Geotechnics for Sustainable Development - Geotec Hanoi 2013, Phung (edt). Construction Publisher.

ISBN 978-604-82-0013-8

Circular diaphragm wall - An additional solution for deep basement

excavation in Vietnam

Duong Thai Phan

Bachy Soletanche Vietnam, HCM City, Vietnam. E-mail: thai.phan.duong@soletanche-bachy.com
Pham Quoc Dung
Bachy Soletanche Vietnam, HCM City, Vietnam. E-mail: quoc.dung.pham@soletanche-bachy.com

Keywords: circular diaphragm wall, hoop stress, circumferential stress, shaft, case history.

ABSTRACT: Circular diaphragm wall (C-Dwall) is constructed by a series of individual rectangular

panels connected with each other by water stop joints to form a circular shape. With the advantage of self-
stabilization under the condition of earth pressure in depths, it does not need lateral supports such as
bracing system, anchors, basement slabs during bulk excavation phases. The excavation works can be
done quickly by bottom up method without any obstruction. Hence, the circular diaphragm wall is often
selected as an alternative option to the conventional diaphragm wall in very deep basements. This paper
aims at discussion in design aspect, construction procedure and potential application of circular
diaphragm walls in Vietnam.

1. INTRODUCTION reduced as shallow as it can be. We do not need to

embed the wall so much to provide stability.
Nowadays many projects with very deep
Thirdly, the hoop force takes an important part in
excavation level are constructed in the urban area.
reduction bending moment and shear force in the
The evaluation of the magnitude and distribution of
wall, resulting to very small steel ratio.
ground movements is an important part of
C-Dwall has been applied for so many kinds of
design process, since excessive movements can
project such as: civil structures, shafts for tunnel
damage adjacent buildings and public utilities. In
bored machine launching or coming, storm water
order to minimize movement of the surrounding
tanks, drinking water reservoirs, pumping stations,
soil, the retaining structures are widely used for
water treatment plants,...
supporting deep excavations due to structural
In Vietnam, the first project that applied C-
advantages.
Dwall is Vietnam Post & Telecom (VNPT) at 57
Retaining structures include: Huynh Thuc Khang Street, Hanoi in 2005. The
 Continuous walls: diaphragm wall, precast wall, design consideration of this wall is also presented.
sheet-piling curtain, slurry cut-off wall, secant
piles wall, etc. 2. DESIGN ASPECT
 Discontinuous walls: Berlinese wall, Parisian The most important feature in C-Dwall is hoop
wall, Lutitian-type wall, Moscow-type wall, etc. resistance. The wall acts like an identical cylinder,
Beside the advantages of conventional resisting earth, water pressure through the
diaphragm wall, C-Dwall also has more benefits. development of hoop stress.
Firstly, it does not need supports such as bracings,
anchors or slabs. The excavation can be done 2.1 Hoop resistance
quickly due to definitely free space on site. The hoop resistance of C-Dwall is depended on
Secondly, the mechanical depth of wall can be two main values: effective thickness and the

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allowable compressive stress of concrete. The hoop where, E is the Young’s modulus of the beam
stress is directly proportional to the cylindrical The shortening of the beam is equal to:
stiffness which is calculated from the wall
Rext  Rint p
thickness, wall diameter and the modulus of the l  2   2Rave  2 Rave Rext
concrete. 2 Et
where, Rint = the internal radius of the beam;
2.1.1 Effective C-Dwall thickness Rave= the average radius of the beam.
Unfortunately, the hoop stress is not easy to The convergence of the beam is equal to:
compute as the wall made of rectangular bites is l p
not perfectly circular. Meanwhile, we intend to Rave   Rave Rext
check the compressive stress on the best inscribed 2 Et
annulus that can fit in the actual concrete area, The ratio between the pressure and the
taking account of the geometry and the deviations convergence is equal to:
that might occur during the excavation of the wall.
p Et
k 
Rave Rave Rext
If the thickness is small compared to the radius
t<<Rext, Rave~Rext the hoop stiffness can be defined:

