• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.129-139
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• 2018

The Discrete Element Method (DEM) has been widely used in granular material researches. Especially, if material has a large deformation, such as ground, it can be a useful method to analyze. In this study, to simulate ground formations, DEM was used. The main purpose of DEM analysis was to investigate the numerical model which can predict the TBM performance by simulating excavating procedure. The selected EPB TBM has a 7.73 m of diameter and six spokes. And two pre-defined excavation conditions with the different rotation speeds per minute (RPM) of the cutterhead was applied. In the modeled cutterhead, the open ratio of cutterhead was 21.31% and number of cutters (including disc cutter and cutter bit) was 219. From the results, reaction forces and resistant torques at the cutterhead face and cutting tools, were measured and compared. Additionally the muck discharge rate and accumulated muck discharge by the screw auger were evaluated.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.237-248
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• 2014

Linear cutting test is known to be very effective to determine machine parameters (i.e. thrust force and torque) and to estimate penetration rate of TBM and other operation conditions. Although the linear cutting test has significant advantages, the test is expensive and time-consuming because it requires large size specimen and high load capacity of the testing machine. Therefore, a few empirical prediction models (e.g. CSM, NTNU and QTBM) alternatively adopt laboratory index tests to estimate design parameters of TBM. This study discusses the estimation method of TBM machine parameters and disc cutter consumption using punch penetration test and Cerchar abrasion test of which the researches are rare. The cutter forces and cutter consumption can be estimated by the empirical models derived from the relationship between laboratory test result with field data and linear cutting test data. In addition, the estimation process was programmed through which the design parameters of TBM (e.g. thrust, torque, penetration rate, and cutter consumption) are automatically estimated using laboratory test results.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.637-658
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• 2022

TBM tunnel is simple with the iterative process of excavating the ground, building a segment ring-build, and backfilling. Drill & Blast, a conventional tunnel construction method, is more complicated than the TBM tunnel and has some restrictions because it repeats the inspection, drilling, charging, blasting, ventilation, muck treatment, and installation of support materials. However, the preparation work for excavation requires time and cost based on a very detailed plan compared to Drill & Blasting, which reinforces the ground and forms a tunnel after the formation of tunnel portal. This is because the TBM equipment for excavating the target ground determines the success or failure of the construction. If the TBM, an expensive order-made equipment, is incorrectly configured at the assembly stage, it becomes difficult to excavate from the initial stage as well as the main excavation stage. When the assembled shield TBM equipment is dismantled again, and a situation of re-assembly occurs, it is difficult throughout the construction period due to economic loss as well as time. Therefore, in this study, the layout and plan of the site and the assembly process for each major part of the TBM equipment were reviewed for the assembly of slurry shield TBM to construct the largest diameter road tunnel in domestic passing through the Han River and minimized interference with other processes and the efficiency of cutter head assembly and transport were analyzed and improved to suit the site conditions.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.65-85
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• 2023

The use of TBM (Tunnel boring machine) has increased worldwide due to its performance together with the benefit of being safely and environmentally friendly compared to conventional tunneling. In particular, EPB (Earth Pressure Balanced) TBM is widely used because it can be applied to various grounds compared to Open TBM. Also EPB TBM has a simple mechanical structure and advantages in cost, requires less ground area than Slurry TBM. EPB TBM has advantages in soft ground, and more importantly, can extend its applicability by use of appropriate soil conditioning, which improves mechanical and hydrological properties of excavated soil and increases the excavation performance of EPB TBM. Various studies suggested the proper mixing ratio and injection ratio, but almost they are limited to laboratory test under atmospheric pressure such as slump test. Actual field conditions may differ depending on the ground and mechanical condition. In this study, first the amount of used soil conditioning used in the field with various grounds from hard rock to soft ground was estimated through laboratory tests and compared with the estimate in design stage. And also it was compared with the amount used during actual excavation. In addition, experience of soil conditioning for the problems of cutter head clogging and groundwater inrush that occurred during excavation is discussed. Finally, lesson learned for the use of soil conditioning in difficult ground condition such as mixed ground are reviewed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2002.03a
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• pp.157-164
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• 2002

Based on the results of prototype air-shaft construction, penetration capacity of RBM(Raise Boring Machine) was analyzed and compared with TBM(Tunnel Boring Machine) performance in this study. Utilization, down time, net penetration rate and advance rate were evaluated and compared. By conducting the laboratory tests for rock properties with the analysis of penetration capacity, relation of penetration capacity and geotechnical parameters was studied. The results showed that much more higher value of utilization, however lower value of net penetration rate for RBM was obtained compared to those of TBM. In addition, as the strength of rock penetrated increased, higher value of net penetration rate was obtained contrarily to the results of TBM performance. Finally, new relationship between total hardness and net penetration rate for weak and weathered rock was derived from these results.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.494-507
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• 2021

