• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.263-278
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• 2022

This paper contains experimental study for the development and performance of TBM backfill material with thixotropic properties. The LW backfill material is widely applied to fill the cavity on the back side of the shield TBM excavation, but has disadvantages such as settlement caused by strength reduction, material separation by groundwater, and reduced plasticity. In this paper, laboratory tests and a model test were conducted to assess the performance of inorganic thixotropic backfill material proposed to improve these problems. The results of laboratory tests show that 1 hr-uniaxial compressive strength of ITB was 12 times higher than LW, and the rate of bleeding of 20 hr was 8.3 times lower, and the result of flow table test was more than 27 times higher. This result indicated that the inorganic thixotropic backfill material has superior properties to LW backfill in terms of strength reduction, material separation, and thixotropy. In the model experiment, a model injection device tester was manufactured and the injection performance and filling rate were verified. When material was injected in the water, it was visually checked whether material separation occurred, and it was confirmed that the filling rate was 96% or more. Comparison results with the test of LW and ITB materials was concluded that ITB can reduce the material separation by groundwater and the occurrence of tunnel cavity.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.379-393
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• 2019

For the economical construction of a tunnel by TBM, the selection of TBM optimized with the various project conditions is important, and also necessary to predict the performances of selected TBM in advance. This study was conducted to comprehensively evaluate the performance of the EPB shield TBM screw conveyor by the discrete element method. The sticky particles were used for the excavated material models, and screw conveyor with 11 different inclined angles were simulated to evaluate the performance depending on the different inclined angles. The four different rotational speed conditions of the screw were used, and torque, required power, extra energy for muck discharge, and the muck discharge rate were selected as four performance indicators. As a result, the optimized inclined angle was selected, and selected angle accords with the fact that EPB shield TBM screw conveyor is generally installed and adjusted at the inclined angle between 20.0° and 30.0° in the field.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.549-560
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• 2021

Forces exerted on a shield TBM (tunnel boring machine) such as cutter head torque, thrust force, chamber pressure, and upward force are key factors determining TBM performance. However, the forces acting on the TBM when tunnelling the mixed ground have different tendencies compared to that of the uniform ground, which could impair TBM performance. In this study, the effect of mixed ground tunnelling was numerically investigated with torque, thrust force, chamber pressure, and upward force. A coupled discrete element method (DEM) and finite difference method (FDM) model for TBM driving model was used. This numerical study simulates TBM tunnelling in mixed ground composed of upper weathered granite soil and lower weathered rock. The effect on the force acting on the TBM according to the location and slope of the boundary of the mixed ground was numerically examined.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2010.03a
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• pp.562-570
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• 2010

This study was conducted to estimate the number of disc cutter consumption and to predict amount of disc cutters when a shield TBM(Tunnel Boring Machine) of the Han Riverbed Tunnel was applied. In fact, it is almost impossible to change the machine after starting the excavation using the shield TBM method. Therefore, it is important to design an appropriate equipment in the shield method - an efficiency choice of the operation equipment plays a key role in the shield tunnel processing. For the above reason, the disc cutter consumption prediction is quite important so that the detailed analysis is required. A number of disc cutter consumption was predicted by the three methods, viz. KOMATSU, MITSUBISHI and NTNU. In addition, the predicted results were compared with field data. The prediction of disc cutter consumption showed that 237 for KOMATSU, 501 for MITSUBISHI, and 634 for NTNU, respectively. However, a total number of 1,263 disc cutter consumption were investigated during the tunnel construction. It was found that there was a huge difference between the predicted and real values of the disc cutter consumption. The more detailed investigation showed that the disc cutter was worn out bluntly in the northbound tunnel, meanwhile it was worn out sharply in the southbound tunnel. In particular, the disc cutter consumption in the southbound tunnel was increased rapidly because of rear abrasion for remaining mucks in the chamber.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2005.03a
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• pp.401-408
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• 2005

Recently shield TBM tunnellings are being applied to subway construction in Korean cities. Generally these kinds of tunnellings have the problems in the stability of ground such as subsidence because urban subway is constructed in the shallow depth. A sinkhole occurred on the road just above the tunnel during tunneling in Kwangju, so a survey for upper layer of the tunnel was needed. But conventional Ground Probing Radar can't be applicable due to the presence of steel-mesh screen in the shield segment, so no existent geophysical method is applicable in this site. Because the outer surface of each shield segment is electrically insulated, dipole-dipole resistivity method which is popular in engineering site investigation, was tried to this survey for the first time. Specially manufactured flexible ring-type electrodes were installed into the grouting holes at an interval of 2.4 m on the ceiling. The K-Ohm II system which has been developed by KIGAM and tested successfully in many sites, was used in this site. The system consists of 1000Volt-1Ampere constant-current transmitter, optically isolated 24 bit sigma-delta A/D conversion receiver - maximum 12 channel simultaneous measurements, and graphical automatic acquisition software for easy data quality check in real time. Borehole camera logging with circular white LED lighting was also done to investigate the state of the layer. Measured resistivity data lack of some stations due to failing opening lids of holes, shows general high-low trend well. The dipole-dipole resistivity inversion results discriminate (1) one approximately 4 meter diameter cavity (grouted but incompletely hardened, so low resistivity - less than $30{\Omega}m$), (2) weak zone (100-200${\Omega}m$), and (3) hard zone (high resistivity - more than 1000${\Omega}m$) very well for the distance of 320 meters. The 2-D inversion neglects slight absolute 3-D effect, but we can get satisfactory and useful information. Acquired resistivity section and video tapes by borehole camera logging will be reserved and reused if some problem occurs in this site in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.171-177
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• 2005

