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Damage characteristics and micro-mechanism of solidified clay under dry-wet and freeze-thaw cycles in shield tunnels
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Jun Yua, *, Kunmin Lua, Yizhou Zhuanga, Xiaoli Zhana, Liyuan Tongb
Underground Space | 2026, 27 : 259 - 277
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Underground Space | 2026, 27: 259-277
Research Paper
Damage characteristics and micro-mechanism of solidified clay under dry-wet and freeze-thaw cycles in shield tunnels
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Jun Yua, *, Kunmin Lua, Yizhou Zhuanga, Xiaoli Zhana, Liyuan Tongb
Affiliations
  • aCollege of Civil Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310034, China
  • bCollege of Transportation, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
Published: 2026-04-10 doi: 10.1016/j.undsp.2025.11.004
Outline
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The freezing and grouting methods are among the main construction techniques for the lateral connection passages of shield tunnels in soft soil areas. Therefore, the surrounding rock undergoes freeze-thaw (FT) and dry-wet (DW) cycles caused by water level changes during operation, leading to the deterioration of mechanical properties and instability. However, this research achievement is very limited. In this study, the macro and micro damage mechanisms of the surrounding rock in lateral connection tunnels under FT and DW cycles were systematically investigated. Initially, clay was sampled from a cross-tunnel of Hangzhou Metro Line 4 in Zhejiang Province. Cement (NXI), ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS), and fly ash (FA) (NXII) were used to solidify the clay subjected to DW and FT cycles. Finally, the uniaxial compressive strength and microstructure were examined using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD) to obtain 15 DW cycles (0, 5, 10, 15) and 12 FT cycles (0, 4, 8, 12) after 7 and 28 d curing periods. The results indicated that the compressive strength decreased after the DW-FT cycles, with rod-like hydration products (macropores) transitioning to needle-like ettringite (AFt) in the micropore-dominated structures. Simultaneously, the GGBS-FA mixture (NXII) promoted tight microstructures via hydration-induced bridging and pore filling, enhancing the water stability by 23% and DW-FT resistance by 18% compared with cement-only formulations. The NXII composite demonstrated superior long-term strength retention (89% at 180 d) and formed distinctive hydration phases, including calcium silicate hydrate and hydrotalcite-like compounds. Subsequently, the increasing pressure on the surrounding rock was calculated to degrade its mechanical properties (20% and 24.4%, respectively). Finally, a life-cycle assessment confirmed that the GGBS-FA system reduced material costs by 35% and carbon emissions by 42% compared with conventional cement-lime stabilization. These findings elucidated the microscale hydration damage mechanisms of GGBS-FA systems for soft soil solidification to advance sustainable tunnel engineering.

Solidified clay  /  Dry-wet (DW) cycle  /  Freeze-thaw (FT) cycle  /  Micro-mechanism  /  Damage characteristics
Jun Yu, Kunmin Lu, Yizhou Zhuang, Xiaoli Zhan, Liyuan Tong. Damage characteristics and micro-mechanism of solidified clay under dry-wet and freeze-thaw cycles in shield tunnels[J]. Underground Space, 2026 , 27 : 259 -277 . DOI: 10.1016/j.undsp.2025.11.004
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China(51679215; 52178384)
  • Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang province(LGF21E090005)
  • Zhejiang Provincial Education Department Project(Y201941075)
  • Key Laboratory of Geotechnical and Underground Engineering (Tongji University), Ministry of Education(KLE-TJGE-G2406)
  • Engineering Research Center of Ministry of Education for Renewable Energy Infrastructure Construction Technology and Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Green Construction and Intelligent Operation & Maintenance for Coastal Infrastructure (Zhejiang University of Technology)
Year 2026 volume 27 Issue 0
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Article Info
doi: 10.1016/j.undsp.2025.11.004
  • Receive Date:2025-04-07
  • Online Date:2026-06-17
  • Published:2026-04-10
Article Data
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History
  • Received:2025-04-07
  • Revised:2025-11-20
  • Accepted:2025-11-24
Funding
National Natural Science Foundation of China(51679215; 52178384)
Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang province(LGF21E090005)
Zhejiang Provincial Education Department Project(Y201941075)
Key Laboratory of Geotechnical and Underground Engineering (Tongji University), Ministry of Education(KLE-TJGE-G2406)
Engineering Research Center of Ministry of Education for Renewable Energy Infrastructure Construction Technology and Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Green Construction and Intelligent Operation & Maintenance for Coastal Infrastructure (Zhejiang University of Technology)
Affiliations
    aCollege of Civil Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310034, China
    bCollege of Transportation, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China

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* Corresponding author. E-mail address: (J. Yu).
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表12种不同金属材料的力学参数

Family
属数
Number of
genus
种数
Number of
species
占总种数比例
Percentage of
total species (%)

Genus
种数
Number of
species
占总种数比例
Percentage of total
species (%)
鹅膏菌科Amanitaceae 2 11 5.26 鹅膏菌属 Amanita 10 4.78
小菇科 Mycenaceae 2 12 5.74 丝盖伞属 Inocybe 5 2.39
多孔菌科 Polyporaceae 8 14 6.70 蜡蘑属 Laccaria 5 2.39
红菇科 Russulaceae 3 23 11.00 小皮伞属 Marasmius 6 2.87
小菇属 Mycena 11 5.26
光柄菇属 Pluteus 5 2.39
红菇属 Russula 17 8.13
栓菌属 Trametes 5 2.39
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