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Numerical and experimental research on the rock-breaking process of tunnel boring machine normal disc cutters

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Abstract

A common drawback presented by several numerical rock-breaking studies was that the rocks beneath disc cutters were cut off excessively while the rocks between disc cutters remained, which usually resulted in a smaller cutter spacing than the proper value. To overcome this limitation, the constitutive equations of different rock parts were defined separately using VUMAT, an ABAQUS-based material subroutine. The constitutive model of rock was an application of the Drucker-Prager yield criterion coupled with the Lemaitre damage model. Full-scale rock-breaking tests on a rotary cutting machine were conducted, and 25 groups of orthogonal numerical simulations were carried out. By comparing the normal force, rolling force, and specific energy of numerical results with those of experimental results, the optimal values of the defined parameters D c1, k, and B were determined to be 9☓10-4, 0.1 and 0.8, respectively. With the presented numerical method and the determined parameters, the influences of cutter spacing on normal force, rolling force, and specific energy were studied. Both the normal and rolling forces of the first cutting generally remained constant, whereas the forces of the second cutting generally increased linearly with the cutter spacing. The optimal cutter spacing for the studied rock type (Hard sand rock collected from West Qinling tunnel) was approximately 72 mm, which was in accordance with the cutter spacing of the tunnel boring machine applied in this tunnel project.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Manufacturing System Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China

    Geng Qi, Wei Zhengying & Meng Hao

  2. State Key Laboratory of Shield Machine and Boring Technology, Zhengzhou, China

    Chen Qiao

Authors
  1. Geng Qi
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  2. Wei Zhengying
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  3. Meng Hao
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  4. Chen Qiao
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wei Zhengying.

Additional information

Geng Qi received his B.E. from Shandong University in China in 2011. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Mechanical Engineering at Xi’an Jiaotong University in China. His research interests include layout optimization and TBM cutter head design.

Wei Zhengying received her Ph.D. degree from the School of Mechanical Engineering at Xi’an Jiaotong University in China in 2003. Dr. Wei is a professor and doctoral supervisor in the School of Mechanical Engineering at Xi’an Jiaotong University in China. Her research interests include TBM cutter head design.

Meng Hao received his B.E. from Shandong University in China in 2013. He is currently a Master’s candidate in the School of Mechanical Engineering at Xi’an Jiaotong University in China. His research interests include TBM cutter head design.

Chen Qiao received his M.E. from Southwest Jiaotong University in China, in 2012. He is currently a Researcher in the State Key Laboratory of Shield Machine and Boring Technology. His research interests include TBM cutter head design.

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Qi, G., Zhengying, W., Hao, M. et al. Numerical and experimental research on the rock-breaking process of tunnel boring machine normal disc cutters. J Mech Sci Technol 30, 1733–1745 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-016-0329-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-016-0329-9

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