Paper contribution

Application of Auxetic reinforced mortar elements for pressurized tunnels

Arsham Moayedi Far; Marlene Villeneuve; Giuseppe Loporcaro

Proceedings
EUROCK 2026
Pages
839-844
Submitted
28 January 2026
Accepted
15 June 2026
Published
12 August 2026

Summary

Abstract

One important aspect of designing pressurized underground tunnels is mobilizing the capacity of the surrounding rock mass by creating an effective connection between the lining and the rock mass. This is conventionally achieved through pressure grouting the annular gap to bond the lining to the rock mass, thereby prestressing the lining. An alternative, more active approach is to use a flexible lining that can accommodate larger displacements than a stiff, brittle lining. The concept is that by allowing the lining to deform towards the rock mass, it develops a lining-rock mass bond in response to the magnitude of the internal pressure. In pressurized storage applications, tensile stresses induced by the stored fluid are a primary design limitation: most lining materials are weak in tension. To address this, we experimentally investigated auxetic lining structures. Auxetic linings are composite structures composed of an auxetic frame filled with a mortar (e.g. cementitious), which can accommodate large tensile deformation prior to rupture. The results show significantly higher ductility under flexural loading compared to conventional lining materials. This suggests a potential shift in design approach: from using stiff linings to flexible linings that can safely deform and rely on the surrounding rock as the system is pressurized.

Contributors

Authors

  1. Arsham Moayedi Far Technical University of Leoben, Austria ORCID 0000-0001-9802-9693
  2. Marlene Villeneuve Technical University of Leoben, Austria
  3. Giuseppe Loporcaro University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

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