When movement occurs in active faults

tunnels crossing these faults may sustain varying degrees of damage. Most previous studies failed to consider the impact of tunnel depth and high in-situ stress on tunnels crossing active faults

resulting in findings that are not entirely practical. In this paper

the necessity of solving the anti-dislocation problem of deeply buried tunnels is systematically discussed. Through model tests of tunnels crossing active faults

the differences in failures between deeply buried and shallowly buried tunnels were compared. Additionally

a dislocation test of deeply buried segmented tunnels was conducted to analyze the external stress changes

lining strains

and failure modes of the tunnels. The results are as follows: (1) The overall deformation of both deeply and shallowly buried tunnels exhibits an S-shaped pattern. The most severe damage is concentrated in the fault zone. The failure mode of deeply buried tunnels is primarily characterized by shear and tensile failure

resulting in significant compressive deformation and a larger damaged area. In contrast

shallowly buried tunnels mainly experience shear failure

with the tunnel being sheared apart at the fault crossing. (2) After implementing the hinged design for the deeply buried tunnel

the S-shaped deformation pattern is transformed into a ladder pattern

reducing the strain on the tunnel and the peak stress of the external rock mass

thereby significantly mitigating damages. (3) Through the analysis of the distribution of cracks in the tunnel lining

it is found that the tunnel without a hinged design has suffered from penetrating failure

with cracks affecting the entire lining. The cracks in the hinged tunnel affect approximately 66.6% of the total tunnel length

while those in the tunnel with shorter hinged segments affect only about 33.3% of the total length. Therefore

a deeply buried tunnel with shorter hinged segments can yield a better anti-dislocation effect. (4) By comparing previous studies on shallowly buried hinged tunnels

it is concluded that shallowly buried hinged tunnels will also suffer from deformation outside the fault zone

while the damages to the deeply buried hinged tunnel are concentrated mainly in the fault zone. Therefore

the anti-dislocation protection measures for deeply buried tunnels should be concentrated mainly in the fault zone. These findings can provide theoretical guidance and technical support for the design and reinforcement of tunnels crossing active faults under high stress conditions.