• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2016

When utilizing a Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) for tunnelling work, unexpected ground conditions can be encountered that are not predicted in the design stage. These include fractured zones or mixed ground conditions that are likely to reduce the stability of TBM excavation, and result in considerable economic losses such as construction delays or increases in costs. Minimizing these potential risks during tunnel construction is therefore a crucial issue in any mechanized tunneling project. This paper proposed the potential risk events that may occur due to risky ground conditions. A resistivity survey is utilized to predict the risky ground conditions ahead of the tunnel face during construction. The potential risk events are then evaluated based on their occurrence probability and impact. A TBM risk management system that can suggest proper solution methods (measures) for potential risk events is also developed. Multi-Criterion Decision Making (MCDM) is utilized to determine the optimal solution method (optimal measure) to handle risk events. Lastly, an actual construction site, at which there was a risk event during Earth Pressure-Balance (EPB) Shield TBM construction, is analyzed to verify the efficacy of the proposed system.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.379-393
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• 2019

For the economical construction of a tunnel by TBM, the selection of TBM optimized with the various project conditions is important, and also necessary to predict the performances of selected TBM in advance. This study was conducted to comprehensively evaluate the performance of the EPB shield TBM screw conveyor by the discrete element method. The sticky particles were used for the excavated material models, and screw conveyor with 11 different inclined angles were simulated to evaluate the performance depending on the different inclined angles. The four different rotational speed conditions of the screw were used, and torque, required power, extra energy for muck discharge, and the muck discharge rate were selected as four performance indicators. As a result, the optimized inclined angle was selected, and selected angle accords with the fact that EPB shield TBM screw conveyor is generally installed and adjusted at the inclined angle between 20.0° and 30.0° in the field.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.540-550
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• 2020

Machine learning has been actively used in the field of automation due to the development and establishment of AI technology. The important thing in utilizing machine learning is that appropriate algorithms exist depending on data characteristics, and it is needed to analysis the datasets for applying machine learning techniques. In this study, advance rate is predicted using geotechnical and machine data of TBM tunnel section passing through the soil ground below the stream. Although there were no problems of application of statistical technology in the linear regression model, the coefficient of determination was 0.76. While, the ensemble model and support vector machine showed the predicted performance of 0.88 or higher. it is indicating that the model suitable for predicting advance rate of the EPB Shield TBM was the support vector machine in the analyzed dataset. As a result, it is judged that the suitability of the prediction model using data including mechanical data and ground information is high. In addition, research is needed to increase the diversity of ground conditions and the amount of data.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.183-198
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• 2021

The EPB (Earth Pressure Balanced) shield TBM method restrains the ground deformation through continuous excavation and support. Still, the significant surface settlement occurs due to the ground conditions, tunnel dimensions, and construction conditions. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify the settlement behavior with its influence factors and evaluate the possible settlement during construction. In this study, the analytical model of surface settlement based on the influence factors and their mechanisms were proposed. Then, the parametric study for controllable factors during excavation was conducted by numerical method. Through the numerical analysis, the settlement behavior according to the construction conditions was quantitatively derived. Then, the qualitative trend according to the ground conditions was visualized by coupling the numerical results with the analytical model of settlement. Based on the results of this study, it is expected to contribute to the derivation of the settlement prediction algorithm for EPB shield TBM excavation.

• 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.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.29-39
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• 2023

As the intensity of urban underground space development increases, more and more tunnels are planned and constructed, and sometimes it is inevitable to encounter situations where tunnels have to underpass the river embankments. Most previous studies involved tunnels passing river embankments perpendicularly or with large intersection angle. In this study, a project case where two EPB shield tunnels with 8.82 m diameter run parallelly underneath a river embankment was reported. The parallel length is 380 m and tunnel were mainly buried in the moderate / slightly weathered clastic rock layer. The field monitoring result was presented and discussed. Three-dimensional back-analysis were then carried out to gain a better understanding the interaction mechanisms between shield tunnel and embankment and further to predict the ultimate settlement of embankment due to twin-tunnel excavation. Parametrical studies considering effect of tunnel face pressure, tail grouting pressure and volume loss were also conducted. The measured embankment settlement after the single tunnel excavation was 4.53 mm ~ 7.43 mm. Neither new crack on the pavement or cavity under the roadbed was observed. It is found that the more degree of weathering of the rock around the tunnel, the greater the embankment settlement and wider the settlement trough. Besides, the latter tunnel excavation might cause larger deformation than the former tunnel excavation if the mobilized plastic zone overlapped. With given geometry and stratigraphic condition in this study, the safety or serviceability of the river embankment would hardly be affected since the ultimate settlement of the embankment after the twin-tunnel excavation is within the allowable limit. Reasonable tunnel face pressure and tail grouting pressure can to some extent suppress the settlement of the embankment. The recommended tunnel face pressure and tail grouting pressure are 300 kPa and 550 kPa in this study, respectively. However, the volume loss plays the crucial role in the tunnel-embankment interaction. Controlling and compensating the tunneling induced volume loss is the most effective measure for river embankment protection. Additionally, reinforcing the embankment with cement mixing pile in advance is an alternative option in case the predicted settlement exceeds allowable limit.

