Farouq Hossaini - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Farouq Hossaini
International Journal of Geomechanics
Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment
Journal of Mining and Environment, 2019
Bimrocks are complex geomaterials that are defined as mixtures of rocks composed of geotechnicall... more Bimrocks are complex geomaterials that are defined as mixtures of rocks composed of geotechnically significant blocks within a matrix of finer texture. Bimslopes are made from bimrocks and are usually seen in weathered and shallow environments. Some characteristics of blocks affecting the strength of bimrocks include VBP (Volumetric Block Proportion), orientation, and arrangement, which have important roles in the stability of bimslopes. Previous studies show that bimrocks usually have a specific block size distribution, and for a bimslope with height of “H”, the size of blocks is changed from 0.05H to 0.75H. In this paper, the influence of large blocks position on bimslope stability was investigated by the physical and numerical models. The blocks that had a dimension larger than 0.5H were considered as “large blocks”. In this work, first, thirty physical models were created and tested using a titling table machine. These models have a specific block size distribution and VBP with ...
Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering
Drilling and blasting is widely used in underground excavation projects, where the amount of dama... more Drilling and blasting is widely used in underground excavation projects, where the amount of damage to the surrounding rock mass is crucially important, due to its impact on the safety of working environment and operational costs,. The causes of overbreak in the Alborz Tunnel of Iran are evaluted. In this regard, ten rounds of presplitting and 11 rounds of smooth blasting methods were carried out to determine the dominancy of ground condition over the blasting pattern characteristics. Further study was undertaken to identify the most important parameters of ground condition affecting the overbreak area. These parameters include; joint condition, spacing, orientation, RQD and type of rock mass. As the characteristics of the blasting pattern have very little effect on the amount of overbreak, the smooth blasting technique was chosen for the future operations where the current ground condition is going to be dealt with for about 500 meters of length, based on the data acquired from the Alborz Exploratory Tunnel. Results of this investigation helped to solve disputes between contractors and clients over the issue of permissible overbreak.
Drilling and blasting is widely used in underground excavation projects, where the amount of dama... more Drilling and blasting is widely used in underground excavation projects, where the amount of damage to the surrounding rock mass is crucially important due to its impact on the safety of working environment and operational costs. The causes of overbreak are categorized into three groups namely: geological parametres, drilling accuracy and charging parametres. The present paper focuses on the special case of the Alborz Tunnel of Iran where a discontinuity surface located above the tunnel contour line caused excessive amounts of overbreak in the study area. After introducing the disconformity surface above the tunnel contour line, its impact on the occurrence of excessive amounts of overbreak is discussed. Possible case scenarios for future excavations are pointed outand the problems which may be encountered in each case scenario are predicted. Also, the impact of this special situation on the difficulties faced in working with rock mass classification systems is discussed.
Mine safety in underground coal mines is normally threatened by the likelihood of accident occurr... more Mine safety in underground coal mines is normally threatened by the likelihood of accident occurrence. The outcome of such occurrences includes and is not limited to loss of machinery and equipment, loss of life, injury, disability, and mine closures. In this study, the Risk Priority Number (RPN) has been determined for the Kerman Coal Mine and the main causes of uncertainty found through the RPN. The implementation of a decision tree and a risk management plan considering the causes of accidents has been proposed. Data covering a complete range of every accident occurred during the time period of 2003-2008 has been analyzed and the accidents have been classified and sorted by RPN. It has been shown that amongst all types of incidents, the risk of roof failure is the most probable risk of all. It is concluded that the probability of an accident occurring every 24 days is 95%. It has been shown through the decision tree that due to the high number of accidents, the cost of investing ...
Coal 2012 marks the start of amalgamation of both surface and underground operations under a comm... more Coal 2012 marks the start of amalgamation of both surface and underground operations under a common umbralla of Coal Operators" Conference. It is an apportune time for the amalgamation because of; the increasing expansion of the coal industry activities in both operations, with significant movements of technological knowhow and expertise across the defining line; the engagement of many consulting services in both operations, with many of their members being regular contributors to the Coal Operator"s Conference; the recent mergers of equipment manufacturers with interests in both surface and underground operations. All these make a sensible strategy for better positioning of the conference in the coal mining scene. This year also marks the inauguration of an annual award to indiviuals recognised for their outstaning contributions to the industry, the scince and technology of mining and the Coal Operatorss Conference. The Coal Operators" Conference is growing in acceptance by the industry. The online papers are increasingly accessed from different corners of the world, thanks to the University of Wollongong research online initiative http://ro.uow.edu.au/coal. This pioneeering online access initiative has now being followed by several other mining conferences.
