TUCSS Annual Lecture 2023 Shirlaw Slides

A case study on
understanding
TBM operation in
weathered granite
(mixed ground)
using TBM Data
Nick Shirlaw
Introduction
• Work has been in progress since 2015
• Some of it has been published in papers with coauthors:
❖ Tom Henderson, WSP, Hong Kong
❖ Ivan Haryono, Noma Consulting, Australia
❖ Francois Dudouit, Vinci Grands Projets, New Zealand
❖ David Salisbury, Previously MTR Corporation, Hong Kong
• Papers in WTC (2020), UGS (2021), Tunnelling and Underground Space (2022),
Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrology (2023)
Tunnelling and Underground Construction Society, Singapore

2
Annual lecture 25th October 2023
1. Forces, Torque and other TBM parameters
used in the study
2. Background of case study
3. Single parameter data
4. Combinations and how they can be used
▪ Specific Energy
Agenda ▪ Penetration Index
▪ Rock Strength
▪ Modified Field Penetration Index
▪ Torque Factor
▪ FDT ratio
Tunnelling and Underground Construction Society, Singapore Annual lecture 25th October 2023 3
Forces
Friction
Friction
Thrust Force = Contact Force + Force due to slurry pressure + Force to overcome Friction + Drag Force
Contact Force = Front Force – Force due to slurry pressure over area of main bearing
4
Forces and other parameters
Measured Calculated
Symbol Definition Symbol Definition
FTotal Total Thrust Thrust force applied at the back of the Fc Contact Force Force applied to the
Force shield cutterhead
FF Front Force Force applied to the main drive assembly ROP Rate of penetration Distance advanced per
and cutterhead, or force applied through (mm/rev) revolution of the cutterhead
the articulation rams to the front shield Fn Average force per Contact Force divided by the
and cutterhead (depends on TBM design) disc number of discs
FD Drag force Force required to tow the trailing gear FSL Force to balance Force to balance slurry
Tq Torque Torque applied to the cutterhead slurry pressure pressure over the area of the
PR Penetration Distance advanced per minute main bulkhead
rate (mm/min) FFR Friction on the TBM Friction on the skin of the
RPM Revolutions Revolutions of the cutterhead per minute TBM and on the tail seals
per minute
PSL Slurry pressure Slurry pressure in the excavation chamber
Only the Contact Force and Torque on the cutterhead

directly relate to the cutting of the ground
5
Background of case
study
Shatin to Central Line Contract 1103, Hong Kong (SCL 1103)
Shatin to Central Line (SCL) Contract 1103
SCL 1103
2 x 1700m long slurry

drives between Diamond
Hill and a reception cavern
at the foot of Lion Rock

7
Plan of TBM tunnel route
Tsui Chuk
Estate
Tsui Chuk Estate,

Lion Rock behind
8
Geological Profile
Dyke rock & associated

hydrothermal weathering Corestone profile,
not from this site

9
Geological
Rings 150 to 600
Profile
• Ground conditions refined by mapping during interventions:
• 149 for UT
• 107 for DT
Tunnelling and Underground Construction Society, Singapore Annual lecture 25th

October 2023 10
The TBM
Dimension TBM (m)
Type of TBM Slurry

Diameter cut by cutterhead 7.46
External diameter, front 7.41
shield
External diameter, tail shield 7.39
Diameter of main bearing 3.2
assembly
Length of shield 11.67
Length of cutterhead 0.735

11
Cutting tools
Type of Sub-category Number
cutting tool
Disc cutters Centre-cutters 4x2 Gauge and copy cutters
Transitional cutters
(44 x 19”) (double)
Face cutter 26
Transitional cutters 8
Gauge cutter 1
Copy cutter 1
Scrapers Scrapers 52 Face cutters, 90mm track spacing
Back scrapers 4
Bucket lips 12
Disc cutters 50mm Centre cutters, 100mm track spacing

ahead of scrapers

12
Single parameters
Slurry pressure
Reception cavern
Launch
Water pressure lower for DT

than UT due to drainage into
reception cavern and MCV
shaft. Reflected in lower
slurry pressure for DT over
last part of the tunnelling
14
Total Thrust
Thrust increases broadly in

proportion to increase in
slurry pressure

15
Forces, Up-Track, as % of Thrust
• Force due to slurry pressure is

dominant
• Contact Force rarely more than
40% of total thrust, generally 10%
to 30%
• Friction tends to be relatively low
in rock, relatively high in soil

