In order to explore the propagation patterns and characteristics of methane vapor cloud combustion waves in tunnels， the CE/SE （space-time conservation element and solution element） method in LS-DYNA software was employed to establish a pre-mixed explosion model of methane and air in the tunnel， which was validated through experimental data. In this paper， typical combustion waveforms of methane vapor cloud with a concentration 9.5% in different test positions were demonstrated by numerical simulation. The propagation and evolution law of overpressure and temperature was analyzed. The injury effects of overpressure and thermal radiation on human in tunnel were investigated. It was revealed that the combustion pressure wave along the tunnel can be divided into four stages： free expansion， reflection dissipation， wall acceleration， and Mach propagation. The pressure variation presented three characteristics： wall impact rise， reflective decay， and stable propagation. The pressure wave presented a sort of periodical reflection propagation mode radially， while the intensity was declining according to the consumption of methane. The temperature field evolved symmetrically from the ignition point to the tunnel entrance and the peak temperature decayed rapidly along the path. The temperature field radiated from the ignition point to the bottom of the tunnel， leading to a gradual convergence of in a certain section and decreased slowly over time. For the injury effects caused by a combination of combustion overpressure and thermal radiation， the fatal distance was 13.51m， the severe injury distance was 13.51-23.51 m， the moderate injury distance was 23.51-160 m while the concentration of methane vapor cloud was 5%. For the methane vapor cloud with a concentration 6.5%， those distances were 16.46 m， 16.46-45.36 m and 45.36-160 m respectively. As for a concentration 9.5%， the fetal distance was 20.58m and the severe injury distance was 20.58-160 m.