The Π-Formed Diaphragm Wall Construction for Departure and Reception of Shield Machine
, Jun Hu 3, Jingbo Pan 4, Yuwei Wu 3,*, Xingyue Ren 3, Dongling Zeng 5, Zhixin Wang 5 and Shucheng Wang 3
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The paper presents an experimental study and numerical modelling on Π-formed diaphragm wall construction. While there is interesting and original data in this paper, there are several shortcomings in the manuscript. Hence, revision and resubmission for a re-review is recommended, based on the following specific comments:
- The Authors have not included a number of recent important contributions in the related fields, for example:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/775/1/012051
https://dx.doi.org/10.3390%2Fs21217275
- The importance and practical application of the research findings should be included in the manuscript with design recommendations, preferably under a separate heading.
- What about the failure criteria of this type of walls? Limited information is available on this aspect.
- What happens when the wing-walls are of unequal lengths?
- The developed numerical model must be validated with other available solutions and field observations.
- The conclusion should focus on the primary research findings.
Author Response
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Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
This study investigated the support effect of the Π-formed diaphragm wall based on model experiments and numerical simulations. The study is interesting for the engineering application. Some conclusions have been drawn for the practical application. It can be published if the authors would like to answer the following comments.
1. In Section "1. Introduction", more authors' opinions and comments should be added, rather than simply listing the contents of the literature.
2. Is the innovation of this paper insufficient? Please further deepen the study.
3. The numerical model should be presented briefly, such as the number of elements and nodes, strength model, etc.
4 Some sentences need to be improved, such as "In the abstract, the authors stated Π-formed diaphragm walls can effectively.". Please check it carefully.
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
Overall, this is a clear, concise, and well-written manuscript. The introduction is relevant, and theory based. Sufficient information about the previous study findings is presented for readers to follow the present study rationale and procedures. The methods are generally appropriate. Overall, the results are clear and compelling. The paper is generally well written and structured. However, in my opinion the paper has some shortcomings in regard to text. This manuscript needs some modifications before it can be accepted for publication。
Specific comments follow,
- The space should be added before the reference number,
Line 39 52.
- “et al” should be revised to “et al.” on line 53, 55
- “Bakker [8] et al” should be revised to “Bakker et al. [8]” on line 53.
- The font needs to be uniform in Figures 10, 18 and 19.
- 14 and Fig. 15 need to be aligned neatly.
- The authors describe the action of the new support structure on the excavated soil when simulating the forces on the ground link wall during excavation. However, it is necessary to explicitly state the boundary conditions when constructing the numerical model.
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