16
Forces, Down-Track, as % of Thrust
• Force due to slurry pressure is

dominant
• Contact Force rarely more than
40% of total thrust, generally
10% to 30%
• Friction tends to be relatively low
in rock, relatively high in soil

17
RPM, ROP and PR
RPM ROP
Rate of Penetration, ROP (mm/rev)

much lower in rock than soil, but
RPM higher, so almost balances out
PR in Penetration Rate, PR (mm/min.)

18
Contact Force
Chosen Limit, 40 x 300kN = 12,000 kN
Contact Force generally higher

in rock than soil or mixed
ground, but highly variable

19
Cutterhead Torque
Normal Torque Limit 4,510 kNm
Torque generally lower in rock

than soil or mixed ground, but
highly variable

20
Observations on single parameters
• Some very general trends observable
• However, huge variation within each general category of soil, mixed
ground and rock
• TBM parameters are interactive between themselves and with the
ground, so, single parameters don’t provide much information about
the ground
• Need combinations of TBM parameters to try to make sense of the
interaction between the TBM and the ground

21
Combination
parameters
Six combinations
Field CSM equations

Specific Energy Penetration for compressive
Index strength of rock
Modified Field
Torque Factor,
Penetration FDT ratio
kTq
Index
23
Equations
• Specific Energy (SE) = [(Fc.PR) + (2.π.RPM.Tq)] / A.PR MNm/m3 (or MJoules/m3).
Effectively unit torque / mm/rev
• Field Penetration Index, FPI, = Fn / ROP kN/cutter/mm/rev. Average load / cutter /mm/rev
• Uniaxial compressive strength, σC = 3√(PO)3. Φ. kBTS. (RT)0.5/ (C3.S)
Where PO = Fn / [T.R. Φ.cos(Φ /2) ]
And Φ = cos-1 [(R-p)/R] CSM equations modified by Thewes
• Modified Field Penetration Index, mFPI, = 3√ (Fn3/ROP) Modified to match CSM equations
• Torque Factor (kTq) = Tq/(D1 Fc Tan Φ/2) Compares actual torque with torque calculated
from Contact Force, mm/rev. & cutter layout. Typically expect kTq to be 0.25 to 0.3 in rock.
• Force-Diameter-Torque (FDT) ratio = Fc.D1/Tq Should be high in rock, low in soil

24
Specific Energy & clogging
Up-Track
D = Chips of Dyke rock, C = Intervention to clear clogged material Recorded clogging

25
Field Penetration Index and clogging
Up-Track
Clogging also shows up as

locally high values of Field
Penetration Index, although
not so much as Specific
D = Chips of Dyke rock, C = Intervention to clear clogged material Energy

26
Hidden structure in the Grade V granite
Up-Track
The bands of swelling Grade V derived from the
weathering of dyke rock and hydrothermally
altered rock.
Laboratory testing of samples taken during

interventions (C) showed swelling clay minerals
such as beidellite and montmorillonite which are
not normally found in Grade V granite.
The analysis of the TBM data shows the hidden

structure of the Grade V which was not
identified during Ground Investigation

27
Effect of changing the slurry circuit for better
flushing
Changing the slurry flushing

for the Down-Track tunnel
substantially reduced the
values for SE and FPI in the
sticky Grade V
28
Potential clogging vs actual clogging
Thewes and Hollmann (2016) diagram
for clogging potential – based on soil
properties only.
Specific Energy as a
measure of actual
clogging. Can be altered
by changing the TBM.

