Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2017) 90:277–289
DOI 10.1007/s00170-016-9375-9
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
The multi-stage rock fragmentation load prediction model
of tunnel boring machine cutter group based on dense core theory
Junzhou Huo 1 & Weizheng Wang 1 & Wei Sun 1 & Jingxiu Ling 2 & Jianghui Dong 3
Received: 23 May 2016 / Accepted: 22 August 2016 / Published online: 30 August 2016
# Springer-Verlag London 2016
Abstract Disk cutter is a working part of the tunnel boring
machine (TBM), which is directly in contact with the rock, bear-
ing a strong impact load and vibration, so the structure is very
easy to have damage and failure. The accurate prediction of the
cutter group load is the key to structure design of cutters.
However, the existing prediction model cannot reflect the multi-
peak characteristics in the breaking process. In this paper, a theo-
retical prediction model of the disk cutter group of a TBM is
presented. The model is based on dense core theory, rock charac-
teristics, the types of disk cutters, the layout and structural param-
eters of the cutters, tunneling parameters, and the compound
multi-stage space breaking load. A linear disk cutting test was
carried out to verify the accuracy of the theoretical prediction
model. The model reflects the multi-stage peak value and seg-
mented step of the cutter load, and based on the theoretical pre-
diction model, the effects of the cutter installation radius and the
tilt angle of the gauge cutters on the load are analyzed. The results
presented provide a theoretical basis for the prediction of the cutter
load and the arrangement of the cutters in a TBM.
Keywords Disk cutter . Rock fragmentation load . Dense core
theory . Linear cutting test . Tunnel boring machine
* Jingxiu Ling
ljxyxj@fjut.edu.cn
* Jianghui Dong
jianghui.dong@mymail.unisa.edu.au
1
School of Mechanical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology,
Dalian 116024, China
2
School of Mechanical & Automotive Engineering, Fujian University
of Technology, Fuzhou 350108, China
3
School of Natural and Built Environments, University of South
Australia, Adelaide, SA 5095, Australia
1 Introduction
As the main rock fragmentation tool of the full-face rock tun-
nel boring machine (TBM), the disk cutter is directly exposed
to the rock, is under potentially complex loading condition,
and is thus easily worn or damaged. The cutter may be subject
to different operating positions based on special working con-
ditions, which have an effect on the complex loading condi-
tions. Research on force prediction modeling is key factor
to provide valuable input into the design of the cutter and
the load transfer process of the cutter to the cutter housing
of the TBM.
The establishment of the force prediction model is the basis
of cutter design and the whole TBM design. The accuracy of
the prediction model directly determines the efficiency of
TBM. Based on analysis of rock fragmentation theory and
experiments, a number of stress prediction formulae related
to the disk cutter have been developed, such as that of [1] and
the rock cutting model with point-attack picks [2]. The forma-
tion of discontinuous chips during rock cutting was studied
[3]. The cutting force and energy have been modeled as a
simple linear relationship [4], and Turchetta [5] developed a
model that can be used to predict the variation of the cutting
energy. In addition, the discrete element method and finite
element modeling have been used to simulate the process of
disk cutter breaking rock and to study the morphology of
crack propagation [6–11]. Huo et al. [12, 13] studied the ef-
fects of rock fragmentation and the structural parameters of
the cutter ring using three-dimensional (3D) modeling of the
double cutter. The influence of different factors on the contact
force of the rock, micro-crack propagation, and the generation
of broken particles has also all been investigated.
Additionally, numerical simulation has been used to simu-
late the driving physical process of the TBM cutterhead, the
cutterhead dynamic tunneling load, the failure state of tunnel
278
face rock mass, and the force of the TBM cutter [14–19].
Entacher et al. [20] and Zhang [21] analyzed the stress of
the cutter on different driving fields and researched changes
in the cutter load. Based on linear cutting experiments and
numerical simulation, Cho [22] evaluated the efficiency of
rock breaking and the relationship between the ratio of the
cutter and the cutter spacing and the cutting depth. Rostami
[23] proposed a method of pressure distribution in the contact
area of the rock cutter. The results showed that the actual area
of pressure is smaller than the area of contact, and the peak
stress of the pressure zone was higher than the calculated
value. Entacher et al. [24] developed a low-cost and high-
precision scaled experiment.
In summary, there has been a significant amount of re-
search into predicting the breaking load of the cutter, and a
series of practical forecasting models and methods of rock
