• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.29 no.6
• /
• pp.394-406
• /
• 2019

Difficult ground conditions (e.g., fault zone and mixed grounds) are highly probable to appear in subsea and urban tunnels because of the shallow working depth and alluvial characteristics. TBM usually experienced decrease of penetration rate and increase of downtime when it meets these difficult ground conditions. The problems are usually caused by the adverse geological conditions, and it is preferable to determine the optimal operational parameters of TBM based on the previous operational data obtained while excavating a preceding tunnel. This study carried out for efficient TBM excavation in fault zone and mixed grounds. TBM excavation data from the tunnel site in Singapore and the characteristics of the TBM excavation data was analyzed. The key operational parameters (i.e., thrust, torque, and RPM), penetration rate, and downtime were highly influenced by the presence of fault zones and mixed grounds, and the features was discussed. It is expected that the results and main discussions will be useful information for future tunneling projects in similar geological conditions.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.28 no.6
• /
• pp.528-546
• /
• 2018

Cases of TBM tunnelling have been consistently increasing worldwide. In many recent subsea and urban tunnelling projects, TBM excavation has been preferably considered due to its advantages over drill and blast tunnelling. Difficult ground conditions are highly probable to appear in subsea and urban tunnels because of the shallow working depth and alluvial characteristics. Under the difficult ground conditions, ground reinforcement measures should be considered including grouting, while it is of great importance to select the optimal grout material and injection method to cope with the ground condition. The benefits from TBM excavation, such as fast excavation, increased safety, and reduced environmental impact, can be achieved by applying appropriate ground reinforcement with the minimum overrun of cost and time. In this report, various grouting methods were reviewed so that they can be applied in difficult ground conditions. In addition, domestic and international cases of successful ground reinforcement for difficult grounds were introduced for future reference.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.33 no.4
• /
• pp.255-264
• /
• 2023

As the demand for urban underground space increases recently, urban tunnel planning is actively progressing. In the urban area, a underground station is planned in consideration of the living environment of residents, and 2-arch tunnel is applied for the stability of existing structures and reduction of environmental damage. However, since the depth of weak rock mass is deeply distributed in the urban area due to severe weathering, careful planning is required to secure tunnel stability. In addition, if TBM mechanical excavation is applied as the main tunnel excavation method considering the composite ground in urban area, the construction connectivity with the 2-arch tunnel of the NATM concept may be deteriorated. In this study, the design case of applying TBM pre-excavation type 2-arch tunnel for the first time in Korea was mainly described. The main considerations for the segment design of TBM pre-excavation type 2-arch tunnel were explained for side tunnels. Also, a stability analysis was conducted to verify the effectiveness and adequacy of the TBM pre-excavation type 2-arch tunnel.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
• /
• v.21 no.3
• /
• pp.323-345
• /
• 2019

It is essential to predict ground conditions ahead of a tunnel face in order to successfully excavate tunnels using a shield TBM. This study proposes a forward prediction method for a mixed soil ground and/or a ground containing core stones by using electrical resistivity and induced polarization exploration. Soil conditioning in EPB shield TBM is dependent upon the composition of mixed soils; a special care need to be taken when excavating the core-stoned soil ground using TBM. The resistivity and chargeability are assumed to be measured with four electrodes at the tunnel face, whenever the excavation is stopped to assemble one ring of a segment lining. Firstly, the mixed ground consisting of weathered granite soil, sand, and clay was modeled in laboratory-scale experiments. Experimental results show that the measured electrical resistivity considerably coincides with the analytical solution. On the other hand, the induced polarization has either same or opposite trend with the measured resistivity depending on the mixed ground conditions. Based on these experimental results, a method to predict the mixed soil ground that can be used during TBM tunnel driving is suggested. Secondly, tunnel excavation from a homogeneous ground to a ground containing core stones was modeled in laboratory scale; the irregularity of the core stones contained in the soil layer was modeled through random number generation scheme. Experimental results show that as the TBM approaches the ground that contains core stones, the electrical resistivity increases and the induced polarization fluctuates.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
• /
• v.21 no.6
• /
• pp.735-747
• /
• 2019

Due to the lack of ground space by urbanization, the demand of utility tunnels for laying social facilities is increasing. During the construction of a utility tunnel in downtown area using a shield TBM, various problems may occur when difficult ground is encountered such as mixed ground and cobbly ground. Thus, in this study, using MIDAS GTS NX (Ver. 280), a numerical analysis was performed on characteristics of difficult ground, reinforced area, depth of cover and groundwater level to analyze the optimal ground reinforced area according to combination of parameters. As a result, it was difficult to secure stability in unconstrained excavation cases on both the mixed ground and the cobbly ground. However, when ground reinforcement grouting as much as 2.0D is applied, convergence occurred within the allowable limit, except for mixed ground with a depth of cover 30 m. In addition, excessive leakage occurred during excavation of both the mixed ground and the cobbly layers. It was able to secure stability after applying waterproof grouting.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
• /
• v.26 no.3
• /
• pp.281-301
• /
• 2024

