• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.214-225
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• 2020

Uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) of rock is one of the important factors to determine the advance speed during shield TBM tunnel excavation. UCS can be obtained through the Geotechnical Data Report (GDR), and it is difficult to measure UCS for all tunneling alignment. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to predict UCS by utilizing TBM machine driving data and machine learning technique. Several machine learning techniques were compared to predict UCS, and it was confirmed the stacking model has the most successful prediction performance. TBM machine data and UCS used in the analysis were obtained from the excavation of rock strata with slurry shield TBMs. The data were divided into 8:2 for training and test and pre-processed including feature selection, scaling, and outlier removal. After completing the hyper-parameter tuning, the stacking model was evaluated with the root-mean-square error (RMSE) and the determination coefficient (R²), and it was found to be 5.556 and 0.943, respectively. Based on the results, the sacking models are considered useful in predicting rock strength with TBM excavation data.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.1039-1048
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• 2018

In urban tunnel construction, most of the Shield TBM method is applied to secure the safety of buildings and to minimize risks. On the other hand, in the urban development process, landfills are often embanked or improving in many cases, so that the boundary between the surface and the rock is often heterogeneous. In case of ground condition such as alluvial soil, granite, decomposed granite, core stone and rock with various layers, datas on shield TBM advancing according to each ground condition are analyzed, The characteristics of machine load were compared and analyzed. As a result, it can be predicted that the change of ground condition can be predicted by the tendency of discharge volume, thrust force and cutting wheel torque when the cutter is checked and replaced regularly on advancing under maintaining the design slurry pressure.

• Journal of the Architectural Institute of Korea Structure & Construction
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.35-42
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• 2018

In order to seek out methods to reduce safety accidents caused by construction machinery and equipment, this study collects data about safety accidents and draws main risk factors by construction from the data, through SNA. It aimed to suggest safety management points to be used in future construction fields, by analyzing risk index of such factors. The finding can be summarized: First, Backhoe Bucket is the risk factor for crash accidents of average workers in earth works; boring machines-maintenance is the risk factor for fall accidents of construction machinery operators in foundation works; bending machine-reinforcing rod processing is the risk factor for jamming accidents of reinforcing rod engineers in frame works; and mobile crane-hook is the risk factor for crash accidents of average workers in lifting works. Second, works can be arranged in turn, according to the risk index: earth, lifting, frame and foundation works. Risk factors can be also arranged according to the risk index: Backhoe in earth works, pile drivers in foundation works, bending machines in frame works and mobile cranes in lifting works. This study has some limits, in that it only analyzed main machinery/equipment, among various kinds of them, for earth, foundation, frame and temporary works (lifting works) and used data collected over three years. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct an analysis using big data, by collecting additional data about a lot of machinery/equipment in future construction fields.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.257-272
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• 2016

It is usually not an easy task to counter-measure on time and appropriately when confronting with troubles in mechanized tunnelling job-sites because of the limitation of available spaces to perform those actions with the existence of disk cutter, cutter head, chamber and other various apparatus in Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM). So, it is important to predict the ground condition ahead of a tunnel face during tunnel excavation. Efforts have been made to utilize geophysical methods such as elastic wave survey, electromagnetic wave survey, electrical resistivity survey, etc for predicting the ground condition ahead of the TBM tunnel face. Each prediction method among these geophysical methods has its own advantage and disadvantage. Therefore, it might be needed to apply several geophysical methods rather than just one to predict the ground condition ahead of the tunnel face in the complex and/or mixed grounds since those methods will compensate among others. The problem is that each prediction method will give us different answer on the predicted ground condition; how to combine different solutions into a most reasonable and representative predicted value might be important. Therefore, in this study, we proposed a methodology how to systematically combine each prediction method utilizing probabilistic analysis as well as analytic hierarchy process. The proposed methods is applied to a virtual job site to confirm the applicability of the model to predict the ground condition ahead of the tunnel face in the mechanized tunnelling.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.151-163
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• 2011

