• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.299-311
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• 2023

Continuous excavation technologies are developed to improve the excavation rate of shield TBM. Continuous excavation is a technology that provides thrust to segments, excluding being installed one, to reduce tunneling downtime. This paper investigated the prior technology related to continuous excavation segments. The main technology was classified into helical segment, honeycomb segment, and conventional segment methods. The helical segment method has not been applied in actual construction yet, and the honeycomb segment method has not succeeded in commercialization. The continuous excavation method using conventional segments has been successfully demonstrated. The thrust force and operation method of the thrust jacks for the semi-continuous technology were analyzed. Continuous excavation TBM research is also progressing in Korea, and through the analysis of successful cases, the need to develop independent continuous excavation methods has been identified.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.107-115
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• 2015

As TBM construction method is widely applied to construct underground transmission lines, increasing attention has been drawn to SFRC(steel fiber reinforced concrete) segment with respect to structural characteristics. Health hazards of electromagnetic wave which the underground transmission lines emit has emerged, and there is a concern that electromagnetic wave can be amplified because a segment characteristic such as electrical conductivity is changed by steel fibers. In order to analyze correlation between steel fiber dosage and electromagnetic wave, the specimens were fabricated on three conditions to perform experimental tests. From the measured data, it is proven that there is no correlation between the electromagnetic wave and steel fiber reinforced concrete.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.494-507
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• 2021

With the increasing use of TBM, research has recently been conducted in Korea to analyze TBM data with machine learning techniques to predict the ground in front of TBM, predict the exchange cycle of disk cutters, and predict the advance rate of TBM. In this study, classification prediction of rock characteristics of slurry shield TBM sites was made by combining traditional rock classification techniques and machine learning techniques widely used in various fields with machine data during TBM excavation. The items of rock characteristic classification criteria were set as RQD, uniaxial compression strength, and elastic wave speed, and the rock conditions for each item were classified into three classes: class 0 (good), 1 (normal), and 2 (poor), and machine learning was performed on six class algorithms. As a result, the ensemble model showed good performance, and the LigthtGBM model, which showed excellent results in learning speed as well as learning performance, was found to be optimal in the target site ground. Using the classification model for the three rock characteristics set in this study, it is believed that it will be possible to provide rock conditions for sections where ground information is not provided, which will help during excavation work.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.1091-1104
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• 2018

Wear prediction of TBM disc cutters is a very important issue during design as well as construction stages for hard rock TBMs as the cutter head intervention is directly related to the time and cost of tunneling. For that, some methods such as NTNU, CSM and Gehring models were used to predict disc cutter wear and intervention interval. There are however some problems to be addressed in these models in terms of accuracy and time for testing, so that a NAT (New Abrasion Tester) model has been developed in order to achieve simplicity and reliability together at the same time (Farrokh and Kim, 2018). On the basis, the proposed NAT model has been applied to ${\bigcirc}{\bigcirc}$ project in Korea. A comparative study was performed to compare with the conventional methods and as a result the NAT model showed a very good agreement with actual cutter life. The NAT model will be further applied to other projects to establish credibility.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.387-401
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• 2023

The Earth Pressure Balanced (EPB) Shield Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) is widely employed for constructing urban underground spaces due to its minimal vibration and low noise levels. The injection of additives offers several advantages, including maintaining shield chamber pressure, reducing shear strength, minimizing cutter wear, and decreasing the permeability of the excavated soil. This technique is known as soil conditioning and involves the application of additives such as foam, polymer, and bentonite slurry. In this study, weathered granite soil commonly encountered at domestic tunnel sites was used as a soil specimen. Foam and polymer were applied as additives to assess the rheological properties of conditioned soils. The workability was evaluated through slump tests, while the rheological properties were assessed through laboratory pressurized vane shear tests conducted under the same conditions. Specially, the polymer was applied under specific conditions with low workability with high slump values, with the aim of evaluating the impact of polymer application. The test results revealed that with an increase in the Foam Injection Ratio (FIR), the slump value also increased, while the torque, peak strength, yield stress, apparent viscosity, and thixotropic area decreased. Conversely, an increase in the Polymer Injection Ratio (PIR) led to results opposite to those of FIR. Additionally, a correlation between the slump value and yield stress was proposed. When comparing conditions with only foam applied to those with both foam and polymer applied, even with similar slump values, the yield stress was found to be lower in the latter conditions.

• 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.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.75-85
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• 2010

The focus of this study is to evaluate the field applicability of the newly developed inorganic thixotropic-grout in various ways. In order to do this, the volume stability and the permeability of the inorganic thixotropic-grout have been measured and compared to the existing silica type grouts. In addition, the filling capability of the grout into the tail void has been evaluated through both an experiment with a miniature tail-void filling equipment and a test filling at the shield TBM construction site. The volume loss of the inorganic thixotropic-grout after a 14 day-curing under the atmosphere condition was appeared to be minimal. The excellent waterproofing ability of the inorganic thixotropic-grout was confirmed through a permeability test. The toxicity of the inorganic thixotropic-grout has been evaluated through a toxicity test of aquatic fishes (KS M 0111) and the pH value of the liquid eluviated from inorganic thixotropic-grout was measured as an average of 8.0 and a fatality rate of goldfish after 96 hours was 10% or so. The existence of harmful heavy metals in the liquid eluviated from the inorganic thixotropic-grout has been also examined through an atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) test. Any of harmful heavy metals were not detected and the detected level of $Cr^{6+}$ and Cd was far below the standard. Based on both an experiment with a miniature tail-void filling equipment and a test filling at the shield TBM construction site, the filling ability of inorganic thixotropic-grout into the tail void was proved to be excellent.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.9 no.1 s.32
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• pp.110-117
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• 2006

Boulder detection methods and its compensation is discussed with consideration of boulder conditions in soft ground tunneling by shielded TBM. For analysis of proper compensation methods for boulder obstruction, its removal costs and cases on eight projects are presented. Compensation for boulder obstruction removal by volume or weight is not practical for most tunneling situation, but compensation by crew time is probably the most equitable method. If boulders are anticipated on project, boulder removal plan must be considered with proper equipment selection.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.478-490
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• 2022

TBM disc cutter, which is the main cutting tool of tunnel boring machine (TBM), is replaced when it is excessively worn during the boring process. Disc cutters are usually monitored by workers at cutterhead chamber, and they check the status and wear amount of cutters. Because cutterhead chamber is usually in dangerous circumstance due to high pressure and instability of excavation surface, the measurement by manpower occasionally results in inaccuracy of measurement result. In order to overcome the limitations, the real-time disc cutter monitoring techniques have been developed in some foreign countries. This paper collected the current status of disc cutter monitoring system from the literature. Several types of sensors are used to measure the cutter wear, and it is believed that the collected information can be useful reference when similar domestic technologies are developed in the future.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.244-254
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• 2023

The disc cutter mounted on the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) is subjected to cutting forces in three dimensions during rock excavation process. It is widely known that the cutting forces increased with the strength of the rock mass, while the rolling force can be significantly increased when the disc cutter encounters abnormal rotation. Therefore, the cutting force acts on the disc cutter provides important information because it represents the conditions of the rock mass and the disc cutter. For these reasons, several studies have been conducted to measure the cutter forces in real-time. This paper introduces the current status of research on the cutter force measurement of TBM disc cutters, which has been reported in the literature. It is judged that this paper can be a useful reference material when similar technologies are developed in Korea in the future.