Experimental and numerical investigation of the TBM disc cutter wear using a new tunnel boring machine laboratory simulator

One of the essential and practical issues on TBM performance is the wear during the excavation process of abrasive and resistant rock. The wear of the disc cutter, which is caused by the gradual and uniform reduction of the diameter of the disc cutter, is caused by the rock-machine interaction during excavation, and various factors can intensify this phenomenon and reduce the wear life of the disc cutter. To obtain a proper view of the relationship between the operating parameters of the excavation machine and the disc cutter wear, a new laboratory device has been designed and built in the mechanized excavation laboratory of the Sahand University of Technology. By using this device, the amount of wear of cutting tools in excavation machines can be obtained against rough rock samples, and from the results, the amount of wear of cutting tools of excavation machines can be minimized so that the efficiency of the excavation machine can be increased. In the current research, the laboratory wear results obtained from this device have been compared with those obtained from the numerical modelling of the same device in PFC3D discrete element software, both for the cutting blades and the sample itself. This research showed that in the first abrasion stage of the sample, the difference in the abrasion weight of the experimental study and numerical modelling for the samples varies from 0.91 to 0.768 g, and the average is 0.202 g. Also, the difference between the abrasion percentage of laboratory study and numerical simulation for the samples varies from 6 to 14 %, and the average is 10 %. In step 2 of abrasion, the difference in the abrasion weight of the experimental study and numerical modelling for the samples varies from 0.118 to 0.556 g, and the average is 0.278 g. Also, the difference in the abrasion percentage of laboratory study and numerical simulation for the samples varies from 7 to 14 %, and the average is 11 %. The results of the new tunnel boring machine laboratory simulator revealed insights into wear behavior during different stages of excavation.