Et
k cyl 
t
(R  ) 2
Figure 1. Estimation of effective thickness 2
where, kcyl = circumferential/ hoop stiffness;
The effective thickness shall be decreased with E = Young’s modulus of the wall; t = thickness of
the depth due to excavation deviation and the wall; R = Rint = Internal radius of the wall
estimated by following formula:
t = T - 2d
where, t = effective thickness; d = deviation at toe
of wall

2.1.2 Hoop stiffness of C-Dwall

The hoop stiffness or cylindrical stiffness is the
major affecting the distribution of soil pressure,
water pressure, displacement of wall, as well as,
the vertical bending moment, shear force and the
horizontally hoop compression force.
Assuming a circular beam (1.0 m high,
thickness t) subject to a uniform pressure p; the
internal forces in the beam are only a normal force
(hoop force) equal to: Figure 2. Loads on the cross section of C-Dwall
N=pRext
2.1.3 Hoop stiffness of Ring beam
where, Rext is the external radius of the beam. Working as the conventional bracing system, the
The hoop stress in the beam is equal to: ring beam provides the same purpose. It is also
N pRext strengthen the wall by hoop stiffness. A ring beam
s= = of internal radius Rb, thickness tb<<Rb and height
t t
hb has the following stiffness:
The strain in the beam is equal to:
Et b hb
s pRext kb 
e= = t
( Rb  b ) 2
E Et 2

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2.2 Bending Moment and Shear where, pc = critical buckling load; E = Young’s
modulus of the wall; t = thickness of the wall;
As mentioned above, the C-Dwall basically retains
R = Rin t= Internal radius of the wall.
the earth, water pressure in the form of hoop stress.
No extra support is required to balance the external 2.5 Modelling
forces. Theoretically, if the deformation of the wall
along the depth is uniform, no bending moment There is much commercial computer software for
and shear will be induced. In nature, the earth simulating the working of wall due to deep
pressure increases with depth, so is the wall excavation. In this paper, the author would like
deformation. The general equation showing the to use in-house program named PAROI2009, 2D
relationship of bending moment, shear and wall program developed by Soletanche Bachy Group
deformation obtained by means of the finite to analyze the circular diaphragm wall under the
difference method as below: earth and water pressures balanced by passive
pressure below formation level and
dy 4 circumferential stiffness kcyl.
EI  ky   p
dz 4
where, E = Young’s modulus of the wall; I = inertia
product of the wall per linear meter along the wall;
y = wall deformation; z = wall depth; k = c oefficient
of subgrade reaction; p = pressure acting on the wall
Conceptually, the hoop stiffness determines the
wall deformation and then the bending moment
and shear. The larger hoop stiffness provides the
smaller deformation and the bending moment and
shear.

2.3 C-Dwall depth for stability

C-Dwall is a kind of embedded walls. It shall be
Figure 3. Vertical model of a C-Dwall
demonstrate that embedded walls have sufficient
penetration into ground to prevent rotational failure
The analysis is carried out by the finite difference
by equilibrium calculations. Normally, a safety factor
SF=1.3, soil passive resistance over mobilized method to give a solution to the classical equation for
passive pressure, must be provided. For C-Dwall, a beam on a continuous elastic support.
with the present of hoop resistance, the wall can be The first case history of a circular diaphragm
stabilized with a short embedded depth. wall in Vietnam (VNPT Tower in Hanoi, 2005) is
The required depth for the other stability to mentioned below.
prevent the failures such as vertical failure,
hydraulic failure (failure by uplift, failure by 2.5.1 Project information
heave, internal erosion, failure by piping) need to VNPT Tower is located at 57 Huynh Thuc
be studied separately. Khang Street, Hanoi, Vietnam. The building has
25 storeys and 02 basement levels with max.
2.4 Wall Buckling
excavation level is about 12.2m. C-Dwall was
The high compressive hoop stresses in C-Dwall chosen as retaining wall during excavation stages
cause “Buckling” is another important design and be a part of basement wall in permanent
consideration to determine wall diameter, thickness stage also.
and ring beams. Checking a circular wall against Diaphragm wall parameters: internal diameter
buckling is a complicated mater because it is 53.4m; 0.8m thick; 17m deep. There is no bracing
indeed a three dimensional problem. In this paper, system or basement slab were installed in
the authors would like to introduce one simple
excavation phase. The wall can be stabilized by
formula expressed by Timoshenko for estimating
the wall buckling. itself and the strong capping beam at the top of
wall. The capping beam with dimensions 1.5m in
3EI height and 2.0m in width shall connect all
pc 
t individual panels working together and strengthen
(R  ) 3
2 the wall by a large hoop force.