Geomechanics and Engineering, 2021
Discontinuities are known to have a significant impact on the engineering characteristics of the ... more Discontinuities are known to have a significant impact on the engineering characteristics of the rock masses, governing their potential failure pattern, increasing their deformation, and reducing their strength. In particular, the impact of non-persistent joints on the strength and failure mechanism of rock mass needs to be investigated further. The impact of different flaw geometrical characteristics such as flaw inclination, flaw length, flaw aperture, and flaw filling on uniaxial compressive strength of specimens has not been investigated thoroughly. In this paper, a series of uniaxial compression tests were conducted on cylindrical specimens containing an open central flaw. The effect of different parameters such as flaw inclination, flaw length, flaw aperture, and filling on the uniaxial compressive strength of specimens have been investigated through laboratory experiments. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) is adopted to analyze the impact of flaw parameters on the compressive strength of the constructed samples. The results of the experiments show that flaw inclination and flaw length have a significant impact on the peak strength of the samples, meaning that strength increases by growing of flaw angle and decreases by increasing of flaw length. In addition, at a low flaw length, aperture affects the UCS significantly, while by increasing flaw length, its effect decreases dramatically, and strength drops at a flaw inclination of 45 degrees. Conversely, at a higher flaw length, by increasing flaw inclination, the UCS increases constantly. It also has been observed that changing the flaw aperture had no important effect on the peak strength
Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering, 2022
In this research attempts were made to create a mortar with relatively high uniaxial compressive ... more In this research attempts were made to create a mortar with relatively high uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), easy casting, high flexibility, instant hardening, low cost and easy availability. The main use of this material is to physically model the mechanical behavior of jointed rock-like blocks. The effect of four parameters such as joint roughness coefficient (JRC), bridge length (L), bridge angle (γ) and joint inclination (θ) on UCS of non-persistent jointed blocks were studied. For this purpose, 35 cylindrical specimens with a broad range of plaster content (P) and cement content (C) in different ages were tested. In order to increase the strength of blocky specimens, some amounts of retardant and lubricant agents were used. The results demonstrated that the utilization of 3 wt.% (weight percent) lubricant MGAR106 and 0.05 wt.% retardant decreases water content by 12.5% and increases plaster and cement content by 8.3% and 4.17% respectively. Consequently, UCS of blocky speci...
International. Journal of Mining & Geo-Engineering, 2012
Correct estimation of water inflow into underground excavations can decrease safety risks and ass... more Correct estimation of water inflow into underground excavations can decrease safety risks and associated costs. Researchers have proposed different methods to asses this value. It has been proved that water transmissivity of a rock joint is a function of factors, such as normal stress, joint roughness and its size and water pressure therefore, a laboratory setup was proposed to quantitatively measure the flow as a function of mentioned parameters. Among these, normal stress has proved to be the most influential parameter. With increasing joint roughness and rock sample size, water flow has decreased while increasing water pressure has a direct increasing effect on the flow. To simulate the complex interaction of these parameters, neural networks and Fuzzy method together with regression analysis have been utilized. Correlation factors between laboratory results and obtained numerical ones show good agreement which proves usefulness of these methods for assessment of water inflow.
