• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.501-513
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• 2020

Cutter cutting tests for the cutter placement in the cutter head are being conducted through various studies. Although the cutter spacing at the minimum specific energy is mainly reflected in the cutter head design, since the optimum cutter spacing at the same cutter penetration depth varies depending on the rock conditions, studies on deciding the optimum cutter spacing should be actively conducted. The machine learning techniques such as the decision tree-based regression model and the SVM regression model were applied to predict the optimum cutter spacing ratio for the nonlinear relationship between cutter penetration depth and cutter spacing. Since the decision tree-based methods are greatly influenced by the number of data, SVM regression predicted optimum cutter spacing ratio according to the penetration depth more accurately and it is judged that the SVM regression will be effectively used to decide the cutter spacing when designing the cutter head if a large amount of data of the optimum cutter spacing ratio according to the penetration depth is accumulated.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.225-235
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• 2013

Cutter forces acting on a disc cutter in TBM are the key parameters for TBM design and its performance prediction. This study aimed to experimentally evaluate cutter forces with different ring shapes in a hard rock. The stiffness of a cutter ring was indirectly estimated from a series of full-scale linear cutting tests. From the experiments, it was verified that the rolling stress acting on a V-shape disc cutter was much higher than on a CCS disc cutter even though the penetration depth by a V-shape disc cutter could be increased in the same cutting condition. Finally, it is suggested that a prediction model considering the shape parameters of a disc cutter should be used for its better prediction.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.181-191
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• 2014

This study aims to evaluate cutter acting forces as well as axial stresses and torques in the shaft of two kinds of disc cutters including a single disc cutter and a double disc cutter with the same cutter ring geometry in a series of linear cutting tests. From the tests, the mean values of normal forces and rolling forces acting on the double disc cutter were approximately twice as high as those from the single disc cutter. Similarly, the mean values of axial stresses in the shaft of the double disc cutter were also twice as high as those from the single disc cutter even though the comparisons of torques from two kinds of disc cutters were insignificant since they showed very low values. However, it is necessary to take the durability of a tapered roller bearing used for the double disc cutter into high consideration since the average normal force from the double disc cutter exceeds the allowable force for a disc cutter with the diameter of 432 mm (17 inches). Finally, there is no practical problem in terms of axial stresses in the shaft of the double disc cutter since they are much lower than the yielding stress of the cutter shaft material, even though the axial stresses in the shaft of the double disc cutter are approximately twice as high as those from the single disc cutter.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2021

In the design of a tunnel boring machine (TBM), the excavation efficiency of the equipment depends on the design of the cutter head, which is directly in contact with the ground. Especially, the allocation of disc cutter is crucial issue. Disc cutters can be divided into center cutter zone, inner cutter zone and transition cutter zone depending on where they are placed. Many studies have been conducted to identify optimal cutting conditions for face cutters. However, research to determine the optimal cutting conditions for the transition cutter has been relatively incomplete. In this study, to identify the optimal cutting conditions for the transition cutter, numerical analysis using discrete element method was performed, and the specific energy curve according to the angle between the transition cutters was drawn to find out the optimum cutting conditions. The results show that the angle between the transition cutters showing minimum specific energy in the transition cutter zone is 9°. Transition cutter zone was divided into three sections according to the slope angle of the transition cutter. It is also found that, the greater the slope angle of the transition cutter. This finding shows good agreement with the present design of transition cutter zone.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.197-213
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• 2012

Disc cutter is a key cutting tool for rock excavation by TBMs. This study aimed to characterize the deformation of a cutter ring by strain measurement as well as infrared thermal camera measurement during a series of linear cutting tests for a hard rock. The strain measurement results indicated that the cutter ring clearly showed a linear elastic behavior. The data obtained from the infrared thermal camera measurement demonstrated that the maximum temperature increase in the cutter ring was below $14.4^{\circ}C$. The deformation and temperature increase of the cutter ring during rock cutting were insignificant in a given cutting test condition of this study.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.403-413
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• 2015

