• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.17 no.3 s.68
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• pp.225-233
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• 2007

Because of Norwegian topography as valleys and fjords, a large number of tunnels has been built and 59 of them have been excavated by TBM for last 30 years. Prognosis technology has been developed and improved through lots of TBM experiences, and the NTNU prediction model has been completed. This paper focuses the improvement of net penetration rate and advance rate in 14 Norwegian and 4 Koran TBM tunnelling sites of which data were reported. Through this period, net penetration rate as well as advance rate were increased to double with the improvement of disc cutter size and cutter arrangement in Norway. These rates in Korea were also increased for 15 years even though the rates were lower compared to Norwegian. It is estimated that these low rates were mainly caused by using disc cutters less than 17 inch diameter. It is expected that net penetration rate and advance rate can be increased by improvement of machine and tunnelling technology, especially by using 17 or 19 inch of the disc cutter size in the Korean full face mechanical tunnelling site.

• 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.

• 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.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.161-172
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• 2014

An earth pressure balanced shield TBM with the diameter of 4.4 m was designed and manufactured for a subsea discharge tunnel excavation. Its cutterhead was designed to be optimized for the strongest rock mass condition in the tunnel alignment, and then the applicability of the refurbished shield TBM was validated for its maximum capacity. Especially, the maximum cutter penetration depth for the strongest rock mass condition should be kept to be below 7 mm/rev in order to satisfy the allowable capacities of the shield TBM. From the analysis of TBM advance data, approximately 95% of field data showed the cutter penetration depth below 7 mm/rev. In addition, it was certified that the acting forces of every disc cutter, TBM thrust and torque during TBM driving were within the allowable capacities of the shield TBM and its disc cutters. When real acting forces of the disc cutters in the field were compared with those predicted by the CSM model, they showed the close relationships with each other even though the predictions by the CSM model were approximately 22~25% higher than field data.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.508-517
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• 2011

The linear cutting test is the most reliable and accurate approach to measuring cutting forces and cutting efficiency using full-size disc cutter in various rock types. The result of linear cutting tests can be used to obtain the key parameters of cutter-head design (i.e. optimum cutter spacing, cutter forces). In Korea, LCM (Linear Cutting Machine) tests have been performed for typical Korean rock types, but these studies focused on the isotropic rocktypes. For prediction of TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) performances in complex geological conditions including a bedded and schistose rockmass, it is important to consider the effects of anisotropy of rockmass on cutting performances and cutting efficiency. This study discusses a series of LCM tests that were performed for Asan Gneiss having two types of anisotropy angles to assess the effect of the anisotropy angle on rock-cutting performances of TBM. The result shows that the rock-cutting performances and optimum cutting conditions are affected by anisotropy angle and the effect of anisotropy on rock strength should be considered in a prediction of the cutting performances and efficiency of TBM.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.591-602
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• 2020

Several alternative rock-cutting concepts, which are modified from the conventional ones, have been developed lately. Of the concepts, undercutting is one of the latest technologies. In this study, as a fundamental study on the undercutting technique, the rock-cutting mechanism and important parameters of the undercutting were introduced. This study built up cutting test system for evaluating the cutting performance of an actuated undercutting disc cutter (ADC), and carried out a series of cutting tests under different cutting parameters of ADC. The characteristics of cutter forces obtained from ADC rock-cutting tests were analyzed. The both average and peak values of the three directional cutter forces were linearly increased with the increases of linear velocity, penetration depth in vertical direction and eccentricity of ADC.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.243-253
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• 2022

In this study, the cutting efficiency of TBE (Tunnel Boring Extender) was evaluated by using rotary cutting tester. In the rotary cutting test, a specimen which has a drilled hollow hole at the center was made of rock-like material. The specimen was cut by UDC (undercutting disc cutter) with spiral cutting path to simulate the cutting process of TBE. The cutting forces and specific energy were evaluated under different cutting conditions. The results indicated that the cutter forces of UDC linearly increased with the vertical and radial penetration depths. Among the three directional cutter forces, the normal force is larger than other force components. While the specific energy decreased with the two penetration depths, in particular, it was presumed that the specific energy was minimized at a certain value of the ratio of radial to vertical penetration depth.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.594-609
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• 2023

TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) method is gaining popularity in urban and underwater tunneling projects due to its ability to ensure excavation face stability and minimize environmental impact. Among the prominent models for predicting disc cutter life, the NTNU model uses the Cutter Life Index(CLI) as a key parameter, but the complexity of testing procedures and rarity of equipment make measurement challenging. In this study, CLI was predicted using multiple linear regression analysis and tree-based machine learning techniques, utilizing rock properties. Through literature review, a database including rock uniaxial compressive strength, Brazilian tensile strength, equivalent quartz content, and Cerchar abrasivity index was built, and derived variables were added. The multiple linear regression analysis selected input variables based on statistical significance and multicollinearity, while the machine learning prediction model chose variables based on their importance. Dividing the data into 80% for training and 20% for testing, a comparative analysis of the predictive performance was conducted, and XGBoost was identified as the optimal model. The validity of the multiple linear regression and XGBoost models derived in this study was confirmed by comparing their predictive performance with prior research.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.144-156
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• 2012

This paper discusses the methods of estimating the punch penetration indices and data analysis punch penetration test to estimate the TBM normal force and penetration rate. In punch penetration test is known as a useful test to estimate penetration rates and normal force of TBMs directly with several slope indices indicated drill-ability and brittleness of rocks. However, the standard methods and indices for punch penetration test are not suggested yet. The main purpose of punch penetration test which is prediction of normal force of TBM disc cutter when cutters excavate rock mass. In this study, the punch penetration tests were performed for 6 representative Korean rock types and variety length and diameter of rock core specimens. Among slope indices were obtained from punch penetration test, PLI and MLI which is suggested in this study show high correlation with cutter force measured by full-scale cutting test. The results show that the predicted normal force of a single disc cutter and the experimental error was 10%. Based on these results, it is concluded that punch penetration test is reliable laboratory test for estimating thrust and penetration rates of TBM.