PVC pipe jacking is prone to cause yielding or buckling under the jacking force and may lead to engineering failure. The relationship between the buckling modes, ultimate bearing capacity, different diameter–thickness ratios, and length–diameter ratios of PVC pipe jacking under different load forms was analyzed. The calculation methods for allowable jacking force and the single allowable jacking distance are obtained through theoretical analysis and three-dimensional finite elements. The buckling mode of the pipe under uniform load changes from symmetric buckling to asymmetric buckling and then to the overall Euler buckling form as the length–diameter ratio increases. The ultimate bearing capacity of the pipe approaches the theoretical value of yield failure when L/D $\le$ 6. For L/D $>$ 6, the pipe undergoes buckling, and the ultimate bearing capacity determined by the axial buckling value and the buckling load can be calculated according to the long pipe theory formula when L/D $>$ 8.5. Under eccentric loads, the failure mode transitions from local failure to Euler buckling with increasing pipe length. The ultimate bearing capacity of pipe is obviously lower than that of uniform load, but as the length–diameter ratio increases, this difference decreases until it becomes consistent.

Jacking force is one of the most important parameters in the design and construction of pipe jacking engineering, and cutterhead resistance is an important part of jacking force. Pipe jacking is increasingly applied to rock strata, but there are few calculation models for the jacking force in rock strata and soil–rock strata. For this reason, this article, under the assumption of stable conditions of pipe jacking face, summarizes the cutterhead resistance of soil strata. The rock‐breaking mechanism, stress model, and influence law of cutterhead of rock pipe jacking machine are analyzed. And on this basis, the calculation formula of cutterhead resistance of pipe jacking in rock strata is deduced. And the cutterhead resistance of soil–rock composite strata is determined according to the proportion of strata. Finally, the field measured values and code calculation results are compared with the formula values in this article. The results show: in rock pipe jacking, the compressive and shear strengths of the rock and the depth of the pipe jacking cutter cut into the rock directly determine the value of the cutterhead resistance; and the calculated value of cutterhead resistance of soil–rock composite strata determined according to the strata ratio is consistent with the measured cutterhead resistance, which proves its applicability.