Wear Analysis of Disc Cutters of Full Face Rock Tunnel Boring Machine

Wear is a major factor of disc cutters’ failure. No current theory offers a standard for the prediction of disc cutter wear yet. In the field the wear prediction method commonly used is based on the excavation length of tunnel boring machine（TBM） to predict the disc cutter wear and its wear law, considering the location number of each disc cutter on the cutterhead（radius for installation）; in theory, there is a prediction method of using arc wear coefficient. However, the preceding two methods have their own errors, with their accuracy being 40% or so and largely relying on the technicians’ experience. Therefore, radial wear coefficient, axial wear coefficient and trajectory wear coefficient are defined on the basis of the operating characteristics of TBM. With reference to the installation and characteristics of disc cutters, those coefficients are modified according to penetration, which gives rise to the presentation of comprehensive axial wear coefficient, comprehensive radial wear coefficient and comprehensive trajectory wear coefficient. Calculation and determination of wear coefficients are made with consideration of data from a segment of TBM project（excavation length 173 m）. The resulting wear coefficient values, after modification, are adopted to predict the disc cutter wear in the follow-up segment of the TBM project（excavation length of 5621 m）. The prediction results show that the disc cutter wear predicted with comprehensive radial wear coefficient and comprehensive trajectory wear coefficient are not only accurate（accuracy 16.12%） but also highly congruous, whereas there is a larger deviation in the prediction with comprehensive axial wear coefficient（accuracy 41%, which is in agreement with the prediction of disc cutters’ life in the field）. This paper puts forth a new method concerning prediction of life span and wear of TBM disc cutters as well as timing for replacing disc cutters.