29
Strength – CSM method

30
Strength – comparison with GI results
Median calculated strength similar to

ground investigation test results.
Distribution somewhat different due
to:
• Sample size. One TBM advance =
100,000 time the volume of rock
tested in the laboratory
• Bias in sample selection for testing
(GI). Appears that lower strength
rock was selected over mid-range.

31
Enlarged area of Up-Track
Weathering involves the

weakening of the rock, starting
from the major, conductive,
joints
32
Proto-corestone zone (not evident in GI)
Idealised proto-corestone zone Developing towards Corestone zone
Corestone zone
Proto-corestone zone
identified to 50m below
rockhead on SCL 1103
33
Change in rock strength between successive
1.5m advances Up Track
Average change
+/- 13.1%
DT data comparable
Max. change
+59.2% / - 42.7%

34
Effect on tunnelling
Up-Track Down-Track
Average load per disc cutter simply follows the change in the strength of the rock
Average Fn in final section in rock was 146.7 kN for UT (48.9% of limit) and 173.2
kN for DT (57.7% of limit)
35
Importance of force on the cutters (Fn)
As it is an approximately cubic
relationship, a small proportional
increase in the force on the cutters
gives a much larger proportional
increase in the rate of penetration

36
It is the weaker rock that is the problem!
Stronger rock, high Fn
Weaker rock, low Fn

37
Unpredictable response to changes in
Penetration Rate
The response of the load on the disc

cutters to changes in the
Penetration Rate is not predictable.
This is largely due to the continual
change in the strength of the rock.
Slower advance Faster advance

38
Human vs autonomous operation
The human operator cannot focus exclusively on Autonomous operation can focus on specific aspects
the contact force and cannot optimize operation of driving the TBM to achieve optimum tunnelling.
in highly variable weathered rock conditions. Data from KL in weathered rock

39
Modified Field Penetration Index
Calculated UCS = Constant x mFPI
mFPI is a proxy for rock strength
Can be quickly calculated

40
Torque Factor, kTq
Anticipated range, 0.25 to 0.3

41
Effect of differential wear of disc cutters
Even cutters Differential wear on cutters
Will worn and

damaged discs show
up in the value
of kTq?
Efficient cutting of rock Inefficient cutting of rock

Lu, Z., Wang, X., Teng. H., Guan, X., Song, C. and Fan, G. (2022). Rock-Breaking Laws of Disc
Cutters with Different Height Differences in Hard Rock Strata. Hindawi Advances in Civil
Engineering Volume 2022, Article ID 2282830, 11 pp https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/2282830

42
Down-Track
Interventions almost every

day to replace discs.
Increase in kTq between

R1002 and R1035 to 0.69,
followed by drop to 0.3 after
changing 14 worn and 4
damaged discs

43
Supporting evidence
Average effect on
Average value
kTq of changing a
of kTq
disc
Drive Before After Damaged Worn
Up-Track 0.36 0.3 -0.02 -0.0082
Down-
0.373 0.295 -0.0467 -0.0083
Track
• Average value for kTq reverts to default value immediately
after interventions
• Effect of changing a damaged disc much greater than that
Deficit in disc changes between R1002 and R1036 of changing a worn disc

44
However…..
Up-Track drive, final section in rock
Large reductions in kTq before intervention,

minor increase in kTq after intervention

45
Possible other reasons for changes in kTq
Base value for kTq varies with rock strength, particularly

Figure 64a. Variation in the strength of Figure 64b. Variation in the strength
Variable
the strength
rock that would of rock
lead to higher valuesacross facethatwill
of the rock below 50MPa. Possible effect of mixed ground
would lead to lower
affect
of k Tq kTq by causing uneven loading values of k Tq of discs
cutterhead?
46
Possible use of kTq (the Torque Factor)
• Increasing values for kTq over multiple advances in rock may indicate a
significant number of worn and/or damaged disc cutters
• However, need to physically inspect to be sure
• Can augment the information from wear monitoring devices
• Should not replace regular inspection and maintenance