fragmentation have been put forward. However, there are still
some limitations. The existing force prediction model is a
static single point model that does not reflect the multi-peak
characteristics of the actual rock fragmentation cycle and also
does not consider the influence of the factors such as the
layout and driving parameters. The lateral force of the cutter
cannot be effectively predicted by the breaking rock experi-
ment based on line cutting.
The establishment of the force prediction model is the basis
of cutter design and the overall design of the TBM, and the
accuracy of the prediction model directly determines the effi-
ciency of the TBM. The traditional dense core theory and
force prediction modeling are not necessarily able to describe
the breaking process of the disk cutter effectively because of
the complex working environment and the functioning of dy-
namic impact load, as well as the spatial layout of the cutter.
In this paper, a multi-stage loading forecasting model is
established that is based on dense core theory and considers
the rock characteristics, cutter parameters, and driving param-
eters. In addition, the model is verified using a linear cutting
experiment and the mechanical laws influencing the cutter
load are obtained via analysis of the various influencing fac-
tors on the disk cutter.
2 Materials and methods
2.1 Compound multi-stage rock fragmentation
mechanism based on dense core theory
In this paper, two-dimensional (2D) single-cutter dense core
theory [25] is extended to 3D dense core theory. Based on the
dense nuclear theory, considering the complex stress of break-
ing rock on the disk cutter, the process of the disk cutter
breaking rock was divided into four phases for specific rock
conditions: elastic deformation phase, squeezing crushing
phase, dense nuclear fragmentation phase, and the unloading
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2017) 90:277–289
phase, and considered in the phase of dense nucleus fragmen-
tation, nucleus was under hydrostatic pressure, with the in-
creasing of hydrostatic pressure, the volume of the object be-
came smaller, but the shape would not be changed. The inte-
rior of the dense core is assumed to be a hydrostatic pressure
state in the process of rock fragmentation, such that the prin-
cipal stresses are equal in three directions. According to the
theory of elastic-plastic mechanics, the hydrostatic pressure
does not affect the yield strength and only changes the vol-
ume. However, because of the heterogeneity of the rock struc-
ture and the non-uniformity of the internal stress distribution,
rock fragmentation will occur, even if the rock is in a hydro-
static pressure state. The rock fragmentation process is divided
into four stages: the elastic deformation stage, the extrusion
crushing stage, the crack coalescence stage, and the unloading
stage. A schematic diagram of each stage is shown in Fig. 1.
At the elastic deformation stage, the force of the rock does not
exceed the yield strength limit, so deformation is elastic, and it
can be seen that the rock surface becomes slightly depressed.
At the extrusion crushing stage, the force of the rock beneath
the cutterhead exceeds the compressive strength, resulting in
constant crack expansion, rock crushing, and ultimately for-
mation of the crushed zone. As the load continues to increase
and the cracks around the cutterhead extend, the rock powder
is compacted, resulting in formation of the hemispherical rock
powder dense core. When the energy stored in the dense core
reaches its limit, micro-cracks are produced and expand be-
cause of stress concentration at the tip of the cutterhead.
Finally, the long crack is penetrated by the last cutter, and rock
fragmentation enters the crack coalescence stage. When the
cutterhead is rapidly unloaded, the energy stored in the dense
core and the rock is released, and rock fragments are expelled
from the pit.
2.2 Multi-stage space rock fragmentation load prediction
of the cutter group
The cutterhead of the full-face rock TBM is equipped with
different types of cutting tools. According to the different
positions of installation, the cutterhead can be subdivided into
the center cutter, inner cutter, and gauge cutter. The center
cutter is located in the center of the cutterhead, and the inner
cutter is found outward of the center, followed by the gauge
cutter on the outside of the cutterhead. The layout of different
types of disk cutters is shown in Fig. 2. For center cutters and
inner cutters, the cutter ring is vertical to the tunnel face and
the resultant forces are also vertical. However, owing to
changes in installation radius, the lateral forces acting on the
center and inner cutters are quite different. The gauge cutter
and inner cutter are structurally the same, but the gauge cutter
has curved edges and the cutter ring forms a certain inclination
angle with respect to the tunnel face. This inclination angle
results in inconsistencies on the cutter advancing direction and
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2017) 90:277–289 279

Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of the

process of rock fragmentation. a
Elastic deformation stage. b
Crushing stage. c Crack
coalescence stage. d Unloading
phase

the gauge cutter ring direction, which results in different 2.2.1 Load prediction model of the inner and center cutters
forces acting on the gauge cutter compared with the inner
and center cutters. 1. Elastic deformation stage
For a TBM cutter, the load varies according to numer-
ous parameters: the cutter installation method, the instal- In this stage, the pressed depth of the blade is small, which
lation radius, and the phase angle. As shown in Fig. 2b, c, can be approximated as a rectangle. The contact area of rock is
the parameters influencing force F include the following: shown in Fig. 3a, and the rectangular area is quantified as
structural parameters (blade width T, cutter radius R, blade follows:
angle θ), cutter layout parameters (cutter spacing S, instal-
lation radius ρ, phase angle difference of adjacent cutter

α, installation angle β), driving parameter (blade penetra- θ
A ¼ Rφ T þ 2htan ð2Þ
tion depth h, rotating speed n, driving speed v, cutter and 2
rock contact angle φ), and rock characteristics (compres-
Fv is the product of the elastic limit and the invaded area:
sive strength σc, shear strength τ). The relationship can be
quantified as follows:


1 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi θ
F v ¼ σs A ¼ σc 2Rh T þ 2htan ð3Þ
F ¼ f ðT ; R; θ; S; r; α; β; φ; h; ω; v; σc ; τ Þ ð1Þ k 2

According to the different installation angles, the force pre-

diction model will provide two force categories for the differ-
ent cutters: (1) compound multi-stage space breaking force
prediction model of the inner cutter and the center cutter and
(2) compound multi-stage space breaking force prediction
model of the gauge cutter. For the first gauge cutter, one side
is the inner cutter; the other side is the gauge cutter. The in-
stallation angle of the first gauge cutter varies between 6° and
80°, but the influence of the angle on the force in three direc-
tions is, in fact, negligible. Therefore, the calculation method
of two inner cutters is used to simplify the calculation of one
gauge cutter and one inner cutter.
where k is the elastic limit coefficient; for the rock, k = 1.5–3.
2. Extrusion crushing stage
When the load continues to be applied, the force of the rock
beneath the cutterhead is more than the compressive strength,
so the rock vertically below the cutter is crushed. Considering
that the flat blade cutter is widely used, we provide a mechan-
ical model for the cutter that takes confining pressure into
consideration. The rock surface projection area that the disk
cutter is fixed to is shown in Fig. 3b.
280 Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2017) 90:277–289

The force on the front of the cutter tip F3 is the component

force of Fr in the direction of the cutter shaft, and the lateral
force Fs is

0 ρi Rsinφ
ffi • qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
F s ¼ F r sinβ ¼ F r qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ρ2i þ ðRsinφÞ2 ρ2i ðRsinφÞ2
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
F r 2Rh−h2
¼ 2 ð7Þ
ρi þ 2Rh−h2

3. Crack coalescence stage

The dense nucleus stage is divided into two main process-

es: dense nucleus compaction and crack extension instability.
In dense nucleus compaction process, the contact area be-
tween the dense nucleus and rock is similar, and lateral sur-
rounding rocks are broken. Therefore, the lateral force cannot
be calculated using the shear strength of the rock.
Before damage occurs to the rock around the dense nucle-
us, the contact area between the dense nucleus and rock is a
half circle, and the contact area can be calculated as follows:

1 1 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
A¼ πTRφ ¼ πT 2Rh ð8Þ
2 2

Fig. 2 Disk cutter layout of cutterhead and the rock fragmentation model where the vertical force is
cut by disk cutter

The crushed rock area can be calculated as follows: 1 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi

FV ¼ σc πT 2Rh ð9Þ
2


θ In the process of compaction, it can be seen from Fig. 3c
A ¼ Rφ T þ htan ð4Þ that the vertical load (F) of the cutter is equal to the resultant
2
force (F1) and the component force (F2) of the rock reaction
where the contact arc length between cutter and rock is ap- force on both sides of the blade in the vertical direction, such
proximately equal to the chord length, as shown: that

qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
θ
Rφ≈ R2 −ðR−hÞ2 þ h2 ¼ 2Rh F v ¼ F 1 þ 2 F 2 sin ð10Þ
2

and the vertical and rolling forces are, respectively Because the dense nucleus is under hydrostatic pressure,
the pressure around the dense nucleus is the same:


pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi θ
F v ¼ σc A ¼ σc 2Rh T þ htan ð5Þ F1 F2
2 ¼ ð11Þ
A1 A2

 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
θ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 2Rh−h2 and the areas corresponding to F1 and F2 that are shown in
F r ¼ F v tanφ ¼ σc T þ htan 2Rh• ð6Þ
2 R−h Fig. 3d are defined as
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2017) 90:277–289 281