This paper presents the cutter bit damage due to the rotation speed of shield TBM cutter head in the mixed ground. The efficient of cutter bits and disk cutter are very important for tunnelling in mixed ground. In particular, this research is focused on the performance of cutter bits during excavation in mixed ground which is consist of the weathered soil and rock formation. In order to carry out this research, the experimental works are prepared performed by using the scaled shield TBM cutter bits evaluation machine developed. The mixed ground is prepared considering with a scale effect of tunnel size. Three different rotation speeds of shield TBM cutter head (i.e. 2, 3, 4 rpm) are applied in the experimental work. The drag forces acting on the cutter bits are measured at each cutter bit during rotation of cutter head. It is also analysed the variation of drag forces due to the rotation speed of shield TBM cutter head. The results of this research are clearly shown that the drag forces acting on the cutter bits are jumped up at the boundary between weathered soil and rock. It is also indicated that the jamping drag forces are increased with increasing the rotation speed of the cutter head. It is found from the research that the higher rotation speed of shield TBM cutter head will be high risk in the mixed ground. It is, therefore, suggested that the use of lower rotation speed of shield TBM cutter head is recommended for reducing the cutter bit damage in practice.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.573-584
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• 2014

In this study, the variations of cutter acting forces depending on cutting conditions were examined to obtain basic data for roadheader cutting head design. The linear cutting tests were performed in the condition of different attack angles, penetration depths, cutter spacings by using a slim conical pick for the light cutting condition. Cutter acting forces were measured by 3-directional load cell under different test conditions, and the analysis for cutting performance were carried out after calculating average values of the measured results. It is confirmed that the optimal cutting condition for the mortar specimen is the 50 degree attack angle, the cutter spacing of 12 mm, the cutting depth of 9 mm which are obtained from the analysis results. In addition, 50 degree attack angle is more effective than 45 degree attack angle to design optimal specifications of cutting head.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.478-490
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• 2022

TBM disc cutter, which is the main cutting tool of tunnel boring machine (TBM), is replaced when it is excessively worn during the boring process. Disc cutters are usually monitored by workers at cutterhead chamber, and they check the status and wear amount of cutters. Because cutterhead chamber is usually in dangerous circumstance due to high pressure and instability of excavation surface, the measurement by manpower occasionally results in inaccuracy of measurement result. In order to overcome the limitations, the real-time disc cutter monitoring techniques have been developed in some foreign countries. This paper collected the current status of disc cutter monitoring system from the literature. Several types of sensors are used to measure the cutter wear, and it is believed that the collected information can be useful reference when similar domestic technologies are developed in the future.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.81-90
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• 2008

It is of great importance to determine the optimum cutter spacing in TBM. In order to determine the optimum cutter spacing, a series of cutting tests by linear cutting machine (LCM) are performed with changing cutter space. This study showed that a numerical method for estimating the optimum cutter spacing could be developed by AUTODYN-3D in order to overcome the limitation of LCM test. By using this method, the optimum cutter spacing of Hwangdeung granite was estimated.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.553-581
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• 2022

Shortly after tunnel boring machine (TBM) was introduced in the tunneling industry, the use of TBM has surprisingly increased worldwide due to its performance together with the benefit of being safely and environmentally friendly. One of the main cost items in the TBM tunneling in rock and soil is changing damaged or worn cutters. It is because that the cutter change is a time-consuming and costly activity that can significantly reduce the TBM utilization and advance rate and has a major effect on the total time and cost of TBM tunneling projects. Therefore, the importance of accurately evaluating the cutter life can never be overemphasized. However, the prediction of cutter wear in soil, rock including mixed face is very complex and not yet fully clarified, subsequently keeping engineers busy around the world. Various prediction models for cutter wear have been developed and introduced, but these models almost usually produce highly variable results due to inherent uncertainties in the models. In this study, a case study of design and construction of disc cutter change is introduced and analyzed, rather than proposing a prediction model of cutter wear. As the disc cutter is strongly affected by the geological condition, TBM machine characteristic and operation, authors believe it is very hard to suggest a generalized prediction model given the uncertainties and limitations therefore it would be more practical to analyze a real case and provide a detailed discussion of the difference between prediction and result for the cutter change. By doing so, up-to-date idea about planning and execution of cutter change in practice can be promoted.