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Layout design specifications of hard-rock TBM cutterheads at maximum cutter penetration and TBM advance

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Abstract

Evaluation of optimum rock cutting performance is very important, especially at the phase of the design of a tunneling machine. In this regard, existing theoretical, laboratory, numerical, or empirical methods focus only on the optimum ratio of cutter spacing over penetration, and they need further enhancements to include various design aspects of the TBM cutterhead with respect to cut and cutter geometry parameters as well as its major layout design characteristics. Field data analysis is regarded as the most accurate and reliable method in the industry as it covers various geological conditions (which is not as easy in the laboratory or numerical simulations), and it provides new practical formulas to evaluate TBM performance. To investigate the influence of various parameters on the cutter penetration and to provide a basic guideline to optimize field cutter spacing and cutterhead layout design, an extensive field database is compiled. With the use of this database, the effects of rock type and uniaxial compressive strength on cutter penetration are investigated in various categories of cutter spacing. Major layout designs of the cutterheads utilized in various rock types and different categories of tunnel sizes are investigated for projects with relatively high performance. The results of the conducted analyses show that the maximum cutter penetration in uniaxial compressive strength values below 50 and above 150 MPa is achieved close to 90 and below 80 mm, respectively. The results of the study on the layout design characteristics of the cutterhead indicate that the evenly distributed scheme is more used with success even in softer rocks (when the rock mass condition is good). In softer rocks, the extension of the openings has to be well over 50% of the cutterhead radius to maximize its performance. In this regard, some empirical formulas are generated through statistical analysis of the data from around 300 tunnel projects to evaluate both optimum cutter spacing and optimum ratio of cutter spacing over penetration. New formulas are also provided to evaluate cutterhead thrust, torque, RPM, and power. In the end, based on the discussed issues, to optimize cutter penetration and TBM cutterhead overall performance, some procedural steps are offered.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), Tehran, Iran

    Ebrahim Farrokh

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  1. Ebrahim Farrokh
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Correspondence to Ebrahim Farrokh.

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Responsible editor: Murat Karakus

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Farrokh, E. Layout design specifications of hard-rock TBM cutterheads at maximum cutter penetration and TBM advance. Arab J Geosci 14, 2049 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-021-08435-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-021-08435-y

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