• Computational Structural Engineering
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.199-207
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• 1996

In the past decade soft clay shield tunneling technology have been improved to permit continuous support to the face of a tunnel. These advanced shield can be operated such that an initial heaving is created, this helps to decrease the inward soil movement into the tail void. In this paper, the measurement of slurry shield and EPB shield were used and two dimensional elasto-plastic programs EPSHILD developed for shield tunnel analysis were approved. The excavation steps corresponding with construction stages were settled and heaving load, load factors were considered. This study is based on the instantaneous settlement which is occured in the process of shield construction but not the secondary settlement by consolidation.

• 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.214-220
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• 2003

Pipe jacking is a name for a method to excavate a tunnel by pushing pipe into the ground from an especial pit. Size of tunnels in this method is different from under 900mm (microtunneling) to more than 3,000mm. Method of excavation is also different from hand digging to use of any kind of tunnel boring machines such as slurry and earth pressure balance (EPB) machines. Slurry pipe jacking was firmly established as a special method for the nondisruptive construction of the underground tunnels in urban area. During the pipe jacking and microtunneling process, the jacking load is an important parameter, controlling the pipe wall thickness, need to and location of intermediate jacking station, selection of jacking frame and lubrication requirements. The main component of the jacking load is due to frictional resistance. In this paper the skin friction between pipe surface and surrounding condition also lubricant quality based on a few fundamental tests, were considered. During this study unconfined compressive strength test, dynamic friction measurement test and direct shear box test were raised for one of the largest diameter slurry pipe jacking project in Fujisawa city in Japan. It could be concluded that in slurry pipe jacking, prediction of frictional forces are mainly dependent on successful lubrication, its quality and lubricant strength parameters. Conclusions from this study can be used for the same experiences.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.1029-1044
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• 2017

The Discrete Element Method (DEM) is one of the useful numerical methods to analyze the behavior of the ground formation by computing the motion and interaction using particles. The DEM has not been applied in civil engineering but also a wide range of industrial fields, such as chemical engineering, pharmacy, material science, food engineering, etc. In this study, to review a performance of the spoke-type earth pressure balance (EPB) shield TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine), the commercial software based on the DEM technology was used. An analysis of the TBM during excavation was conducted according to two pre-defined excavation conditions with the different rotation speed of a cutterhead. During the analysis, the resistant torque at the face of the cutterhead, the compressive force at the cutterhead and shield surface, the muck discharge at the screw auger were measured and compared. Upon the two kinds of excavation conditions, the applicability of the DEM analysis was reviewed as a modelling method for the TBM.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.127-136
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• 2019

Tunnel construction by TBMs should be supported by the performance of a screw conveyor in order to obtain the optimum penetration rate, so studies related to the screw conveyor performance have been being conducted. Compared to the study on the performance of the screw conveyor for the soil, however, the research on the performance of the screw conveyor for the rock is insufficient. Considering the domestic tunnel sites with more rock layers than soil layers, simulation of discharge of 6 types of rock chips by the screw conveyor was conducted using DEM. Regardless of the shape and volume of the rock chips, the discharge rates of the rock chips by the parallel placed screw conveyor at a speed of 10 RPM in the same rock mass were about 20% (standard deviation: 1.3%) of the maximum volume of discharge rate by the screw conveyor. It is expected that this study can be used as a reference material for screw conveyor design and operation in TBM excavations in rock masses.