The LCM test is one of the most powerful and reliable methods for designing the disc cutter and for predicting the TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) performance. It has an advantage to predict the actual load on disc cutter from the laboratory test on the real-size large rock samples, however, it also has a disadvantage to transport and/or prepare the large rock samples and to need an extra cost for experiment. Moreover it is not easy to execute the test for jointed rock mass, and sometimes the design model estimated from the test can not be applied to the real design of disc cutter. In order to break this critical point, lots of numerical studies have been performed. PFC2D can simulate crack propagation and rock fragmentation effectively, because it is useful in particle flow analysis. Consequently, in this study, the PFC2D has been adopted for numerical analysis on cutting power of disc cutter according to the different angle of joint, the different direction of joint, and the different space of joint with jointed rock mass models. From the numerical analyses, it was concluded that the bigger cutting power of disc cutter was needed for reverse cutting direction to joint rather than for forward direction, and the cutting power of disc cutter was increased with decreasing the dip angle of joint and decreasing the space of joints in reverse cutting direction. The more precise numerical model for disc cutter can be developed from comparison between the numerical results and LCM test results, and the resonable guideline is expected for prediction of TBM performance and disc cutter.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.201-209
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• 2003

For the purpose of research study, a vertical shaft of 98m in length and 3.05m in diameter was constructed in the layer of conglomerate by using the Raise Boring Machine (RBM). In order to estimate the net penetration rate of the RBM, which can be used in the stage of design, the in-situ test results were analysed and correlated to data from the boring log in situ and laboratory testing. Its average net penetration rate is 2.233mm/rev while its average advance rate is 0.382m/hr, which is lower than that of TBM(Tunnel Boving Machine). It turns out that the net penetration rate increases with the increase of strength characteristics in rock mass (e.g., uniaxial compression strength, tensile strength, etc.). Similarly, the net penetration rate increases linearly with the hardness of rock mass. These results are contrary to the results of the previous construction sites where the TBM was generally used in the layer of hard rock. However, the trend obtained in this study is in accordance with the findings of Barton suggesting the relationship between Q$_TBM$ and penetration rate in the layer of soft rock. Thus, the trend is valid in soft and/or weathered rocks.

• 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.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.549-560
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• 2021

Forces exerted on a shield TBM (tunnel boring machine) such as cutter head torque, thrust force, chamber pressure, and upward force are key factors determining TBM performance. However, the forces acting on the TBM when tunnelling the mixed ground have different tendencies compared to that of the uniform ground, which could impair TBM performance. In this study, the effect of mixed ground tunnelling was numerically investigated with torque, thrust force, chamber pressure, and upward force. A coupled discrete element method (DEM) and finite difference method (FDM) model for TBM driving model was used. This numerical study simulates TBM tunnelling in mixed ground composed of upper weathered granite soil and lower weathered rock. The effect on the force acting on the TBM according to the location and slope of the boundary of the mixed ground was numerically examined.

• 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.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.285-303
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• 2023

Interest in building underground spaces is increasing for the creation of downtown infrastructure and efficient space utilization. A representative method of utilizing underground space is a tunnel, and in addition to road tunnels, the construction of utility tunnels such as power conduits and utility conduits is gradually increasing. The current basic tunnel construction method can be divided into NATM (New Austrian Tunnelling Method) and TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine). The NATM is a reliable method, but it is accompanied by vibration and noise due to blasting. In the case of the TBM excavation method, there are disadvantages in terms of construction period and construction cost, but it is possible to improve economic feasibility by introducing appropriate complementary methods. In this study, a blasting method was develop using the NATM after TBM pre-excavation using the protective shield method. This is a method that compensates for the disadvantages of each tunnel construction method, and is expected to reduce construction costs, blasting vibration, and noise. In order to review the performance of the developed method, an experiment was conducted to evaluate the performance of explosion-proof tube to which a protective shield scale model was applied, and the impact of blasting vibration of the protective shield method was analyzed.