• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.43-52
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• 2010

Shield method is the tunnel boring method that propels a steel cylinder in the ground and excavates tunnels at once. After Marc Isambard Brunel started using the method for the Thames Riverbed Tunnel excavation in London, many kinds of TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) developed and applied for the construction of road, railway, electricity channel, pipeline, etc. In comparison with NATM concept that allows to observe ground condition and copes with difficulty. The machine selected before starting construction is not able to be changed during construction in shield TBM. Therefore the machine should be designed based on the ground survey result and experiment, so that the tunnel might be excavated effectively by controlling penetration speed, excavation depth and cutter head speed according to the ground condition change. This research was conducted to estimate penetration depth, excavate speed, wear of disc cutter on Boondang Railway of the Han Riverbed Tunnel ground condition by TBM performance prediction models such as NTNU, $Q_{TBM}$, Total Hardness, KICT-SNU and compare the estimated value with the field data. The estimation method is also used to analyze the reason of poor excavation efficiency at south bound tunnel.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.30 no.6D
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• pp.623-629
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• 2010

Recently, the Shield TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) construction method is used gradually to increase at the Tunnel Constructin site. However the design and application of the Shield TBM were carried out without sufficient investigation of the ground conditions in the construction site. Due to insufficient understanding to the corresponding equipment is frequently occurring unexpected construction cost and extension of a construction period. The most suitable alternative construction method was determined by analyzing tunneling rate, duration, construction cost of shield machine and tunneling data of alternative method. The result of the case study is suggested as follows. First, the accurate soil exploration on the construction site should be preceded to prevent from tunneling stoppage and schedule delay. Second, the most suitable selection of the shield machine to the ground conditions of the construction site should be executed based on the investigation. Third, the best alternative method for boring of hard rock section is 'hard rock blasting after open cut and cover method'.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.641-656
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• 2019

In this study, a machine learning method was proposed to use in predicting optimal replacement period of shield TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) disc cutter. To do this, a large dataset of ground condition, disc cutter replacement records and TBM excavation-related data, collected from a shield TBM tunnel site in Korea, was built and they were used to construct a disc cutter replacement period prediction model using a machine learning algorithm, SVM (Support Vector Machine) and to assess the performance of the model. The results showed that the performance of RBF (Radial Basis Function) SVM is the best among a total of three SVM classification functions (80% accuracy and 10% error rate on average). When compared between ground types, the more disc cutter replacement data existed, the better prediction results were obtained. From this results, it is expected that machine learning methods become very popularly used in practice in near future as more data is accumulated and the machine learning models continue to be fine-tuned.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.321-329
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• 2022

Tunnel site where high water pressure is applied, such as subsea tunnel, generally selects the shield TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) to maintain the tunnel excavation face. The shield TBM has cutters installed, and the cutters wear out during the process of excavation, so it should be checked and replaced regularly. This is called CHI (Cutterhead Intervention). The conventional CHI under high water pressure is very disadvantageous in terms of safety and economics because humans perform work in response to high water pressure and huge water inflow in the chamber. To overcome this disadvantage, this study proposes a new method to dramatically reduce water pressure and water ingress by injecting an appropriate grout solution into the front of the tunnel face through the shield TBM chamber, called New Face Grouting Method (NFGM). The tunnel model tests were performed to determine the characteristics, injection volume, and curing time of grout solution to be applied to the NFGM. Model test apparatus was composed of a pressure soil tank, a model shield TBM, a grout tank, and an air compressor to measure the amount of water inflow into the chamber. The model tests were conducted by changing the injection amount of the grout solution, the curing time after the grout injection, and the water/cement ratio of grout solution. From an economic point of view, the results showed that the injection volume of 1.0 L, curing time of 6 hours, and water/cement ratio of the grout solution between 1.5 and 2.0 are the most economical. It can be concluded that this study has presented a method to economically perform the CHI under the high water pressure.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.47-58
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• 2020