3
2.5.2 Basement cross section and soil parameters 2.5.3 Input data
The idealized cross section herein below: Existing ground level: 0.0m
Ground water level: -2.6m
Internal radius of C-Dwall: R=26.7m
Internal perimeter: 167.8m
Thickness: T = 0.8m
Depth: H = 17.0m
Number of panel: n = 36nos.
Reduction of thickness due to paneling:
1
x  Rx (  1)

cos( )
n
x = 0.099m
Verticality tolerance: v=1/200
Eccentricity tolerance: e= 25mm
Decreasing of thickness: 2(e + Hxv) = 0.22m
Total decreasing of thickness:
0.099 + 0.22 = 0.319m
Effective thickness: t = 0.8 – 0.319 = 0.481m
Young’s modulus: E = 20,000,000 kN/m2
Figure 4. Basement cross section Concrete strength: Rn=13000 kN/m2
The hoop stiffness: kcyl= 13500 kN/m3
The hoop stiffness of capping beam 2.01.5m:
Et b hb 20 x106 x 2 x1.5
kb    84100 kN/m 2
tb 2 2 2
( Rb  ) (25.9  )
2 2

Figure 5. Correlation between soil stiffness and soil Figure 6. C-Dwall layout
characteristics

4
 The method for basement excavation is Bottom- obstruction. The guide wall is also used to support
Up. The sequences are as follow: Install C-Dwall, the steel cages installation.
cast strong capping beam then excavate to the final
level; cast base slab and then basement B1 and 3.2 Polymer slurry preparation
ground floor. Polymers for drilling mud are organic products that
can be used in powder form or in liquid form. When
2.5.4 Calculation results
dispersed into water, macromolecules chains of
The calculation results as shown in figure 7. polymer are hydrated to produce viscosity effect.
Max. bending moment: 128kN.m The polymer is mixed in tank with aerating
Min. bending moment: -55kN.m pipeline and the slurry is stored in silos or
Max. shear force: 107kN reservoirs until used during the excavation. The
Max. displacements: 11mm at level -10.5m characteristics of polymer slurry are specified in
Safety factor of mechanical depth: SF= 1.9 table below.
Max. hoop force is 156kN/m2 at level of -10.5m
Hoop stress in concrete: 8789kN/m2 < Rn Table 2. Polymer characteristics and testing
Using formula expressed by Timoshenko as frequency
mentioned in item 2.5 above, the buckling force is Testing
Properties As Prior to
approximately equal to 775kN/m2 method Fresh
to be supplied placing
and polymer
Factor of safety on buckling is larger than 4.5 measured to trench concrete
apparatus
Density Mud 1.00 to 1.00 to 1.00 to
(g/ml) balance 1.05 1.15 1.10

Viscosity Marsh
40 to 85s 40 to 85s 40 to 85s
(second) cone
Sand
Sand
content NA NA < 3%
screen set
(%)
pH pH paper 8 to 12 8 to 12 8 to 12
Testing Once per Once per Once per
frequency day day trench
Figure 7. Calculation results When the trench is full of polymer slurry,
polymer has tendency to generate membrane to
3. CONSTRUCTION PROCEDURE prevent the trench from osmosis of the
The construction procedures include these steps: underground water because the pressure of
 Guide wall construction polymer slurry is higher than underground water
 Polymer slurry preparation pressure. Polymer pressure makes a stable force to
 Excavation the side of the trench.
 Cleaning bottom of trench
3.3 Excavation
 Install CWS joint & Water stop
 Install reinforcement cages Diaphragm wall will be excavated by a rectangular
 Placing concrete grab, hung up to a crane, operated by cable or
hydraulic system. During the excavation, the polymer
3.1 Guide wall slurry is kept around 0.4m lower than the top level of
guide wall and not less than 1.5m above the ground
Prior to construct the diaphragm wall, the guide
water level. The verticality of the hole is monitored
wall must be built. This guide is reinforced by visual checking of the crane cables during
concrete wall. It is designed according to the successive lowering the grab into the trench.
requirement. The distance between two internal
surfaces of guide wall is 50mm larger than the Besides the visual checking of crane cables,
diameter of diaphragm wall. This space allows the people can also measure the grab cable to check
clamshell grab to excavate properly without verticality of trench (applying for hydraulic crane

