• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.475-488
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• 2017

Wear prediction of TBM disc cutters is a very important issue for hard rock TBMs as number of cutter head intervention. In this regard, some model such as NTNU, Gehring model, CSM models have been used to predict disc cutter wear and intervention interval. There are some deficiencies in these models. This paper developed a new test method for wear prediction for TBM disc cutter and proposed a new abrasion index. In this regard, different abrasivity indices along with their testing methods are explained. A comparative study is performed to develop the predictability of different cutter life evaluation methods and index. The evaluation of the new methods proposed in this paper shows a very good agreement with the actual cutter life and intervention interval length. The proposed tester and index can be easily used to predict the intervention interval length and cutter wear evaluation in both planning and construction stages of a TBM tunneling project.