Abstract: To address the problems of low efficiency, complex procedures, and low mechanization in the cast-in-place construction of the drilling and blasting method tunnel, taking a single-track railway tunnel designed for the speed of 200 km/h as the engineering context, this study analyzed the structural form of prefabricated inverted arches and their stress behavior and failure characteristics under different circumferential connection methods with numerical simulation and model testing. The results indicated that the single-panel triple-arch configuration offered significant advantages over the double-panel scheme, including superior integrity and simplified construction, while optimizing the reinforcement scheme for safe and reliable lining structures. The form of circumferential joints significantly influenced the failure mode of precast invert arches. Z-shaped and convex joints, exhibiting favourable mechanical stress transfer properties, primarily demonstrated crushing and shear failure. In contrast, flat joints and conical connections, due to insufficient bonding strength, exhibited displacement failure at the joint interface. The surrounding rock pressure borne by the crown of the lining structure was essentially equivalent across different circumferential joint types. However, Z-shaped and convex joints exhibited pronounced stress concentration at the invert, bearing approximately 200% of the actual applied pressure, whereas flat and conical joints at the invert only bore about 20%.