Fig. 3 Illustration of the area

pressed by the disk cutter, shown
in four stages

pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
A1 ¼ TRφ≈T 2Rh ð12Þ and is broken. The vertical force and rolling force are calcu-
lated, respectively, as follows:

1 2 1 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
A2 ¼ R φ− ðR−hÞ 2Rh−h2 2 3
2 2 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
6 T 2Rh θ7
p ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi F v ¼ 4 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
1 1 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi þ 2sin 5 F 2 ð15Þ
1 1 R 2Rh− ðR−hÞ 2Rh−h2
2
¼ R 2Rh− ðR−hÞ 2Rh−h2 ð13Þ 2 2
2 2

pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
1 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 2Rh−h2
The relationship between the load Fv of the cutter and the F r ¼ F v tanφ ¼ σc πT 2Rh• ð16Þ
hydrostatic pressure P is 2 R−h

pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi When the cutter rolls in a straight line, the lateral force is a
T 2Rh θ
Fv ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi F 2 þ 2sin F 2 component force of F2 in the horizontal:
1 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 1 2
R 2Rh− ðR−hÞ 2Rh−h2
2 2
 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
1 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 1 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 1
F v R 2Rh− ðR−hÞ 2Rh−h2
¼ P•A ¼ PπT 2Rh ð14Þ 2 2 θ
ð17Þ
0
2 F 2 ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi cos 2
θ θ
2Rh T þ Rsin −sin ðR−hÞ 2Rh−h 2
2 2

where P is the pressure of the dense nucleus per unit area. In

the process of compaction, the numerical value of P increases The lateral stress F3 of the cutter tip is the component force
when P ≥ f(S)σc and the rock reaches its compressive strength of Fr in the direction of the cutter shaft:
282 Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2017) 90:277–289

ρi Rsinφ
F 3 ¼ F r sinβ ¼ F r qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ffi • qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi Thus, the lateral force Fs is calculated as follows:
2
ρ2i þ ðRsinφÞ ρ2i þ ðRsinφÞ2


pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi θ
F r 2Rh−h2 F s ¼ τA ¼ τ 2Rh S−2htan ð21Þ
¼ 2 ð18Þ 2
ρi þ 2Rh−h2

2.2.2 Gauge cutter multi-stage spatial load forecasting model

When the strength of the rock is not the same, the lateral
force is the difference between F2 and F3. Therefore, the lat-
1. Elastic deformation stage.
eral force is the resultant force of rock pressure F2 caused by
the cutter blade angle and the component force of rolling force
In the elastic deformation stage, the depth contact of gauge
F3 in the cutter shaft direction. Thus, the lateral force Fs is
cutters with rock is small, so the area is approximately equal to
defined as
the contact area between the rock and the center cutter and is
calculated as that of center cutter.
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
F r 2Rh−h2
Fs ¼ F3  F2 ¼ ð19Þ 2. Extrusion crushing stage
ρ2i þ 2Rh−h2
 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
1 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 1
F v R 2Rh− ðR−hÞ 2Rh−h2 At this stage, because the gauge cutter driving direction and
2 2 θ
 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi cos 2 the installation direction share a particular angle, the contact
R θ θ
2Rh T þ sin −sin ðR−hÞ 2Rh−h2
2 2 2 part of the cutter and the rock occurs as an edge of a wedge, as
is shown in Fig. 3f. The area of crushed rock can be calculated
as follows:
When the rock is in the process of crack growth, the rock
on both sides of the cutter can reach its shear limit and be 

1 θ
broken. The contact area of the lateral force that is shown in A¼ Rφh tanð90∘ −β Þ þ tan β þ
2 2
Fig. 4e is 

1 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi θ
¼ h 2Rh tanð90∘ −βÞ þ tan β þ ð22Þ


 2 2
θ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi θ
A ¼ S−2htan Rφ ¼ 2Rh S−2htan ð20Þ
2 2
When h = Tcos(90° − β), the area reaches its maximum,
and thus, the vertical force, lateral force, and rolling force of
the cutter are expressed Eq. (23), Eq. (24), and Eq. (25), re-
spectively:

F v ¼ σc Acosβ


1 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ∘ θ
¼ σc h 2Rh tanð90 −βÞ þ tan β þ cosβ ð23Þ
2 2

F s ¼ σc Asinβ


1 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ∘ θ
¼ σc h 2Rh tanð90 −βÞ þ tan β þ sinβ ð24Þ
2 2
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 2Rh−h2
F r ¼ F v tanφ ¼ F v 2Rh• ð25Þ
R−h