Geomechanics and Engineering, 2021
Discontinuities are known to have a significant impact on the engineering characteristics of the ... more Discontinuities are known to have a significant impact on the engineering characteristics of the rock masses, governing their potential failure pattern, increasing their deformation, and reducing their strength. In particular, the impact of non-persistent joints on the strength and failure mechanism of rock mass needs to be investigated further. The impact of different flaw geometrical characteristics such as flaw inclination, flaw length, flaw aperture, and flaw filling on uniaxial compressive strength of specimens has not been investigated thoroughly. In this paper, a series of uniaxial compression tests were conducted on cylindrical specimens containing an open central flaw. The effect of different parameters such as flaw inclination, flaw length, flaw aperture, and filling on the uniaxial compressive strength of specimens have been investigated through laboratory experiments. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) is adopted to analyze the impact of flaw parameters on the compressive strength of the constructed samples. The results of the experiments show that flaw inclination and flaw length have a significant impact on the peak strength of the samples, meaning that strength increases by growing of flaw angle and decreases by increasing of flaw length. In addition, at a low flaw length, aperture affects the UCS significantly, while by increasing flaw length, its effect decreases dramatically, and strength drops at a flaw inclination of 45 degrees. Conversely, at a higher flaw length, by increasing flaw inclination, the UCS increases constantly. It also has been observed that changing the flaw aperture had no important effect on the peak strength
Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering, 2022
In this research attempts were made to create a mortar with relatively high uniaxial compressive ... more In this research attempts were made to create a mortar with relatively high uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), easy casting, high flexibility, instant hardening, low cost and easy availability. The main use of this material is to physically model the mechanical behavior of jointed rock-like blocks. The effect of four parameters such as joint roughness coefficient (JRC), bridge length (L), bridge angle (γ) and joint inclination (θ) on UCS of non-persistent jointed blocks were studied. For this purpose, 35 cylindrical specimens with a broad range of plaster content (P) and cement content (C) in different ages were tested. In order to increase the strength of blocky specimens, some amounts of retardant and lubricant agents were used. The results demonstrated that the utilization of 3 wt.% (weight percent) lubricant MGAR106 and 0.05 wt.% retardant decreases water content by 12.5% and increases plaster and cement content by 8.3% and 4.17% respectively. Consequently, UCS of blocky speci...
Geomechanics and Engineering, 2019
International. Journal of Mining & Geo-Engineering, 2012
Correct estimation of water inflow into underground excavations can decrease safety risks and ass... more Correct estimation of water inflow into underground excavations can decrease safety risks and associated costs. Researchers have proposed different methods to asses this value. It has been proved that water transmissivity of a rock joint is a function of factors, such as normal stress, joint roughness and its size and water pressure therefore, a laboratory setup was proposed to quantitatively measure the flow as a function of mentioned parameters. Among these, normal stress has proved to be the most influential parameter. With increasing joint roughness and rock sample size, water flow has decreased while increasing water pressure has a direct increasing effect on the flow. To simulate the complex interaction of these parameters, neural networks and Fuzzy method together with regression analysis have been utilized. Correlation factors between laboratory results and obtained numerical ones show good agreement which proves usefulness of these methods for assessment of water inflow.
International. Journal of Mining & Geo-Engineering, 2017
The paper describes an artificial neural network (ANN) model to predict the height of destressed ... more The paper describes an artificial neural network (ANN) model to predict the height of destressed zone (HDZ) which is taken as equivalent to the combined height of caved and fractured zones above the mined panel in longwall mining. For this, the suitable datasets have been collected from the literatures and prepared for modeling. The data were used to construct a multilayer perceptron (MLP) network to approximate the unknown nonlinear relationship between the input parameters and HDZ. The MLP proposed model predicted values in enough agreements with the measured ones in a satisfactory correlation, in which, a high conformity (R2=0.989) was observed. To approve the capability of proposed ANN model, the obtained results are compared to the results of the conventional regression analysis (CRA) method. The calculated performance evaluation indices show the higher level of accuracy of the proposed ANN model compared to CRA. For further evaluation, the ANN model results are compared with t...
Geomechanics and Engineering, 2018
International. Journal of Mining & Geo-Engineering, 2015
Elastic solutions applicable to single underground openings usually suffer from geometry related ... more Elastic solutions applicable to single underground openings usually suffer from geometry related simplification. Most tunnel shapes possess two axes of symmetry while a wide range of geometries used in tunneling practice involve only one symmetry axis. D-shape or horse-shoe shape tunnels and others with arched roof and floor are examples of the later category (one symmetry axis). In the present paper, with the use of conformal mapping, two methods were developed to determine the appropriate mapping functions on which an analytical elastic solution for a tunnel with one vertical axis of symmetry is based. These conformal mapping functions turn complicated geometries into a unit circle for the sake of simplification. These two approaches were introduced into a computer program used for an arbitrary tunnel cross section. Results showed that the second approach has more accuracy and is able to produce any shape, since it uses a nonlinear structure in its constitutive equations. Besides,...
