Gaining a thorough understanding of the theoretical principles of rock breaking with a disc cutter is a critical issue in tunnel boring machine(TBM) technology.To fully consider the complexity and importance of the basic principles of rock breaking during tunnel excavation,in this paper we use a new method, the smooth particle hydrodynamics(SPH), to study the rock-breaking mechanism and verify its accuracy and feasibility. Using the SPH method, we induce the rock fragmentation process with two cutters in synchronous and sequential orders. The results show that when the cutters act on rock sequentially,the second indentation influences the crack evolution of the first indentation. With increased cutter spacing, the second crack gradually becomes independent of the first crack.Under synchronous action of the two cutters, a bursiform nucleus is generated beneath the cutters and the area of the nucleus increases with increased cutter spacing. Whether the cutters act on the rock sequentially or synchronously,we found the optimum cutter spacing of our chosen rock type to be 60 mm. Our analyses results show that the efficiency of sequential rock cutting is superior to synchronous cutting, both with respect to crack evolution and cutter force.
Full face rock tunnel boring machine(TBM) has been widely used in hard rock tunnels, however, there are few published theory about cutter-head design, and the design criteria of cutter-head under complex geological is not clear yet. To deal with the complex relationship among geological parameters, cutter parameters, and operating parameters during tunneling processes, a cutter-head load model is established by using CSM(Colorado school of mines) prediction model. Force distribution on cutter-head under a certain geology is calculated with the new established load model, and result shows that inner cutters bear more force than outer cutters, combining with disc cutters abrasion; a general principle of disc cutters' layout design is proposed. Within the model, the relationship among rock uniaxial compressive strength(UCS), penetration and thrust on cutter-head are analyzed, and the results shows that with increasing penetration, cutter thrust increases, but the growth rate slows and higher penetration makes lower special energy(SE). Finally, a fitting mathematical model of ZT(ratio of cutter-head torque and thrust) and penetration is established, and verified by TB880 E, which can be used to direct how to set thrust and torque on cutter-head. When penetration is small, the cutter-head thrust is the main limiting factor in tunneling; when the penetration is large, cutter-head torque is the major limiting factor in tunneling. Based on the new cutter-head load model, thrust and torque characteristics of TBM further are researched and a new way for cutter-head layout design and TBM tunneling operations is proposed.
The earth pressure balance(EPB) shield cutterhead structure, which features an opening ratio and opening distribution as a core, seriously affects tunneling stability and tunneling efficiency. This paper presents a new model for the soil using visco-plastic fluid theory, and then introduces the model into the computational-fluiddynamics model to comprehensively analyze the cutterhead structure, which consists of the soil, the cutterhead,the working chamber, and the screw conveyor. Based on this model, the stability situation and tunneling performance of multiple schemes of the cutting head structure are analyzed by changing the opening ratio and the opening distribution on the cutterhead. In this study, a new method for design and analysis of the EPB-shield cutterhead structure is proposed that fits changes in geologic conditions. The results will be helpful for engineers and manufacturers of more efficient machines and for carrying out tunneling projects with more stable EPB-shield cutterheads, and it will reduce the influences of changing geologic conditions during all stages of tunnel construction.