3. The crack coalescence stage

Before the destruction of the surrounding rock, the contact

Fig. 4 Flowchart of mathematical model area between rock and dense nucleus, as shown in Fig. 3g, is
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2017) 90:277–289 283


1 θ
A1 ¼ πRφT cosð90∘ −β Þ tanð90∘ −β Þ þ tan β þ and the rolling force is defined as
2 2

 ð26Þ
1 p ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi θ
¼ πT cosð90∘ −β Þ 2Rh tanð90∘ −β Þ þ tan β þ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
2 2 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 2Rh−h2
F r ¼ F v tanφ ¼ F v 2Rh• ð30Þ
R−h
When the tilt angle is less than the blade angle θ, both sides
and the vertical force is
of the rolling blade are involved in the rock fragmentation,
F v ¼ σc A1 cosβ although the extent is different and the influence is weak;

 therefore, it is calculated using two inner cutters.
1 ∘
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ∘ θ
¼ πσc T cosð90 −β Þ 2Rh tanð90 −βÞ þ tan β þ cosβ
2 2
ð27Þ 2.2.3 Overall model

Given that the gauge cutter is located at the edge of the In light of differing properties of rock, we consider primarily
cutterhead, the influence of the installation radius on the the structural parameters of the cutter, its layout, and the
lateral force can be ignored, and thus, the lateral force tunneling parameters. As discussed, the rock fragmentation
calculation method of the gauge cutter is different from process is divided into stages of elastic deformation, extrusion
that of the center cutter. As depth of boring increases, the crushing, crack coalescence, and unloading. From the above
side of the cutter is constantly exposed to the new rock; parameters and the stages of the rock fragmentation process,
i.e., there is a component of side shear, but there is no the compound multi-stage space breaking load prediction
dense core but the rock. The area of this side shear is models of cutters in the different position can be deduced.
calculated as follows: The flowchart of the mathematical equation modeling may
be illustrated in Fig. 4.



θ θ
A2 S−2htan β þ •Rφ½h−T cosð90∘ −βÞtan β þ
2 2 1. Inner cutter and center cutter


pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi

 ð28Þ
θ ∘ θ
¼ S−2htan β þ • 2Rh½h−T cosð90 −βÞtan β þ
2 2 The vertical, lateral, and rolling forces acting on the inner
and center cutters can be calculated, respectively, as follows:
The lateral force is the resultant force; that is
8

>
> 1 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi θ
F s ¼ σc A1 sinβ þ τA2 > σc 2Rh T þ 2htan
> ; elastic deformation stage
>
>

 < k pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
2
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi θ θ
¼
1
σc T cosð90∘ −βÞ 2Rh tanð90∘ −β Þ þ tan β þ sinβ ð29Þ F v ¼ σc 2Rh T þ htan ; extrusion crushing stage
2 2 >
> 2


 >
> pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
θ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi θ >
> 1
þ τ S−2htan β þ 2Rh½h−T cosð90∘ −β Þtan β þ : σc πT 2Rh; crack coalescence stage
2 2 2
ð31Þ

Fig. 5 Illustration of the linear

cutting test bench and the
experimental process
284 Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2017) 90:277–289

Table 1 Mechanical parameters of the rock samples

Rock number Rock type Compressive Modulus of

strength (MPa) elasticity (GPa)

1 Granite 102 11.45

2 Miluo gneiss 92 18

8
> 0; elastic deformation stage
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
>
>
>
> F r 2Rh−h2
>
> ; extrusion crushing stage
>
> ρ2i þ 2Rh−h2
> 
>
>
> 1 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 1 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
< p ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi F v R 2Rh− ðR−hÞ 2Rh−h2
F s ¼s F r 2Rh−h2 2 2 θ ð32Þ
>
>  pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 p ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi cos ; dense nuclear stage
>
> ρi þ 2Rh−h
2 2 R θ θ 2
>
> 2Rh T þ sin −sin ðR−hÞ 2Rh−h2
>
>
>
>
 2 2 2
>
> pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
> τ 2Rh S−2htan θ ; crack coalescence stage
:
2

8

> 1 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi θ
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi >
> σc 2Rh T þ 2htan ; elastic deformation stage
>
>
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 2Rh−h2 >
>
>
k
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 2

F r ¼ F v 2Rh• ð33Þ >1
> θ
< σc h 2Rh tanð90∘ −β Þ þ tan β þ cosβ; extrusion crushing stage
R−h Fv ¼ 2 2
> 1 p ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
>
> πσc T cosð90∘ −β Þ 2Rh
>
>
>
> 2

