Abstract:By analysis of the internal force components in longitudinal and cross sections of a circular tunnel and their correlations under uneven subsidence,based on the elastic foundation beam(EFB) theory and potential theory,the concept of longitudinal shear transfer and its solution are proposed. In addition,additional internal forces produced by longitudinal shear transfer under 4 typical forms of subsidence are analyzed and it¢s concluded that the additional internal forces vary significantly with the subsidence forms and the critical values turn out not to be at the places of maximum subsidence. It¢s suggested that the effect of longitudinal shear transfer should be taken into consideration for improved tunnel design.