The power cable tunnels which are part of the underground transmission line project, are constructed using the shield TBM method. The disc cutter among the shield TBM components plays an important role in breaking rock mass. Efficient tunnel construction is possible only when appropriate replacement occurs as the wear limit is reached or damage such as uneven wear occurs. A study was conducted to determine the wear conditions of disc cutter using a deep learning algorithm based on real-time measurement data of wear and rotation speed. Based on the results of full-scaled tunnelling tests, it was confirmed that measurement data was obtained differently depending on the wear conditions of disc cutter. Using real-time measurement data, an algorithm was developed to determine disc cutter wear characteristics based on a convolutional neural network model. Distributional patterns of data can be learned through CNN filters, and the performance of the model that can classify uniform wear and uneven wear through these pattern features.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
• /
• v.25 no.6
• /
• pp.583-603
• /
• 2023

Recently, the advancement of mechanical tunnel boring machine (TBM) technology and the characteristics of subsea railway tunnels subjected to hydrostatic pressure have led to the widespread application of shield TBM methods in the design and construction of subsea railway tunnels. Subsea railway tunnels are exposed in a constant pore water pressure and are influenced by the amplification of seismic waves during earthquake. In particular, seismic loads acting on subsea railway tunnels under various ground conditions such as soft ground, soft soil-rock composite ground, and fractured zones can cause significant changes in tunnel displacement and stress, thereby affecting tunnel safety. Additionally, the dynamic response of the ground and tunnel varies based on seismic load parameters such as frequency characteristics, seismic waveform, and peak acceleration, adding complexity to the behavior of the ground-tunnel structure system. In this study, a finite difference method is employed to model the entire ground-tunnel structure system, considering hydrostatic pressure, for the investigation of dynamic behavior of subsea railway tunnel during earthquake. Since the key factors influencing the dynamic behavior during seismic events are ground conditions and seismic waves, six analysis cases are established based on virtual ground conditions: Case-1 with weathered soil, Case-2 with hard rock, Case-3 with a composite ground of soil and hard rock in the tunnel longitudinal direction, Case-4 with the tunnel passing through a narrow fault zone, Case-5 with a composite ground of soft soil and hard rock in the tunnel longitudinal direction, and Case-6 with the tunnel passing through a wide fractured zone. As a result, horizontal displacements due to earthquakes tend to increase with an increase in ground stiffness, however, the displacements tend to be restrained due to the confining effects of the ground and the rigid shield segments. On the contrary, peak compressive stress of segment significantly increases with weaker ground stiffness and the effects of displacement restrain contribute the increase of peak compressive stress of segment.

• KEPCO Journal on Electric Power and Energy
• /
• v.6 no.3
• /
• pp.305-313
• /
• 2020

The use of cable tunnels for electric power transmission as well as their construction in difficult conditions such as in subsea terrains and large overburden areas has increased. So, in order to efficiently operate the small diameter shield TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine), the estimation of advance rate and development of a design model is necessary. However, due to limited scope of survey and face mapping, it is very difficult to match the rock mass characteristics and TBM operational data in order to achieve their mutual relationships and to develop an advance rate model. Also, the working mechanism of previously utilized linear cutting machine is slightly different than the real excavation mechanism owing to the penetration of a number of disc cutters taking place at the same time in the rock mass in conjunction with rotation of the cutterhead. So, in order to suggest the advance rate and machine design models for small diameter TBMs, an EPB (Earth Pressure Balance) shield TBM having 3.54 m diameter cutterhead was manufactured and 19 cases of full-scale tunneling tests were performed each in 87.5 ㎥ volume of artificial rock mass. The relationships between advance rate and machine data were effectively analyzed by performing the tests in homogeneous rock mass with 70 MPa uniaxial compressive strength according to the TBM operational parameters such as thrust force and RPM of cutterhead. The utilization of the recorded penetration depth and torque values in the development of models is more accurate and realistic since they were derived through real excavation mechanism. The relationships between normal force on single disc cutter and penetration depth as well as between normal force and rolling force were suggested in this study. The prediction of advance rate and design of TBM can be performed in rock mass having 70 MPa strength using these relationships. An effort was made to improve the application of the developed model by applying the FPI (Field Penetration Index) concept which can overcome the limitation of 100% RQD (Rock Quality Designation) in artificial rock mass.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.469-483
• /
• 2018

Steel bars have been widely used as the primary reinforcement for Precast Segmental Concrete Lining for TBM Tunnels. Previously, studies have been carried out to gauge the potential for steel fiber reinforcement to replace the use of steel bar reinforcements in the segmental lining to reduce the amount of the steel bar reinforcement. Steel fiber reinforcements have been investigated and widely applied to SFRC TBM linings to improve the constructability of SFRC TBM linings worldwide. However, the steel fiber reinforcement often caused punctures to the water membranes inside tunnel lining and had long-term durability deterioration issues caused by steel corrosion, as well as cosmetic problems. Therefore, this paper sought to gauge the potential of synthetic fiber reinforcements, which have proven to be very attractive substitutes for steel fiber reinforcements. This study analyzed the performance of both steel and synthetic fiber reinforcements in segmental linings and evaluated the applicability of the fiber reinforcements to the TBM Precast Concrete Segmental Linings of TBM tunnels. As a conclusion, this study demonstrates that the potential use of steel and synthetic fibers in various combination, can substitute the rebar reinforcement in the concrete mix for segmental concrete linings.

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