Simplified approach to estimate the maximum wall deflection for deep excavations with cross walls in clay under the undrained condition

Previous studies have shown that use of cross walls in deep excavations can reduce the wall deflection to a very small amount. However, design of cross walls is costly because the deflection behavior of the diaphragm wall with cross walls is in nature three dimensional. The objective of this study was to establish a simplified approach used as a first approximation to design cross walls such that the lateral wall deflection can satisfy a design criterion. A series of parametric studies using a three-dimensional numerical method was performed to obtain the influence factors on wall deflections, including excavation geometry, wall system stiffness, axial stiffness of strut, axial stiffness of the cross wall, normalized undrained shear strength of clay and the cross wall depth. Then, a simplified formula for predicting the wall deflection for excavations without and with cross walls was established using multivariate regression analysis, respectively. The formulas were validated through 36 excavation cases without cross walls and 12 cases with cross walls. The simplified formulas can be used to develop a spreadsheet that estimates the cross wall sizes and intervals based on the entered excavation geometry, material properties of retaining-strut system, in situ undrained shear strength and tolerable wall deflection. The estimated cross wall sizes and intervals should be verified by an appropriate full numerical analysis.