• 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 the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.319-327
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• 2012

This research collected work drilling report of TBM method site developed by WRITH company to TBM equipment company in Germany and analyzed work operating productivity. Based the data analyzed TBM operating productivity, This research derived and presented excavation speed(m/day) by TBM diameter (2.6m, 3.0m, 3.5m, 5.0m, 8.0m) and rock. Also, based on the excavation speed(m/day) by TBM diameter, This research estimated a day direct construction cost and total direct construction costs by applying a direct construction cost which spent on per 1m. Based on hard rock 40.0%, soft rock 30.0%, usually rock 20%, weathered rock 10.0%, TBM boring velocity, m per cost, total construction period shall estimate the construction cost and the construction period by the effective use by diameter when future applying TBM method to the basic planning stages and in the preliminary design phase.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.201-220
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• 2023

Power cable tunnels is one of the underground structures meant for electricity transmission and are constructed using shield TBM method when transitting across urban and subsea regions. With the increasing shaft depth for tunnels excavation when the shield TBM excavated the rock mass, the review of selecting closed-type shield TBM in rocks becomes necessary. A simplified shield TBM design method is also necessary based on conventional geotechnical survey results. In this respect, design method and related design program are developed based on combined results of full-scale tests, considerable amount of accumulated TBM data, and numerical simulation results. In order to validate the program results, excavation data of a completed power cable tunnel project are utilized. Thrust force, torque, and power of shield TBM specification are validated using Kernel density concept which estimates the population data. The robustness of design expertise is established through this research which will help in stable provision of electricity supply.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.453-467
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• 2018

The excavation performance and the cutting tool wear prediction of shield TBM are very important issues for design and construction in TBM tunneling. For hard-rock TBMs, CSM and NTNU model have been widely used for prediction of disc cutter wear and penetration rate. But in case of soft-ground TBMs, the wear evaluation and the excavation performance have not been studied in details due to the complexity of the ground behavior and therefore few testing methods have been proposed. In this study, a new soil abrasion and penetration tester (SAPT) that simulates EPB TBM excavation process is introduced which overcomes the drawbacks of the previously developed soil abrasivity testers. Parametric tests for penetration rate, foam mixing ratio, foam concentration were conducted to evaluate influential parameters affecting TBM excavation and also ripper wear was measured in laboratory. The results of artificial soil specimen composed of 70% illite and 30% silica sand showed TBM additives such as foam play a key role in terms of excavation and tool wear.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.291-300
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• 2022

Tunnel boring machines combined with the earth pressure balanced shield method (EPB shield TBMs) have been adopted in urban areas as they allow excavation of tunnels with limited ground deformation through continuous and repetitive excavation and support. Nevertheless, the expansion of TBM construction requires much more minor and exquisitely controlled surface settlement to prevent economic loss. Several parametric studies controlling the tunnel's geometry, ground properties, and TBM operational factors assuming ordinary conditions for EPB shield TBM excavation have been conducted, but the impact of excessive excavation on the induced settlement has not been adequately studied. This study conducted a numerical evaluation of surface settlement induced by the ground loss from face imbalance, excessive excavation, and tail void grouting. The numerical model was constructed using FLAC3D and validated by comparing its result with the field data from literature. Then, parametric studies were conducted by controlling the ground stiffness, face pressure, tail void grouting pressure, and additional volume of muck discharge. As a result, the contribution of these operational factors to the surface settlement appeared differently depending on the ground stiffness. Except for the ground stiffness as the dominant factor, the order of variation of surface settlement was investigated, and the volume of additional muck discharge was found to be the largest, followed by the face pressure and tail void grouting pressure. The results from this study are expected to contribute to the development of settlement prediction models and understanding the surface settlement behavior induced by TBM excavation.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.321-331
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• 2013

This paper describes the evaluation of shield TBM disc cutter penetration depth in practice. In this study the disc cutter penetration depth used to design the excavation speed of tunnel is reviewed. The characteristics of ground encountered in the investigation site are analysed and evaluated. The shield TBM used in the field is reviewed to verify the applicability of machine in the site. The thrust and torque capacities of each TBM disc cutter are also evaluated. Based on the field data, the excavation volume and speed are re-analysed to evaluate the disc cutter penetration depth used in the design stage. It is clearly found that the design value of disc cutter penetration depth needs to modify when estimation of the TBM capacities in very hard rock formation ($S_c$ >150 MPa).

