Abstract:

Sand flowing is an important step in the construction of immersed tunnels. Simulation experiment is executed in order to obtain the relationship among the parameters and to verify the mixing proportion of the sand to be filled that has been originally designed. In case the sand is flowed through a single opening, the sand overflows under the bottom of the element except the four corners and the sand pancake has smooth and compact surface. In case the sand is flowed through two openings, the area where sand flowing is made earlier develops better and the sand pancake expands fully. The developments of sand pancake with different mixing proportions vary. Under the same sand flowing pressure, the higher the sand content, the smaller the diffusion radius becomes. The experiment demonstrates that the loadbearing capacity and compactness of the sand foundation can satisfy the design requirements completely, the compactness of the sand pancakes vary depending on the mixing proportions and the compactness at the edges of the sand pancakes and dents is low.

Key words:  , immersed tunnelsand pancakedentdiffusion radiuscompactness