Macro-Mesoscopic Fragmentation Characteristics of Rock Beneath Disc Cutters Subjected to the Thermo-Mechanical Coupling Action
Anthony Kojo Amoah1, Song Kanglei1, Yang Haiqing1,2
1Chongqing University, Chongqing, China
2Chongqing Engineering Research Center of Automatic Monitoring for Geological Hazards, Chongqing, China
Keywords: Thermo-mechanical coupling, crack propagation, field penetration index, specific energy, disc cutter
Abstract
A series of laboratory cutter indentation tests were conducted on mudstone samples to study the influence of thermo-mechanical coupling on rock fragmentation. The experimental results show that many micro cracks and pores are formed in the crushed zone of rock sample due to the frictional heat during cutting process. After that, the relationships between specific energy and mesoscopic surface of mudstone samples were analyzed. The results show that the thermo-mechanical coupling is conductive to rock fragmentation. Therefore, thermo-mechanical coupling action in the tunneling process greatly improves the rock breaking efficiency. This study is conducive to extend cutter life, reduce project cost and construction risk in TBM tunnel project.
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