels. Two-dimensional analyses were carried out using a simple elasto-plastic model for the soil; the masonry was modeled following a sort of ‘discontinuous’ approach, as elastic macro elements connected by vertical and horizontal elasto-plastic interfaces. The results of the analyses confirmed the importance of accounting the soil-tunnel-structure interaction to predict correctly the amount of damage.