With the increasing use of TBM, research has recently been conducted in Korea to analyze TBM data with machine learning techniques to predict the ground in front of TBM, predict the exchange cycle of disk cutters, and predict the advance rate of TBM. In this study, classification prediction of rock characteristics of slurry shield TBM sites was made by combining traditional rock classification techniques and machine learning techniques widely used in various fields with machine data during TBM excavation. The items of rock characteristic classification criteria were set as RQD, uniaxial compression strength, and elastic wave speed, and the rock conditions for each item were classified into three classes: class 0 (good), 1 (normal), and 2 (poor), and machine learning was performed on six class algorithms. As a result, the ensemble model showed good performance, and the LigthtGBM model, which showed excellent results in learning speed as well as learning performance, was found to be optimal in the target site ground. Using the classification model for the three rock characteristics set in this study, it is believed that it will be possible to provide rock conditions for sections where ground information is not provided, which will help during excavation work.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.217-230
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• 2022

The adequate control of TBM face pressure is of vital importance to maintain face stability by preventing face collapse and surface settlement. An EPB shield TBM excavates the ground by applying face pressure with the excavated soil in the pressure chamber. One of the challenges during the EPB shield TBM operation is the control of face pressure due to difficulty in managing the excavated soil. In this study, the face pressure of an EPB shield TBM was predicted using the geological and operational data acquired from a domestic TBM tunnel site. Four machine learning algorithms: KNN (K-Nearest Neighbors), SVM (Support Vector Machine), RF (Random Forest), and XGB (eXtreme Gradient Boosting) were applied to predict the face pressure. The model comparison results showed that the RF model yielded the lowest RMSE (Root Mean Square Error) value of 7.35 kPa. Therefore, the RF model was selected as the optimal machine learning algorithm. In addition, the feature importance of the RF model was analyzed to evaluate appropriately the influence of each feature on the face pressure. The water pressure indicated the highest influence, and the importance of the geological conditions was higher in general than that of the operation features in the considered site.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.502-517
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• 2022

As the use of TBM increases, research has recently increased to to analyze TBM data with machine learning techniques to predict the exchange cycle of disc cutters, and predict the advance rate of TBM. In this study, a regression prediction of disc cutte wear of slurry shield TBM site was made by combining machine learning based on the machine data and the geotechnical data obtained during the excavation. The data were divided into 7:3 for training and testing the prediction of disc cutter wear, and the hyper-parameters are optimized by cross-validated grid-search over a parameter grid. As a result, gradient boosting based on the ensemble model showed good performance with a determination coefficient of 0.852 and a root-mean-square-error of 3.111 and especially excellent results in fit times along with learning performance. Based on the results, it is judged that the suitability of the prediction model using data including mechanical data and geotechnical information is high. In addition, research is needed to increase the diversity of ground conditions and the amount of disc cutter data.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2008.03a
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• pp.803-812
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• 2008

Along with the increasing demand for automatic and mechanical tunnel excavation methods in Korea, the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) method of tunnel excavation has become increasingly popular. However, in spite of this rising demand, few studies have been performed on the TBM method, in Korea. For this reason, this study focused on evaluation of the applicability of TBM performance prediction models based on field data in order to contribute to the basic and essential parts of TBM designation and the TBM method of tunnel excavation in Korea. These rock properties can be defined as the mechanical and physical factors of rock that have an influence on a disc cutter's ability to cut rock, and provide information for the evaluation of the applicability of field data. Based on outcomes from these tests, applicability of the prediction model was evaluated and the predicted performance of a TBM was compared with real field data obtained from four different TBM construction sites in Korea.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.355-374
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• 2022

Soil conditioning improves the performance of EPB (earth pressure balance) shield TBMs (tunnel boring machines) by reducing shear strength, enhancing workability of the excavated soil, and supporting the tunnel face during EPB tunnelling. The mechanical and rheological behavior of the excavated muck mixed with additives should be properly evaluated to determine the optimal additive injection condition corresponding to each ground type. In this study, the laboratory pressurized vane test apparatus equipped with a vane-shaped rheometer was developed to reproduce the pressurized condition in the TBM chamber and quantitively evaluate rheological properties of the soil specimens. A series of the pressurized vane tests were performed for an artificial sand soil by changing foam injection ratio (FIR) and polymer injection ratio (PIR), which are the injection parameters of the foam and the polymer, respectively. In addition, the workability of the conditioned soil was evaluated through the slump test. The peak and yield stresses of the conditioned soil with respect to the injection parameters were evaluated through the rheogram, which was derived from the measured torque data in the pressurized vane test. As FIR increased or PIR decreased, the workability of the conditioned soil increased, and the maximum torque, peak stress, and yield stress decreased. The peak stress and yield stress of the specimen from the laboratory pressurized vane test correspond to the workability evaluated by the slump tests, which implies the applicability of the proposed test for evaluating the rheological properties of excavated soil.