2. Gauge cutter >
> θ
>
: • tanð90∘ −βÞ þ tan β þ cosβ; crack coalescence stage
2

The vertical, lateral, and rolling forces acting on the gauge ð34Þ
cutter can be calculated, respectively, as follows:

8
>
>
0; elastic deformation
 stage

>
>1 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi θ
>
> σc h 2Rh tanð90∘ −β Þ þ tan β þ
>
>2
sinβ; extrusion crushing stage
<  2

Fs ¼ 1 ∘
p ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ∘ θ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
> 2 σc T cosð90 −β Þ 2Rh tanð90 −β Þ þ tan β þ 2 sinβ þ τ 2Rh
>
>
>
> 
 

>
> θ θ
>
: • S−2htan β þ ½h−Tcosð90∘ −β Þtan β þ ; crack coalescence stage
2 2

ð35Þ

pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 2Rh−h2
F r ¼ F v 2Rh• ð36Þ
R−h

3 Experimental verification of linear cutting test

3.1 Experimental objective and scheme

1. Experimental objective

The purposes of the cutting test are to test the cutting force
Fig. 6 Rock fragmentation under different depths of penetration of different types of rock and summarize the breaking mode of
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2017) 90:277–289 285

Fig. 7 Disk cutter load in granite

and Miluo gneiss

typical rocks. The mapping relationship between the different
breaking parameters and the breaking force of the cutter in
typical rock is obtained, providing experimental support to
the multi-stage force prediction model deduced in the preced-
ing sections.
parameters of each rock sample were calibrated; the
mean value of each mechanical parameter was calculated
by calibration and measurement of two samples. The
mechanical parameters measured by experiment are
shown in Table 1.

2. Experimental equipment 4. Experimental scheme

The experiment used the reciprocating linear cutting test

bench of TBM cutters at the Central South University located
in Changsha, Hunan, China (Fig. 5). The dimensions of the
test bench are 5000 mm (l) × 3200 mm (w) × 3500 mm (h),
and the bench has a bearing capacity of 60 t.
3. Experimental sample
The purpose of this experiment was to verify the accuracy
of the multi-stage rock fragmentation process and the theoret-
ical model of stress prediction. Therefore, this cutter experi-
ment took into consideration the different rock types and used
the same cutter spacing (S = 80 mm) under different penetra-
tions with constant thrust force. The cutting process is shown
in Fig. 5.

Two kinds of rocks were used in the experiment;

these were numbered 1 and 2, each consisting of three 3.2 Theoretical and experimental results and analysis
blocks, and each rock sample was 1000 mm
(l) × 500 mm (w) × 300 mm (h) in size. The mechanical 1. Analysis of rock fragmentation during penetration

Table 2 Comparison between

results of experimental tests and Rock type Vertical force Rolling force
predictive modeling
Theoretical (kN) Experimental (kN) Theoretical (kN) Experimental (kN)

Maximum Mean Maximum Mean Maximum Mean Maximum Mean

Granite 160 100.4 250 105 20 9.6 24 15.89

Miluo gneiss 150 81.7 300 89.1 15 7.1 18 13.9
286 Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2017) 90:277–289

