• Explosives and Blasting
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.49-55
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• 2008

Mechanical excavation techniques employing tunnel boring machines (TBM) and rock splitters have been proposed to minimize rock damage for tunnel and underground waste repository facilities. Such a mechanical excavation, however, is extremely expensive and not applicable in all cases. For these reasons, controlled blasting using notched charge holes have been suggested to achieve crack growth along specific directions and inhibit growth along other directions. This study introduces a dynamic fracture process analysis code to simulate fracture processes of rock which has a notched charge hole.

• 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.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.534-546
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• 2023

If the disc cutter is excessively worn or damaged, it becomes incapable of rotating and efficiently cutting rockmass. Therefore, it is important to appropriately manage the replacement cycle of the disc cutter based on its degree of wear. In general, the replacement cycle is determined based on the results of manual inspection. However, the manual measurements has issues related to worker safety and may lead to inaccurate measurement results. For these reasons, some foreign countries are developing the real-time measurement system of disc cutter wear by using different sensors. The ultrasonic sensors, eddy current sensors, magnetic sensors, and others are utilized for measuring the wear amount of disc cutters. In this study, the applicability of eddy current sensors for real-time measurement of wear amount in TBM disc cutters was evaluated. The distance measurement accuracy of the eddy current sensor was assessed through laboratory tests. In particular, the accuracy of eddy-current sensor was evaluated in various environmental conditions within the cutterhead chamber. In addition, the measurement accuracy of the eddy current sensor was validated using a 17-inch disc cutter.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2021

In the design of a tunnel boring machine (TBM), the excavation efficiency of the equipment depends on the design of the cutter head, which is directly in contact with the ground. Especially, the allocation of disc cutter is crucial issue. Disc cutters can be divided into center cutter zone, inner cutter zone and transition cutter zone depending on where they are placed. Many studies have been conducted to identify optimal cutting conditions for face cutters. However, research to determine the optimal cutting conditions for the transition cutter has been relatively incomplete. In this study, to identify the optimal cutting conditions for the transition cutter, numerical analysis using discrete element method was performed, and the specific energy curve according to the angle between the transition cutters was drawn to find out the optimum cutting conditions. The results show that the angle between the transition cutters showing minimum specific energy in the transition cutter zone is 9°. Transition cutter zone was divided into three sections according to the slope angle of the transition cutter. It is also found that, the greater the slope angle of the transition cutter. This finding shows good agreement with the present design of transition cutter zone.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.594-609
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• 2023

TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) method is gaining popularity in urban and underwater tunneling projects due to its ability to ensure excavation face stability and minimize environmental impact. Among the prominent models for predicting disc cutter life, the NTNU model uses the Cutter Life Index(CLI) as a key parameter, but the complexity of testing procedures and rarity of equipment make measurement challenging. In this study, CLI was predicted using multiple linear regression analysis and tree-based machine learning techniques, utilizing rock properties. Through literature review, a database including rock uniaxial compressive strength, Brazilian tensile strength, equivalent quartz content, and Cerchar abrasivity index was built, and derived variables were added. The multiple linear regression analysis selected input variables based on statistical significance and multicollinearity, while the machine learning prediction model chose variables based on their importance. Dividing the data into 80% for training and 20% for testing, a comparative analysis of the predictive performance was conducted, and XGBoost was identified as the optimal model. The validity of the multiple linear regression and XGBoost models derived in this study was confirmed by comparing their predictive performance with prior research.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2013

Steel fiber-reinforced concrete (SFRC) is widely used for tunnel lining structure such as shot-crete in NATM tunnel and segment in TBM tunnel. In tunnel fire accidents, structural performance of a lining is very important because the lining is the structure that directly exposed to fire. In this study, the effects of high temperatures, mix ratios and types on failure pattern, DPT tensile strength and coefficient of variation were investigated through Double Punch Tests (DPT) of SFRC subjected to high temperatures. In the results, it is confirmed that the residual DPT tensile strength increases as for SFRC and this is more in SFRC with higher mix ratio. But, the equation for evaluation of DPT tensile strength does not involve the number of failure surfaces SFRC specimens subjected to high temperatures, therefore, it is required to investigate more fracture energy in DPT tests.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.501-513
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• 2020

