A Study of Theoretical Method and Numerical Simulation for Curved Pipe Jacking Force Calculation

ABSTRACT Jacking force is a critical parameter in curved pipe jacking projects, with the surrounding pipe frictional resistance playing a key role in controlling the scale of the jacking force. This resistance is strongly associated with the interplay among the pipe, soil, and grouting slurry. To investigate the calculation method for push force under different pipe‐soil contact conditions, data from the Nanniwan curved pipe jacking project were analyzed. Using three commonly applied formulas for calculating push force in curved pipe jacking, it was found that the computed values still exhibited significant discrepancies from the actual measurements. Therefore, it is proposed to calculate the jacking force after the pipe‐soil contact state is segmented according to the pipe‐soil lubrication grouting conditions, and the segmented calculation jacking force is modeled by ABAQUS simulation software. The results show that the jacking force after segmentation is close to the measured value, which meets the construction and design requirements.