Abstract: On the basis of previous studies by other researchers, elasticplastic finite element method is employed to investigate the complicated tunneling problem. Using selfcoded program, the uniform finite element model is developed to study the characteristic of soiltunnelling interaction. The influences of forcecontolled finite element method and displacementcontrolled finite element method on soil free displacement field are compared. Results show that forcecontrolled method is better in simulating the enginnering process, while the displacementcontrolled method is simply available and the results are closer to real measurement. Both methods can be used in engineering projects.

Key words: engineering mechanics, tunneling, force controlled, displacement controlled, FEM, ground loss