In the case of granite at 3-mm penetration, there was found

to be a small amount of residual dense nucleus below the
cutting groove, but it was loose and could not be extracted.
A small area of rock near the cutting groove was broken,
although there was little debris. The powder recovered is
shown in Fig. 6a. At 4–5-mm penetration, there was an obvi-
ous residual dense nucleus below the cutting groove and a
small area of broken rock near the cutting groove. There was
very little rock debris and some rock powder in the cutting
groove, as shown in Fig. 6a. At 6–8-mm penetration, there
was no obvious residual dense nucleus below the cutting
groove and a small area of broken rock near the cutting
groove. There was a large amount of rock debris, with rock
having fallen between adjacent cutting grooves, and the
groove was cut through, as is shown in Fig. 6c. Fig. 8 Image of the TBM disk cutter
Figure 6 shows that the mode of rock breaking is related to
the penetration. Under low penetration, the rock is crushed experiment, there are obvious jagged fluctuations and the load
into powder rather than into fragments, indicating mainly fluctuates around the mean. The fixed penetration cutting
crush damage. This corresponds with the first and second leads to non-zero values for both the vertical and rolling forces
stages of the crushing model. At moderate penetration, the at the beginning of the experiment. Thus, the experimental
dense nucleus begins to form under the cutter, and cracks results of the rolling force are relatively large, but the overall
extend to the periphery, forming small fragments. This corre- trend is relatively consistent.
sponds with the third stage of the crushing model. At high
penetration, cracks develop from the dense nucleus region
and radically extend to the periphery. When the cracks of the
two grooves are cut through, rock peels off. At the same time, 4 Effect of different parameters on TBM cutter load
the energy of the dense nucleus is mostly converted into the
kinetic energy of the rock, leading to the disappearance of the Factors that affect the load on a TBM cutter are the structural
dense nucleus and the formation of rock powder, which cor- and layout parameters, tunneling parameters, and the rock
responds with the third and fourth stages of the crushing properties. This paper mainly analyzes the influence of cutter
model. installation radius and installation angle on the cutter load, and
according to the theoretical model, when the above parameters
2. Analysis and comparison of cutter load are determined, the load on the inner and center cutters is
mainly influenced by the installation radius. The load on the
The vertical and rolling forces of cutters in granite and gauge cutter mainly changes with changes in installation an-
Miluo gneiss are shown in Fig. 7. The theoretical and exper- gle. Mechanical parameters of the rock are shown in Table 3,
imental maximum and mean are shown in Table 2. The pen- and the parameters of the cutter (pictured in Fig. 8) are shown
etration of granite is 6 mm, and that of Miluo gneiss is 5 mm. in Table 4.
Since the experiment is a linear cutting test, the effect of rota- Based on engineering parameters and experience, penetra-
tion on lateral force is not considered, so the lateral force is not tion (h) increases by 1 mm per stage, and the cutter installation
compared. radius (ρ) varies from 500 to 6000 mm. The range of gauge
As can be seen from the chart, the vertical force of the cutter installation angle (β) is 6–80°.
theoretical curves coincides well with the experimental curves Using the theoretical model of the cutter load, the load
(the error is within 10 %), which supports the feasibility of the variation law of the inner and center cutters at different instal-
theoretical model. However, owing to impacts during the lation radii is analyzed, as well as the load variation law of the
gauge cutter at the different installation angles.
Table 3 Mechanical parameters of rock
Table 4 Parameters of the disk cutter
Rock Compressive strength Shear strength Elastic limit
number (MPa) (MPa) coefficient Blade angle Cutter radius (R) Blade width (T) Cutter spacing
(θ) (°) (mm) (mm) (mm)
1 180 60 3
2 90 30 3 20 216 20 80
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2017) 90:277–289 287

Therefore, the load slopes at a radius of 3500 mm can be

extracted, as shown in Table 5. The first, second, and third
stages respectively represent the initial pressing stage,
crushing stage, and penetrating stage, corresponding to pene-
trations of 0–1, 1–2, and 2–3 mm.
The results show that, with an increase in penetration, the
forces of the inner and center cutters are represented as a step
growth law. The growth rates gradually increase, and the
rolling force growth rate changes most significantly: the slope
of the second stage is about five times larger than that of the
first stage, and the slope of third stage is about two times larger
than that of the second stage. With an increase in the installa-
tion radius, both vertical and rolling forces remain unchanged,
but the lateral force decreases slightly and the growth rates
increase slightly with increasing penetration. When the instal-
lation radius is constant, if the compressive strength and shear
strength of the rock are doubled, the load peak value is dou-
bled, and the slope of each stage nearly doubles, which indi-
cates a linear relationship. When the installation radius and the
boundary of surrounding rock are constant, the maximum
vertical force is about 170 times greater than the maximum
rolling force and 5.3 times that of the lateral force.

4.2 Installation angles

The load on the gauge cutter at different installation angles in

Fig. 9 Load on the inner and center cutters at different installation radii
4.1 Installation radius
The load on the inner cutter and center cutter at the different
installation radii in two types of rocks is shown in Fig. 9. From
Fig. 8, it is evident that, at different installation radii, the cutter
load rate changes at each stage in the two rock types are
essentially the same.
two rock types is shown in Fig. 10 and is based on the theo-
retical load prediction model of the gauge cutter and other
determined parameters.
The load slopes at installation angles β = 6° and β = 45° in
the No. 1 rock were extracted and are shown in Table 6. Note
that the first, second, and third stages in Table 6 are equivalent
to Table 5.
From the above results, it is evident that the gauge cutter
load increases with penetration and shows a step growth law
relationship. In the first stage, the vertical force does not
change with changing installation angle, but in the second
stage, the vertical force decreases with increasing installation
angle. When the installation angle increases from 6° to 45°,
the slope decreases by 82 %. After entering the third stage, the
vertical force increases rapidly, and with increasing installa-
tion angle, the rolling and vertical force slopes become similar.
Lateral force is greatly influenced by the installation angle,
and the overall trend increases with increasing installation

