Performance prediction of TBM disc cutting on granitic rock by the linear cutting test

Abstract

This paper aims to estimate the TBM disc cutter performance on Hwandeung Granite, one of the representative rock types in Korea by the Linear Cutting Machine. In the Linear Cutting test, the digital photogrammetric technique was newly adopted to measure three-dimensional cutting volumes and to apply them to the derivation of design parameters of TBM cutterhead. In this study, a series of linear cutting tests by a TBM disc cutter with the diameter of 17 inches were carried out by varying cutter spacing as well as cutter penetration conditions. From the tests, the optimum ratio of cutter spacing and penetration depth was derived for Hwandeung Granite. However, experimental results showed that three-dimensional cutting volumes measured by the photogrammetrical technique were not very close to those that were simply calculated from mechanical set-up values of each linear cutting test. Considering that the cutting procedure of a TBM disc cutter is not one-dimensional but three-dimensional failure mechanism, the use of three-dimensional cutting volumes as a performance parameter of a TBM disc cutter is indispensable to design a more accurate and reliable TBM cutterhead. (A) This paper was presented at Safety in the underground space - Proceedings of the ITA-AITES 2006 World Tunnel Congress and the 32nd ITA General Assembly, Seoul, Korea, 22-27 April 2006. For the covering abstract see ITRD E129148. Reprinted with permission from Elsevier.