International Journal of Geomechanics
Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment
Journal of Mining and Environment, 2019
Bimrocks are complex geomaterials that are defined as mixtures of rocks composed of geotechnicall... more Bimrocks are complex geomaterials that are defined as mixtures of rocks composed of geotechnically significant blocks within a matrix of finer texture. Bimslopes are made from bimrocks and are usually seen in weathered and shallow environments. Some characteristics of blocks affecting the strength of bimrocks include VBP (Volumetric Block Proportion), orientation, and arrangement, which have important roles in the stability of bimslopes. Previous studies show that bimrocks usually have a specific block size distribution, and for a bimslope with height of “H”, the size of blocks is changed from 0.05H to 0.75H. In this paper, the influence of large blocks position on bimslope stability was investigated by the physical and numerical models. The blocks that had a dimension larger than 0.5H were considered as “large blocks”. In this work, first, thirty physical models were created and tested using a titling table machine. These models have a specific block size distribution and VBP with ...
Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering
Drilling and blasting is widely used in underground excavation projects, where the amount of dama... more Drilling and blasting is widely used in underground excavation projects, where the amount of damage to the surrounding rock mass is crucially important, due to its impact on the safety of working environment and operational costs,. The causes of overbreak in the Alborz Tunnel of Iran are evaluted. In this regard, ten rounds of presplitting and 11 rounds of smooth blasting methods were carried out to determine the dominancy of ground condition over the blasting pattern characteristics. Further study was undertaken to identify the most important parameters of ground condition affecting the overbreak area. These parameters include; joint condition, spacing, orientation, RQD and type of rock mass. As the characteristics of the blasting pattern have very little effect on the amount of overbreak, the smooth blasting technique was chosen for the future operations where the current ground condition is going to be dealt with for about 500 meters of length, based on the data acquired from the Alborz Exploratory Tunnel. Results of this investigation helped to solve disputes between contractors and clients over the issue of permissible overbreak.
Drilling and blasting is widely used in underground excavation projects, where the amount of dama... more Drilling and blasting is widely used in underground excavation projects, where the amount of damage to the surrounding rock mass is crucially important due to its impact on the safety of working environment and operational costs. The causes of overbreak are categorized into three groups namely: geological parametres, drilling accuracy and charging parametres. The present paper focuses on the special case of the Alborz Tunnel of Iran where a discontinuity surface located above the tunnel contour line caused excessive amounts of overbreak in the study area. After introducing the disconformity surface above the tunnel contour line, its impact on the occurrence of excessive amounts of overbreak is discussed. Possible case scenarios for future excavations are pointed outand the problems which may be encountered in each case scenario are predicted. Also, the impact of this special situation on the difficulties faced in working with rock mass classification systems is discussed.
Mine safety in underground coal mines is normally threatened by the likelihood of accident occurr... more Mine safety in underground coal mines is normally threatened by the likelihood of accident occurrence. The outcome of such occurrences includes and is not limited to loss of machinery and equipment, loss of life, injury, disability, and mine closures. In this study, the Risk Priority Number (RPN) has been determined for the Kerman Coal Mine and the main causes of uncertainty found through the RPN. The implementation of a decision tree and a risk management plan considering the causes of accidents has been proposed. Data covering a complete range of every accident occurred during the time period of 2003-2008 has been analyzed and the accidents have been classified and sorted by RPN. It has been shown that amongst all types of incidents, the risk of roof failure is the most probable risk of all. It is concluded that the probability of an accident occurring every 24 days is 95%. It has been shown through the decision tree that due to the high number of accidents, the cost of investing ...
Coal 2012 marks the start of amalgamation of both surface and underground operations under a comm... more Coal 2012 marks the start of amalgamation of both surface and underground operations under a common umbralla of Coal Operators" Conference. It is an apportune time for the amalgamation because of; the increasing expansion of the coal industry activities in both operations, with significant movements of technological knowhow and expertise across the defining line; the engagement of many consulting services in both operations, with many of their members being regular contributors to the Coal Operator"s Conference; the recent mergers of equipment manufacturers with interests in both surface and underground operations. All these make a sensible strategy for better positioning of the conference in the coal mining scene. This year also marks the inauguration of an annual award to indiviuals recognised for their outstaning contributions to the industry, the scince and technology of mining and the Coal Operatorss Conference. The Coal Operators" Conference is growing in acceptance by the industry. The online papers are increasingly accessed from different corners of the world, thanks to the University of Wollongong research online initiative http://ro.uow.edu.au/coal. This pioneeering online access initiative has now being followed by several other mining conferences.