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.394-406
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• 2019

Difficult ground conditions (e.g., fault zone and mixed grounds) are highly probable to appear in subsea and urban tunnels because of the shallow working depth and alluvial characteristics. TBM usually experienced decrease of penetration rate and increase of downtime when it meets these difficult ground conditions. The problems are usually caused by the adverse geological conditions, and it is preferable to determine the optimal operational parameters of TBM based on the previous operational data obtained while excavating a preceding tunnel. This study carried out for efficient TBM excavation in fault zone and mixed grounds. TBM excavation data from the tunnel site in Singapore and the characteristics of the TBM excavation data was analyzed. The key operational parameters (i.e., thrust, torque, and RPM), penetration rate, and downtime were highly influenced by the presence of fault zones and mixed grounds, and the features was discussed. It is expected that the results and main discussions will be useful information for future tunneling projects in similar geological conditions.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.79-94
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• 2022

The demand for tunnel construction is increasing as part of underground space development due to urban saturation. The shield TBM method minimizes vibration and noise and minimizes ground deformation that occurs simultaneously with excavation, and shield TBM is generally applied to tunnel construction in urban areas. The importance of urban ground settlement prediction is increasing day by day, and in the case of shield TBM construction, ground deformation is minimized, but ground settlement due to tunnel excavation inevitably occurs. Therefore, in this study, the correlation between shield TBM, which is highly applicable to urban areas, and ground settlement is analyzed to suggest the shield TBM construction factors that have a major effect on ground settlement. Correlation analysis was performed between the shield TBM construction data and ground settlement measurement data collected at the actual site, and the degree of correlation was expressed as a correlation coefficient "r". As a result, the main construction factors of shield TBM affecting ground settlement were thrust force, torque, chamber pressure, backfill pressure and muck discharge. Based on the results of this study, it is expected to contribute to the presentation of judgment criteria for major construction data so that the ground settlement can be predicted and controlled in advance when operating the shield TBM in the future.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.261-275
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• 2012

This paper presents numerical analysis of the mud cake infiltration behaviour which is influenced tunnel face stability during excavation by slurry shield TBM. This analysis method can make useful data to select proper shield TBM type and to set up the construction plan. But effective analysis did not proposed until now. In this paper, we carried out numerical analysis using by $PFC^{2D}$ fluid coupling simulation which is suitable for sandy soil modelling. As a analysis result, we checked that the slurry infiltration behaviour varied with soil permeability and slurry characteristic(specific weight, viscosity etc). This analysis method is helpful safety excavation through anticipating the proper slurry viscosity at the design stage and verifying the slurry quality at initial excavation stage.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.271-287
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• 2013

In this study, more convenient model(S-model) for predicting ground surface settlement is developed through comparing field monitoring data of the domestic subway applied shield TBM method with conventional equation & numerical analysis. Sample stations are chosen from whole of excavation section and lateral & vertical ground surface settlement characteristic with excavation are analysed. Based on analysis result, through the comparison with actual monitoring data, the model that is possible to compute maximum surface settlement and settlement influence area is suggested with assumption that lateral surface settlement forms are composed relaxed zone and elastic zone. In addition, vertical ground surface settlement patterns with excavation are similar to cubic-function and S-model with assumption that coefficients are function of tunnel diameter and depth is suggested. Consequently, the ground surface settlement patterns are significantly similar to actual monitoring data and numerical method result. Thus, as a result, when tunnels are excavated using sheild TBM through rather soft weathered soil & rock layer, prediction of ground surface settlement with excavation using convenient S-model is practicable.