Based on the triaxial testing machine and discrete element method, the effects of embedded crack on rock fragmentation are investigated in laboratory tests and a series of numerical investigations are conducted on the effects of discontinuities on cutting characteristics and cutting efficiency. In laboratory tests, five propagation patterns of radial cracks are observed. And in the numerical tests, firstly, it is similar to laboratory tests that cracks ahead of cutters mainly initiate from the crushed zone, and some minor cracks will initiate from joints. The cracks initiating from crushed zones will run through the thinner joints while they will be held back by thick joints. Cracks tend to propagate towards the tips of embedded cracks, and minor cracks will initiate from the tips of embedded cracks, which may result in the decrease of specific area, and disturbing layers play as ‘screens', which will prevent cracks from developing greatly. The peak penetration forces, the consumed energy in the penetration process and the uniaxial compression strength will decrease with the increase of discontinuities. The existence of discontinuities will result in the decrease of the cutting efficiency when the spacing between cutters is 70 mm. Some modifications should be made to improve the efficiency when the rocks containing groups of discontinuities are encountered.
Based on the simplification of cutting process,a series of numerical simulations were conducted using a 2-D discrete element method to explore the effects of embedded cracks with different dip angles on the rock fragmentation process,cutting characteristics and breaking efficiency.The results show that the simulated results are in a good agreement with previous theoretical study.The main crack propagates to the top tip of embedded crack,except when the dip angle is 90°.Side cracks which are more fully developed in the rocks containing embedded cracks tend to propagate towards the free surface.According to the history of vertical cutting force,it is shown that the peak force is decreased by embedded cracks.The study on cutting efficiency was conducted by combining the quantity of crack and cutting energy.And the results show that breaking efficiency can be treated as a decreasing or a increasing function when the dip angle is less or larger than 30°,respectively.Breaking efficiency is higher than that in intact rock when the dip angle is larger than 45°.
The disc cutters of tunnel boring machine(TBM) are installed with different polar angles. This causes the cutting depth difference between adjacent disc cutters on the tunnel face. A rock-cutting model was established to study the rock fragmentation law between adjacent disc cutters with different polar angles based on particle flow code(PFC). The influence of polar angle of adjacent disc cutters on rock cracks and stresses under different cutter spacing and penetration was studied. Research shows that polar angle difference leads to the discontinuity of rock-fragmentation process by adjacent cutters. The effect of rock-fragmentation is influenced by the cutting depth difference between adjacent cutters. The effect of rock-fragmentation performed best, meanwhile large rock blocks were flaked when the difference of cutting depth is half of the penetration. Too large or small difference of the cutting depth will cause high specific energy consumption of rock fragmentation. The specific energy consumption is relatively small when the difference of cutting depth is half of the penetration.
The cutterhead of a full-face rock tunnel boring machine(TBM)is constantly subjected to varying impact and dynamic loads during tunneling processes,resulting in relatively large vibrations that could easily lead to fatigue cracking of the entire machine and a ect the tunneling performance and efficiency.To explore the dynamic characteristics of the TBM mainframe,a TBM from a water-diversion project is investigated in this research.According to the TBM vibration transmission route,an equivalent dynamic model of the TBM mainframe is established using the lumped-mass method in which the relevant dynamic parameters are solved.Additionally,the dynamic response characteristics of the TBM mainframe are analyzed.The results indicate that the vibration levels in three directions are approximately the same,the multi-directional vibration of the cutterhead is more intense than that of other components,and the vibration and external excitation exhibit identical change trends.A set of vibration field tests is performed to analyze the in situ dynamic responses of the mainframe and verify the correctness of the dynamic model.The theoretical and measured acceleration values of the TBM mainframe have the same magnitude,which proves the validity of the dynamic model and its solution.The aforementioned results provide an important theoretical value and practical significance for the design and assessment of the TBM mainframe.
Laikuang LinYimin XiaZhengguang LiCaizhang WuYongliang ChengQing Tan