5
and mechanic crane). The distance between the soil particles in the excavation trench will be waited
cable and the internal sides of guide wall will be for the suspended particles settling at the bottom.
measured. The interval is carried out every 5m During the waiting time, the bottom is
after completion of one bite. The soil sample is thoroughly cleaned by the clamshell if the
also taken every 5m. Based on these soil samples, sediment is higher than 100mm. This step
we can compare the real soil properties with the continuously is repeated until the slurry reaches all
value shown on soil investigation report. characteristics before concreting.

3.5 Install CWS joint system

The CWS joint is a steel formwork which is
installed with water stop. The depth of water stop
is based on the calculation of designer. The CWS
joint is a stop end extracted sideways when
excavating the adjacent panel, thus bringing a
positive answer to the problems encountered when
extracting sliding forms.
During the bottom cleaning period after
excavation is completed, CWS joints are installed
at the end of the excavated panels, primary panels
having a joint at both ends and successive panels at
Figure 8. Construction C-Dwall one end. The CWS joint will be lowered down
deeper than the bulk excavation level in basement
There are three types of panel: primary panel, construction period.
successive panel and closing panel The CWS joint is a stop end form extracted
laterally. A rubber water stop is incorporated into
the joint prior to placing the CWS joint into the
excavated panel and kept tight by wood pattern.
The CWS joint is left in place at the end of the
panel while the adjacent panel is being excavated.
The excavation equipment is then guided by and
Figure 9. Primary – Successive – Closing panel removes the CWS during excavation of the
subsequent panel.
3.3.1 Primary panel The use of the CWS joint system brings four
The design length of primary panels (with two CWS main advantages to the construction of better
formers) is consistent with either the minimum length quality diaphragm walls:
possible for the size of grab (2.8m) necessary to  Stop end removal is totally independent from
excavate or full bites at each end of the panel with a concrete placement operation. It allows better
small bite remaining to complete the excavation at site efficiency organization and planning.
the centre of the panel (>5.6m).  An excellent guide is provided for the
excavation of the adjacent panel.
3.3.2 Successive panel  It allows the installation of a rubber water stop.
 As the CWS form is left in place at the end of a
The panel which is equipped with only one CWS panel while the next panel is being excavated, it
joint former is a successive panel. protects the concrete of the previous panel.
Therefore the geometry, the cleanliness and the
3.3.3 Closing panel quality of the joint is excellent.
The closing panel is located between two panels
already cast. The closing panel is not installed CWS. 3.6 Install reinforcement cages
Reinforcement cages are pre-fabricated (and
3.4 Cleaning bottom of Trench delivered to site if fabricated outside), and upon
The excavation is finished when reaching the completion of bottom cleaning and installation of
required depth. The polymer slurry that mixed with CWS joints, the cages are lowered into the slurry
trench by crawler crane.