Fire in underground space may induce severe structural damage as well as heavy casualties. To protect underground structure and passengers from fire, it is very essential to characterize fire-induced damage on construction materials of underground structures. In this study, the high-temperature furnace was manufactured to evaluate fire-induced damage on underground structure materials. Especially, this study aimed at the evaluation of fire-induced damage on the shield TBM concrete segment. In the fire tests, furnace temperature was set to reach 1,200 degrees at five minutes after Ignition. The temperature of 1,200 degrees was kept during one hour, and the fire was extinguished after two hours elapsed. From the temperature measurement by thermocouples embedded in test specimens, the spatting was estimated to reach approximately 20 cm from the surface exposed to fire. After the fire tests, the alteration of physico-mechanical properties and microstructures of concrete segment was investigated from core specimens. The results showed that apart from spatting, the deterioration depth of the remaining concrete material amounted to approximately 10 cm from the spatting surface.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.453-467
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• 2018

The excavation performance and the cutting tool wear prediction of shield TBM are very important issues for design and construction in TBM tunneling. For hard-rock TBMs, CSM and NTNU model have been widely used for prediction of disc cutter wear and penetration rate. But in case of soft-ground TBMs, the wear evaluation and the excavation performance have not been studied in details due to the complexity of the ground behavior and therefore few testing methods have been proposed. In this study, a new soil abrasion and penetration tester (SAPT) that simulates EPB TBM excavation process is introduced which overcomes the drawbacks of the previously developed soil abrasivity testers. Parametric tests for penetration rate, foam mixing ratio, foam concentration were conducted to evaluate influential parameters affecting TBM excavation and also ripper wear was measured in laboratory. The results of artificial soil specimen composed of 70% illite and 30% silica sand showed TBM additives such as foam play a key role in terms of excavation and tool wear.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.496-507
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• 2020

A prediction of the performance of EPB TBM is significant for improving the constructability of tunnels. Thus, various attempts to simulate TBM excavation by the numerical method have been made until these days. In this paper, to evaluate the performance of TBM with different operating conditions, a parametric study was carried out using coupled discrete element method (DEM) and finite difference method (FDM) EPB TBM driving model. The analysis was conducted by changing the penetration rate (0.5 and 1.0 mm/sec) and the rotational speed of screw conveyor (5, 15, and 25 rpm) while the rotation velocity of the cutter head kept constant at 2 rpm. The torque, thrust force, chamber pressure, and discharging with different TBM operating conditions were compared. The result of parametric study shows that the optimum driving condition can be determined by the coupled DEM-FDM numerical model.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.281-291
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• 2019

In Overseas case, most tunnels in under are or through the river are constructed with shield TBM and the manufacturer orders of related equipment suitable for the project are mode. Accordingly, the client provides the specifications required for the equipment manufacture. In addition, TBM equipment has been operated by those who have completed the expert training program, which for minimizing the risk of equipment operation in construction field corresponding to the mechanized construction. However, in Korea, such a system related to above the program and specifications has not yet been built, which is causing a lot of difficulties in construction field. Therefore, this study investigated the differences in bidding guides provided by mechanized construction in domestic and abroad, and the professional education programs for expert training being conducted from overseas. Futhermore, we will propose the guidelines of essential equipment specification contained in domestic bidding and provide the necessary manual for the professional education program for TBM as the mechanized construction method.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.1125-1146
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• 2018

Segment lining applied to the TBM tunnel is mainly made of concrete, and it requires sufficient structural capacity to resist loads received during the construction and also after the completion. When segment lining is design to the Limit State Design, both Ultimate Limit State (ULS) and Service Limit State (SLS) should be met for the possible load cases that covers both permanent and temporary load cases - such as load applied by TBM. When design segment lining, it is important to check structural capacity at the joints as both temporary and permanent loads are always transferred through the segment joints, and sometimes the load applied to the joint is high enough to damage the segment - so called bursting failure. According to the various design guides from UK (PAS 8810, 2016), compression stress at the joint surface can generate bursting failure of the segment. This is normally from the TBM's jacking force applied at the circumferential joint, and the lining's hoop thrust generated from the permanent loads applied at the radial joint. Therefore, precast concrete segment lining's joints shall be designed to have sufficient structural capacity to resist bursting stresses generated by the TBM's jacking force and by the hoop thrust. In this study, bursting stress at the segment joints are calculated, and the joint's structural capacity was assessed using Leonhardt (1964) and FEM analysis for three different design cases. For those three analysis cases, hoop thrust at the radial joint was calculated with the application of the most widely used limit state design codes Eurocode and AASHTO LRFD (2017). For the circumferential joints bursting design, an assumed TBM jack force was used with considering of the construction tolerance of the segments and the eccentricity of the jack's position. The analysis results show reinforcement is needed as joint bursting stresses exceeds the allowable tensile strength of concrete. This highlights that joint bursting check shall be considered as a mandatory design item in the limit state design of the segment lining.