Cutter cutting tests for the cutter placement in the cutter head are being conducted through various studies. Although the cutter spacing at the minimum specific energy is mainly reflected in the cutter head design, since the optimum cutter spacing at the same cutter penetration depth varies depending on the rock conditions, studies on deciding the optimum cutter spacing should be actively conducted. The machine learning techniques such as the decision tree-based regression model and the SVM regression model were applied to predict the optimum cutter spacing ratio for the nonlinear relationship between cutter penetration depth and cutter spacing. Since the decision tree-based methods are greatly influenced by the number of data, SVM regression predicted optimum cutter spacing ratio according to the penetration depth more accurately and it is judged that the SVM regression will be effectively used to decide the cutter spacing when designing the cutter head if a large amount of data of the optimum cutter spacing ratio according to the penetration depth is accumulated.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.677-685
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• 2018

In construction, schedule management is the basic but important step, for the effective schedule management, the preparation of the reasonable schedule table should be prioritized. In the design stage, the optimal construction period can be selected through comparison of various conditions and construction methods considering weather conditions and site characteristics. But, At the planning phase, it is difficult to select the effective method and calculate the proper construction period by the basic data(D/B) analysis. In this paper, the construction method considering characteristics of each type and conditions of existing city was selected. For the reasonable duration calculation, we analyzed the unit schedule for RC method for open type and Shield TBM method for tunnel type. The normal project duration of construction assuming of 1,200m of extension and every 200m of ventilation was prepared by integrating each unit schedule. It was analyzed that it took 893 days for the open type and 616 days for the tunnel type. The results of this study will help to make type selection and normal project duration more easily in the planning phase. If it is linked to the design stage, it will be easy to estimate the process and construction cost.

• 한국터널공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.04a
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• pp.87-104
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• 2005

Rock masses represent natural systems that are inherently complex and in which multiple mechanisms occur. Rock engineering systems such as tunnel and slope interact with surrounding systems through an exchange of both mass and energy. Accordingly the complex nature of rock masses calls for a system approach, and the open nature of rock engineering even requires the engineering to be controlled by a system approach for surrounding environments. However, traditional methods cannot take all variables and their interactions into account and are limited to the system with single mechanisms. Therefore, they are not proper for a complex and open system, and also cannot portray the whole system. Thus, a system approach is indispensable to rock engineering for dealing with the whole of a complex and open system. In this paper Mechanism Path Analysis Methodology (MPAM) Is Introduced for a system approach to rock engineering. The analysis by the methodology gives us all the information of systems behavior in the context of the whole system in order to accomplish the optimum design in accordance with the project objectives and analysis purposes. As an application a conventional model for the evaluation of TBM tunneling performance system is analyzed by MPAM and the result is compared with that by a traditional method.

• Magazine of korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.101-112
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• 2019

This case study presented a simplified failure mechanism approach used as a preliminary deformation prediction for the Mexico City's metro system expansion. Because of the Mexico City's difficult subsoils, Line 12 project was considered one of the most challenging projects in Mexico. Mexico City's subsurface conditions can be described as a multilayered stratigraphy changing from soft high plastic clays to dense to very dense cemented sands. The Line 12 trajectory crossed all three main geotechnical Zones in Mexico City. Starting from to west of the City, Line 12 was projected to pass through very dense cemented sands corresponding to the Foothills zone changing to the Transition zone and finalizing in the Lake zone. Due to the change in the subsurface conditions, different constructions methods were implemented including the use of TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine), the NATM (New Austrian Tunneling Method), and cut-and-cover using braced Diaphragm walls for the underground section of the project. Preliminary crown and excavation front deformations were determined using a simplified failure mechanism prior to performing finite element modeling and analysis. Results showed corresponding deformations for the crown and the excavation front to be 3.5cm (1.4in) and 6cm (2.4in), respectively. Considering the complexity of Mexico City's difficult subsoil formation, construction method selection becomes a challenge to overcome. The use of a preliminary results in order to have a notion of possible deformations prior to advanced modeling and analysis could be beneficial and helpful to select possible construction procedures.