The interest in the use of shield TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) on the tunnel excavation has been increased rapidly in Korea. The shield TBM tunnel is generally designed as non-drainage tunnel. Consequently, if water leakage through the segment joints happens, big problems on the usage and stability of tunnel can be occurred. In this study, the variation of waterproof capacity of hydrophilic rubber waterstop by the construction error and excessive displacement of segment was studied. In particular, the waterproof capacity of each of single and double layer arrangements of hydrophilic rubber waterstop was examined to verify the efficiency of the double layer arrangement. The test results show that the single layer and double layer hydrophilic rubber waterstop showed the same waterproof performance. hydrophilic rubber waterstop has favorable on the offset, however unfavorable on the gap.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2003.10b
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• pp.569-578
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• 2003

In this paper a determination of the optimal excavation method and machine type for a tunnel under the Han river between the Sungsoo-dong, Sungdong-Gu and the Chungdaw-dong, Kangnam-Gu in the Bundang railway. The geological investigation results show that some fractured zones exist locally under the northern boundary of the Han river bed, but the other regions consist mostly of hard rocks of good quality in the tunnel excavation level. Also, a hign water pressure of $5kgf/cm^2$ and a flash inflow of river water due to old boring holes are expected during tunnel excavation. A EPB shield TBM is selected as a optimal excavation machine for the Han river tunnel considering the geological and ,site conditions.

• 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.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.1023-1037
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• 2018

The interest in the use of shield TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) on the tunnel excavation has been increased rapidly in Korea. The shield TBM tunnel is generally designed as non-drainage tunnel. Consequently, if water leakage through the segment joints happens, big problems on the usage and stability of tunnel can be occurred. In this study, the variation of waterproof capacity of hydrophilic rubber waterstop and gasket, respectively by the construction error and excessive displacement of segment was studied. The test results show that hydrophilic rubber waterstop has favorable on the offset, however unfavorable on the gap. On the other hand, gasket has unfavorable on the offset, however favorable on the gap.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.337-354
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• 2013

For shield TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) tunnel lining, the segment joint is the most critical component for determining the mechanical response of the complete lining ring. To investigate the mechanical behavior of the segment joint in a water conveyance tunnel, which is different from the vehicle tunnel because of the external loads and the high internal water pressure during the tunnel's service life, full-scale joint tests were conducted. The main advantage of the joint tests over previous ones was the definiteness of the loads applied to the joints using a unique testing facility and the acquisition of the mechanical behavior of actual joints. Furthermore, based on the test results and the theoretical analysis, a mechanical model of segment joints has been proposed, which consists of all important influencing factors, including the elastic-plastic behavior of concrete, the pre-tightening force of the bolts and the deformations of all joint components, i.e., concrete blocks, bolts and cast iron panels. Finally, the proposed mechanical model of segment joints has been verified by the aforementioned full-scale joint tests.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.31 no.6D
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• pp.839-848
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• 2011

TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) tunnel should be carry out with the adopted machine until the end of excavation because of impossibility of replacement or modification of machine. Observation of the face of the tunnel is difficult, especially in EPB(Earth Pressure Balance) shield TBM, predict changes in the ground condition with analyzing data, collected during the excavation, and it should be reflected in construction. Until recently, subjects of studies on TBM are mainly the determination of machine and the development of advance rate prediction model, according to the characteristics of ground which is the target of excavation. However, study focused on the estimation of ground conditions and the improvement in operational methods using excavation data of TBM equipment, the principal of the excavation, has been done not so much. This study examine the variances in advance rate depending on changes in operating conditions and evaluate the optimal operating conditions of adopt machine, using working data obtained from EPB shield TBM project. The result of this study is suggested as follows. First, cutter head RPM and total thrust force are biggest influences on advance rate, Second, it is recommended for proper advance rate that total thrust force is controlled while optimum cutter head RPM is kept, Third, according to the increasing trend of total thrust force, the changes in ground conditions can be predicted, the appropriate operating conditions can be determined.