47
The FDT ratio
Generally:
High value in rock
Moderate value in mixed ground
Low value in soil (Grades IV to VI)
48
Which combination best differentiates the
various ground categories?
Up-Track Ratio of average values Down-Track Ratio of average values
Parameter cl. Rock/ Mixed/ Rock/cdg Parameter cl. Rock/ Mixed Rock/cdg
cdg/cdg mixed cdg cdg/cdg mixed /cdg
FPI 3 1.74 4.63 8.06 FPI 1.34 2.14 2.64 5.65
SE 2.75 0.82 3.43 2.83 SE 1.13 1.11 2.07 2.29
mFPI 2.61 1.17 3.34 3.91 MFPI 1.25 1.59 1.98 3.14
FDT 1.31 2.16 1.58 3.42 FDT 1.15 1.89 1.36 2.57
1/kTq 1.50 1.48 1.61 2.38 1/kTq 1.12 1.32 1.22 1.62
The Field Penetration Index provided the greatest contrast between the soil,
mixed ground and rock of weathered granite

49
Conclusions
• Assessment of single TBM parameters is of limited value
• By assessing combinations of parameters we can obtain useful
information about the nature of the geological conditions
encountered and how the TBM is interacting with those conditions
• This can lead to improved tunnelling

50
Questions?
Tunnelling and Underground Construction Society, Singapore Annual lecture 25th

October 2023 51

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A case study on

Tunnelling and Underground Construction Society, Singapore

Only the Contact Force and Torque on the cutterhead

2 x 1700m long slurry

Tunnelling and Underground Construction Society, Singapore

Tsui Chuk Estate,

Dyke rock & associated

Tunnelling and Underground Construction Society, Singapore

Tunnelling and Underground Construction Society, Singapore Annual lecture 25th

Dimension TBM (m)

Type of TBM Slurry

Tunnelling and Underground Construction Society, Singapore

Disc cutters 50mm Centre cutters, 100mm track spacing

Tunnelling and Underground Construction Society, Singapore

Water pressure lower for DT

Thrust increases broadly in

Tunnelling and Underground Construction Society, Singapore

• Force due to slurry pressure is

Tunnelling and Underground Construction Society, Singapore

• Force due to slurry pressure is

Tunnelling and Underground Construction Society, Singapore

Rate of Penetration, ROP (mm/rev)

Tunnelling and Underground Construction Society, Singapore

Chosen Limit, 40 x 300kN = 12,000 kN

Contact Force generally higher

Tunnelling and Underground Construction Society, Singapore

Normal Torque Limit 4,510 kNm

Torque generally lower in rock

Tunnelling and Underground Construction Society, Singapore

Tunnelling and Underground Construction Society, Singapore

Field CSM equations

Tunnelling and Underground Construction Society, Singapore

D = Chips of Dyke rock, C = Intervention to clear clogged material Recorded clogging

Tunnelling and Underground Construction Society, Singapore

Clogging also shows up as

Tunnelling and Underground Construction Society, Singapore

Laboratory testing of samples taken during

The analysis of the TBM data shows the hidden

Tunnelling and Underground Construction Society, Singapore

Changing the slurry flushing

Tunnelling and Underground Construction Society, Singapore

Tunnelling and Underground Construction Society, Singapore

Median calculated strength similar to

Tunnelling and Underground Construction Society, Singapore

Weathering involves the

Idealised proto-corestone zone Developing towards Corestone zone

Tunnelling and Underground Construction Society, Singapore

Tunnelling and Underground Construction Society, Singapore

Stronger rock, high Fn

Weaker rock, low Fn

Tunnelling and Underground Construction Society, Singapore

The response of the load on the disc

Slower advance Faster advance

Tunnelling and Underground Construction Society, Singapore

Calculated UCS = Constant x mFPI

mFPI is a proxy for rock strength

Can be quickly calculated

Tunnelling and Underground Construction Society, Singapore

Anticipated range, 0.25 to 0.3

Tunnelling and Underground Construction Society, Singapore

Will worn and

Efficient cutting of rock Inefficient cutting of rock