Table 5 Cutter load slope at

different stages (ρ = 3500 mm) No. 1 rock No. 2 rock

Load type First stage Second stage Third stage First stage Second stage Third stage

Vertical force (kN) 25.083 32.199 37.356 15.241 17.368 18.678

Rolling force (kN) 0.059 0.282 0.565 0.025 0.141 0.288
Lateral force (kN) 0 7.487 9.657 0 3.744 4.478
288
Fig. 10 Loads on the gauge cutter at different installation angles
angle. In the first stage, the lateral force is 0, but after entering
the second and third stages, when the installation angle is 6°,
the increasing rate of lateral force increases initially but then
decreases. The rate of increase in the second stage is about 2.7
times that of the third stage. When the installation angle is 45°
and the rate of increase is less than in the third stage, the third
stage rate increases by 139 %. When the installation radius
and surrounding rock boundary are constant and the installa-
tion angle increases, the maximum value of rolling force re-
mains unchanged, and the maximum values of vertical force
and lateral force increase significantly.
5 Conclusion
The establishment of the force prediction model is the basis of
cutter design and the whole TBM design. The accuracy of the
Table 6 Cutter load slopes at
different stages and installation β = 6°
angles (No. 1 rock)
Load type First stage
Vertical force 30.482
Rolling force 0.043
Lateral force 0 3.504
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2017) 90:277–289
prediction model directly determines the efficiency of TBM.
Because of the poor environment and the function of dynamic
impact load and the layout of the cutter is spatial, the tradi-
tional dense core theory and the force prediction model are
very difficult to describe the breaking process of the disk
cutter effectively. In this study, according to the working char-
acteristics of disk cutters and the dense core theory, the pro-
cess of rock breaking using multiple cutters was analyzed.
Additionally, the compound multi-stage space breaking load
prediction model of the cutter group was developed and val-
idated using a linear cutting test. The force change law of the
inner and center cutters with different radius was analyzed, as
well as that of the gauge cutter at different installation angles.
This provides a theoretical basis for the prediction of the cutter
load and the layout of the cutters. The main work and conclu-
sions are summarized as follows:
1. The compound multi-stage space breaking load prediction
model was established. Based on dense core theory and
different rock conditions, the process of multi-stage rock
fragmentation by cutters was analyzed, as well as estab-
lishing the compound multi-stage space breaking load
prediction model.
2. A linear cutting test was carried out to verify the accuracy of
the theoretical model. The parametric study results (e.g.,
physical parameters of rock, penetration, and cutter spacing)
are consistent with the theoretical results. The anisotropic
load on the cutter is strongly stepped, and the trends of
vertical force, lateral force, and rolling force are consistent.
3. The influence of the installation radius and angle on the
cutter load was analyzed. Through this analysis, it is evi-
dent that the force of the inner cutter, the center cutter, and
the gauge cutter undergoes a stepwise increase. The ver-
tical and rolling forces of the inner and center cutters are
independent of the installation radius, and the growth rate
of the rolling force in the second stage is about five times
that of the first stage, and the third stage is about two times
that of the second stage. The vertical and rolling forces of
the gauge cutter in the first stage do not change with
installation angle but increase initially and then decrease
with increasing installation angle. The lateral force in the
first stage is 0, and then, the variation laws at different
installation angles become variable. When the installation
angle is 6°, the growth rate increases initially and then
β = 45°
Second stage Third stage First stage Second stage Third stage
33.339 38.062 30.482 5.872 46.496
0.171 0.615 0.043 0.031 0.686
1.312 0 5.872 14.038
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2017) 90:277–289
decreases, and the growth rate in the second stage is about
2.7 times that of the third stage. When the installation
angle is 45°, the growth rates in the second stage are less
than those in the third stage, and the growth rate in the
third growth rate increases by 139 %.
4. In order to simplify the experiment, we assume the
“Gneiss” to be isotropic. It is inconvenient, and we will
consider the anisotropy in the further research.
5. The first, second, and third stages respectively represent
the initial pressing stage, crushing stage, and penetrating
stage, and the corresponding penetration for the first, sec-
ond, and third stages was assumed as 0–1, 1–2, and 2–
3 mm, respectively.
Acknowledgments This work is supported by the National Natural
Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51375001) and Development
Program of China (973 Program) (Grant No. 2013CB035402). The au-
thors want to acknowledge the support from Central South University for
providing the laboratory equipment.
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