6
 The starter bars which are embedded in rebar  It requires particular equipments to construct
cage are covered by a polyform and plywood. and control the quality. The verticality control is
When the basement contractor is constructing the the most important one as it influences directly
next phase, the polyform and plywood are removed the effective thickness of wall.
and the starter bars are found easily.  As a circular shape, the basement area may not be
used as effective as conventional diaphragm wall.
3.7 Placing concrete Table 3. C-Dwall projects constructed worldwide
Concrete is poured into the trench through tremie Thickness Depth Diameter
Project
pipes. The tremie is attached with funnel lead directly (m) (m) (m)
concrete to bottom of trench. The mixed concrete is Levesque Tank,
0.6 20.0 22.0
poured directly to funnel from trucks, pouring France
concrete to funnel sides (not directly pour a line to Bordeaux Pkg Gds
0.8 24.5 57.0
the bottom). At the bottom of funnel, the polymer Hommes, France
slurry and the concrete are kept in separate by spongy A86 – Carrousel
1.0 65.0 7.8
plug or cellulose plug in order to prevent the concrete Shaft, France
from imputable by polymer slurry. Beni Haroun STEP,
1.0 55.0 28.0
As the level of concrete in the trench rises, the Algeria
tremie pipe column is raised whilst always Huang Pu Bridge,
1.2 44.0 73.0
ensuring a minimum 3m embedment into the China
concrete in order to avoid polymer inclusions. Lee Tunnel, UK 1.5 90.0 20.0
Mixed concrete with slump suits to tremie method International
is poured into funnel with a slowly and steady line. In Finance Centre, 1.5 70.0 61.5
the progress, concrete level is continuously checked Hongkong, China
by dropping reference. The results are showed on the HongKong Package
1.5 89.0 76.0
monitoring chart includes depth and volume. When 7 Tower, China
necessary, some of the tremie pipes will be cut to Zeebrugge Gas
1.5 39.5 90.5
ensuring tremie embedded into concrete 3m as least. Terminal, Belgium
By this way, the concrete will rise up and replace
polymer slurry in trench, and tremie embedment in Leaving some limitations as discussed above,
the concrete control will prevent the mixing of the with the advantage of self-stabilization under earth,
polymer and concrete. water pressure, C-Dwall gives an additional
While casting concrete, a diary chart (time solution for deep basement excavation in Vietnam.
delivery, volume and level) is recorded. The
advantages of diary chart are given the quantity
prediction of concrete, preventing the high waste
material percentage. In another hand, the diary
chart also show the level where the bulged concrete
is existing, and it helps to estimate the equipment,
material and manpower for remedial work later.
Test samples are taken to assess the strength of
concrete at 28 days.

4. POTENTIAL APPLICATION IN VIETNAM

C-Dwall was applied in many projects all over the
world. The summarized table below shows a partial
list of recent C-Dwall constructed worldwide Figure 10. International Finance Centre, Hongkong,
In Vietnam, so far there is only VNPT project China
utilized this C-Dwall. This wall has not been
widely applied due to following reseasons: Potential use of C-Dwall wall for launching shafts
 This wall is new technique. The local engineers for TBMs in metro system shall be constructed in
may not be familiar both in design and Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in the near future. The
construction. shaft shall create a perfect box for TBM launching or

7
passing through in significant depth that no
conventional diaphragm wall can make.
This wall can also be applied for big
underground car parks and environmental projects
in urban areas. Besides the development of cities,
the number of cars will increase. Therefore the
deep, large car parks are necessary. The treatment
of the environment in urban areas also takes in
account. These problems give a good opportunity
for the application of C-Dwall in Vietnam.

5. CONCLUSION
This paper provided an overview of circular
diaphragm wall in design, construction and
potential application in Vietnam. The C-Dwall
works probably if we have a good control quality
in construction. Leaving some small limitations,
the circular diaphragm wall, with the advantage of
self-stabilization under the condition of earth
pressure in depths, gives an additional solution for
deep basement excavation in Vietnam.

6. REFERENCES
Bachy Soletanche Program Manual “Paroi 2”
Bachy Soletanche Program Manual “Cacao”
Virollet B. and Gilbert C., Soletanche-Bachy,
Nantarre, France, and Deschamps R., Nicholson
Construction, Pittsburgh, PA. Recent advances
in large diameter diaphragm wall.
Bruce D. A., Chan P.H.C. and Tamaro G.J.,
Design, construction and performance of a deep
circular diaphragm wall, ASTM International
Symposlum, Alantic City, NJ, June 27-28, 1991
CIRIA C580 (2003), Embedded retaining walls –
Guidance for economic design.
Davis & Hanbol (1980), Measured ground
movement due to Diaphragm wall construction
at chapter station, HK.
Gilbert C., Recommendations for the design of
circular diaphragm walls
Markham P. D., The design of temporary
excavation support to Eurocode 7, Proceedings
of the ICE - Geotechnical Engineering, Volume
165, Issue 1, 01 February 2012 , pages 3 –12
Roger, Bachy Soletanche Group. Design of
circular diaphragm wall.
Timoshenko, S. and Gere, J. (1961) Theory of Elastic
Stability, McGraw Hill, New York, 2nd Edition.