Geomechanics and Engineering, 2021
Discontinuities are known to have a significant impact on the engineering characteristics of the ... more Discontinuities are known to have a significant impact on the engineering characteristics of the rock masses, governing their potential failure pattern, increasing their deformation, and reducing their strength. In particular, the impact of non-persistent joints on the strength and failure mechanism of rock mass needs to be investigated further. The impact of different flaw geometrical characteristics such as flaw inclination, flaw length, flaw aperture, and flaw filling on uniaxial compressive strength of specimens has not been investigated thoroughly. In this paper, a series of uniaxial compression tests were conducted on cylindrical specimens containing an open central flaw. The effect of different parameters such as flaw inclination, flaw length, flaw aperture, and filling on the uniaxial compressive strength of specimens have been investigated through laboratory experiments. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) is adopted to analyze the impact of flaw parameters on the compressive strength of the constructed samples. The results of the experiments show that flaw inclination and flaw length have a significant impact on the peak strength of the samples, meaning that strength increases by growing of flaw angle and decreases by increasing of flaw length. In addition, at a low flaw length, aperture affects the UCS significantly, while by increasing flaw length, its effect decreases dramatically, and strength drops at a flaw inclination of 45 degrees. Conversely, at a higher flaw length, by increasing flaw inclination, the UCS increases constantly. It also has been observed that changing the flaw aperture had no important effect on the peak strength
Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering, 2022
In this research attempts were made to create a mortar with relatively high uniaxial compressive ... more In this research attempts were made to create a mortar with relatively high uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), easy casting, high flexibility, instant hardening, low cost and easy availability. The main use of this material is to physically model the mechanical behavior of jointed rock-like blocks. The effect of four parameters such as joint roughness coefficient (JRC), bridge length (L), bridge angle (γ) and joint inclination (θ) on UCS of non-persistent jointed blocks were studied. For this purpose, 35 cylindrical specimens with a broad range of plaster content (P) and cement content (C) in different ages were tested. In order to increase the strength of blocky specimens, some amounts of retardant and lubricant agents were used. The results demonstrated that the utilization of 3 wt.% (weight percent) lubricant MGAR106 and 0.05 wt.% retardant decreases water content by 12.5% and increases plaster and cement content by 8.3% and 4.17% respectively. Consequently, UCS of blocky speci...
International. Journal of Mining & Geo-Engineering, 2012
Correct estimation of water inflow into underground excavations can decrease safety risks and ass... more Correct estimation of water inflow into underground excavations can decrease safety risks and associated costs. Researchers have proposed different methods to asses this value. It has been proved that water transmissivity of a rock joint is a function of factors, such as normal stress, joint roughness and its size and water pressure therefore, a laboratory setup was proposed to quantitatively measure the flow as a function of mentioned parameters. Among these, normal stress has proved to be the most influential parameter. With increasing joint roughness and rock sample size, water flow has decreased while increasing water pressure has a direct increasing effect on the flow. To simulate the complex interaction of these parameters, neural networks and Fuzzy method together with regression analysis have been utilized. Correlation factors between laboratory results and obtained numerical ones show good agreement which proves usefulness of these methods for assessment of water inflow.
