• 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.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.30-42
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• 2024

This study examined the jack-up spudcan penetration for a new type of offshore wind substructure newly proposed using the jack-up concept to reduce construction costs. The jack-up spudcan for offshore wind turbines should be designed to penetrate a stable soil layer capable of supporting operational loads. This study evaluated multi-layered soil conditions using centrifuge tests: loose sand over clay and loose sand-clay-dense sand. The penetration resistance profiles of spudcan recorded at the centrifuge tests were compared with the ISO and InSafeJIP methods. In the tests, a spudcan punch-through effect slightly emerged under the sand-over-clay condition, and a spudcan squeezing effect occurred in the clay-over-sand layer. On the other hand, these two effects were not critically predicted using the ISO method, and the InSafeJIP result predicted only punch-through failure. Nevertheless, ISO and InSafeJIP methods were well-matched under the conditions of the clay layer beneath the sand and the penetration resistance profiles at the clay layer of centrifuge tests. Therefore, the ISO and InSafeJIP methods well predict the punch-through effect at the clay layer but have limitations for penetration resistance predictions at shallow depths and strong stratum soil below a weak layer.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.391-399
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• 2020

Brittleness is one of the most important properties of rock which has a major impact not only on the failure process of intact rock but also on the response of rock mass to tunneling and mining projects. Due to the lack of a universally accepted definition of rock brittleness, a wide range of methods, including direct and indirect methods, have been developed for its measurement. Measuring rock brittleness by direct methods requires special equipment which may lead to financial inconveniences and is usually unavailable in most of rock mechanic laboratories. Accordingly, this study aimed to develop a new strength-based index for predicting rock brittleness based on the obtained base form. To this end, an innovative algorithm was developed in Matlab environment. The utilized algorithm finds the optimal index based on the open access dataset including the results of punch penetration test (PPT), uniaxial compressive and Brazilian tensile strength. Validation of proposed index was checked by the coefficient of determination (R²), the root mean square error (RMSE), and also the variance for account (VAF). The results indicated that among the different brittleness indices, the suggested equation is the most accurate one, since it has the optimal R², RMSE and VAF as 0.912, 3.47 and 89.8%, respectively. It could finally be concluded that, using the proposed brittleness index, rock brittleness can be reliably predicted with a high level of accuracy.

• 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.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.29-41
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• 2023

The brittleness of rocks plays an important role in determining the fragmentation and failure behavior of rock. However, there is still no standard method to evaluate the brittleness of rock, and previous studies have suggested the several definitions for estimation of brittleness of rock. Even in the process of mechanical rock excavation and drilling, the brittleness of rock is considered as an important property for evaluating the excavation efficiency of mechanical excavators or boreability of rock. The previous studies have been carried out to investigate the correlation between different brittleness of rock and cutting efficiency and boreability of rock. This study introduced a method for calculating the brittleness of rock from punch penetration test, and analyzed the correlation between the brittleness of rock calculated by the uniaxial compressive and Brazilian tensile strengths and that from punch penetration test. From the results of correlation analysis, the relationship between various brittleness was confirmed, and it was found that PSI and BI₃ showed a good correlation with the strength-based brittleness index. In addition, the results indicated that B₃ and B₄ are suitable to represent the brittleness of rock in the field of mechanical rock excavation.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.279-289
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• 2023

Brittleness index (BI) is an important property of rocks because it is a good index to predict rockburst. Due to its importance, several empirical and soft computing (SC) models have been proposed in the literature based on the punch penetration test (PPT) results. These models are very important as there is no clear-cut experimental means for measuring BI asides the PPT which is very costly and time consuming to perform. This study used a novel Multivariate Adaptive regression spline (MARS), M5P, and white-box ANN to predict the BI of rocks using the available data in the literature for an improved BI prediction. The rock density, uniaxial compressive strength (σ_c) and tensile strength (σ_t) were used as the input parameters into the models while the BI was the targeted output. The models were implemented in the MATLAB software. The results of the proposed models were compared with those from existing multilinear regression, linear and nonlinear particle swarm optimization (PSO) and genetic algorithm (GA) based models using similar datasets. The coefficient of determination (R²), adjusted R² (Adj R²), root-mean squared error (RMSE) and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) were the indices used for the comparison. The outcomes of the comparison revealed that the proposed ANN and MARS models performed better than the other models with R² and Adj R² values above 0.9 and least error values while the M5P gave similar performance to those of the existing models. Weight partitioning method was also used to examine the percentage contribution of model predictors to the predicted BI and tensile strength was found to have the highest influence on the predicted BI.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.491-498
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• 2018

The Earth Mechanics Institute (EMI) was established at the Colorado School of Mines (CSM) in 1974 to develop innovations in rock mechanics research and education. During the last four decades, extensive rock mechanics research has been conducted at the EMI. Results from uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), Brazilian tensile strength (BTS), point load index (PLI), punch penetration (PP), and many other types of tests have been recorded in a database that has been unexamined for research purposes. The EMI database includes over 20,000 tests from over 1,000 different projects including mining and underground construction, and analysis of this database to identify relationships has been started with preliminary results reported here. Overall, statistically significant correlations are identified between bulk density and mechanical strength properties through UCS, BTS, PLI, and PP testing of sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks. In this paper, bulk density is considered as a surrogate metric that reflects both mineralogy and porosity. From this analysis, sedimentary rocks show the strongest correlation between the UCS and bulk density, whereas metamorphic rocks exhibit the strongest correlation between UCS and PP. Data trends in the EMI database also reveal a linear relationship between UCS and BTS tests. For the singular case of rock coral, the database permits correlations between bulk density of the core versus the deposition depth and porosity. The EMI database will continue under analysis, and will provide additional insightful and comprehensive understanding of the variation and predictability of rock mechanical strength properties and density. This knowledge will contribute significantly toward the increasingly safe and cost-effective geostructures and construction.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.130-135
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• 2012

Hydrogen charging was electrochemically conducted at high strength DP steels and TRIP steel with varying charging time. The penetration depths and the mechanical properties with charging conditions were investigated through the distribution of micro-hardness and the microstructural observation of the subsurface zone. The micro-Vickers hardness was measured to evaluate the hydrogen embrittlement of subsurface zone in addition to the microscope investigation. It was shown that the hydrogen amounts decreased in DP steels and TRIP steel with increasing hydrogen charging time. As shown by micro-Vickers hardness test and small punch test results, micro-Vickers hardness and SP energy for DP steels and TRIP steel decreased with increasing hydrogen charging time, for constant value of charging current density. SEM investigation results for the hydrogen contained samples showed that the major fracture behavior was brittle fracture which results in dimples on fractured surface and the size of dimples were decreased with increasing hydrogen charging time. These results indicate that hydrogen embrittlement is the major cause for the fracture of high strength steels and also micro-Vickers hardness test and small punch test is a valuable test method for hydrogen embrittlement of high strength sheet steels.