Experimental Study on Load Redistribution during Sequential Strut Removal in an Asymmetric Braced Excavation
Yi Liu1,2, Zihao Liu3,4, Min Yang2, Hao Liu2, Fengzhou Liu2, Jixin Chong2, Huanwei Wei3,4, Xiao Zheng3,4,*
1 School of Mechanics and Civil Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, China
2 Jinan Rail Transit Group Co., Ltd., Jinan, China
3 College of Civil Engineering, Shandong Jianzhu University, Jinan, China
4 Key Laboratory of Building Structural Retrofitting and Underground Space Engineering (Shandong Jianzhu University), Ministry of Education, Jinan, China
* Corresponding Author: Xiao Zheng. Email: 
Structural Durability & Health Monitoring https://doi.org/10.32604/sdhm.2026.087086
Received 10 June 2026; Accepted 01 September 2026; Published online 14 September 2026
Abstract
There were increasingly large-scale collapse accidents in foundation pit engineering, with serious induced results. However, there has been little research on the progressive collapse mechanism caused by local failure under asymmetric excavation. In the present study, the mechanical behavior of soil and support structure was analyzed based on the dataset of a 1-g model test of brace failure under asymmetric excavation. The results showed opposite wall-top movements during asymmetric excavation and significant settlement after consecutive adjacent removals. The excavation stability should therefore be evaluated by settlement, wall movement, adjacent-strut force, and rate of change together rather than rely on one index variation. A newly defined adjacent-to-remote strut localization index increased from 1.51 after the first removal to 2.16 after the second, while the remote-to-affected-corridor earth-pressure contrast was 1.40 and 1.36 at those stages. These descriptive patterns were consistent with local unloading and redistribution through the continuous wall–capping–beam–soil system. The coupled response varied from excavation-induced asymmetry to localized stiffness loss and then to system-level degradation. A coordinated adverse change in strut force, wall movement, and settlement should trigger data verification, engineering inspection, and temporary stabilization under the project emergency plan. The primary and secondary walls should be evaluated as an interacting system. Absolute moment magnitudes required verification before quantitative utilization. The mechanism-level recommendations could be proposed from experiments but the prototype prediction was not directly acquired.
Keywords
Secondary analysis; 1-g model test; asymmetric braced excavation; strut removal; load redistribution; monitoring index
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