Geomechanics and Engineering, 2021
Discontinuities are known to have a significant impact on the engineering characteristics of the ... more Discontinuities are known to have a significant impact on the engineering characteristics of the rock masses, governing their potential failure pattern, increasing their deformation, and reducing their strength. In particular, the impact of non-persistent joints on the strength and failure mechanism of rock mass needs to be investigated further. The impact of different flaw geometrical characteristics such as flaw inclination, flaw length, flaw aperture, and flaw filling on uniaxial compressive strength of specimens has not been investigated thoroughly. In this paper, a series of uniaxial compression tests were conducted on cylindrical specimens containing an open central flaw. The effect of different parameters such as flaw inclination, flaw length, flaw aperture, and filling on the uniaxial compressive strength of specimens have been investigated through laboratory experiments. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) is adopted to analyze the impact of flaw parameters on the compressive strength of the constructed samples. The results of the experiments show that flaw inclination and flaw length have a significant impact on the peak strength of the samples, meaning that strength increases by growing of flaw angle and decreases by increasing of flaw length. In addition, at a low flaw length, aperture affects the UCS significantly, while by increasing flaw length, its effect decreases dramatically, and strength drops at a flaw inclination of 45 degrees. Conversely, at a higher flaw length, by increasing flaw inclination, the UCS increases constantly. It also has been observed that changing the flaw aperture had no important effect on the peak strength
Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering, 2022
In this research attempts were made to create a mortar with relatively high uniaxial compressive ... more In this research attempts were made to create a mortar with relatively high uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), easy casting, high flexibility, instant hardening, low cost and easy availability. The main use of this material is to physically model the mechanical behavior of jointed rock-like blocks. The effect of four parameters such as joint roughness coefficient (JRC), bridge length (L), bridge angle (γ) and joint inclination (θ) on UCS of non-persistent jointed blocks were studied. For this purpose, 35 cylindrical specimens with a broad range of plaster content (P) and cement content (C) in different ages were tested. In order to increase the strength of blocky specimens, some amounts of retardant and lubricant agents were used. The results demonstrated that the utilization of 3 wt.% (weight percent) lubricant MGAR106 and 0.05 wt.% retardant decreases water content by 12.5% and increases plaster and cement content by 8.3% and 4.17% respectively. Consequently, UCS of blocky speci...
Geomechanics and Engineering, 2019
International. Journal of Mining & Geo-Engineering, 2012
Correct estimation of water inflow into underground excavations can decrease safety risks and ass... more Correct estimation of water inflow into underground excavations can decrease safety risks and associated costs. Researchers have proposed different methods to asses this value. It has been proved that water transmissivity of a rock joint is a function of factors, such as normal stress, joint roughness and its size and water pressure therefore, a laboratory setup was proposed to quantitatively measure the flow as a function of mentioned parameters. Among these, normal stress has proved to be the most influential parameter. With increasing joint roughness and rock sample size, water flow has decreased while increasing water pressure has a direct increasing effect on the flow. To simulate the complex interaction of these parameters, neural networks and Fuzzy method together with regression analysis have been utilized. Correlation factors between laboratory results and obtained numerical ones show good agreement which proves usefulness of these methods for assessment of water inflow.
International. Journal of Mining & Geo-Engineering, 2017
The paper describes an artificial neural network (ANN) model to predict the height of destressed ... more The paper describes an artificial neural network (ANN) model to predict the height of destressed zone (HDZ) which is taken as equivalent to the combined height of caved and fractured zones above the mined panel in longwall mining. For this, the suitable datasets have been collected from the literatures and prepared for modeling. The data were used to construct a multilayer perceptron (MLP) network to approximate the unknown nonlinear relationship between the input parameters and HDZ. The MLP proposed model predicted values in enough agreements with the measured ones in a satisfactory correlation, in which, a high conformity (R2=0.989) was observed. To approve the capability of proposed ANN model, the obtained results are compared to the results of the conventional regression analysis (CRA) method. The calculated performance evaluation indices show the higher level of accuracy of the proposed ANN model compared to CRA. For further evaluation, the ANN model results are compared with t...
Geomechanics and Engineering, 2018
International. Journal of Mining & Geo-Engineering, 2015
Elastic solutions applicable to single underground openings usually suffer from geometry related ... more Elastic solutions applicable to single underground openings usually suffer from geometry related simplification. Most tunnel shapes possess two axes of symmetry while a wide range of geometries used in tunneling practice involve only one symmetry axis. D-shape or horse-shoe shape tunnels and others with arched roof and floor are examples of the later category (one symmetry axis). In the present paper, with the use of conformal mapping, two methods were developed to determine the appropriate mapping functions on which an analytical elastic solution for a tunnel with one vertical axis of symmetry is based. These conformal mapping functions turn complicated geometries into a unit circle for the sake of simplification. These two approaches were introduced into a computer program used for an arbitrary tunnel cross section. Results showed that the second approach has more accuracy and is able to produce any shape, since it uses a nonlinear structure in its constitutive equations. Besides,...