In a device and a method for continuously driving a tunnel along a desired setpoint trajectory there is provision to influence pressing forces which are applied to installed tubbing segments by compactors using a control circuit, wherein, during the driving and during the installation of tubbing rings, an actual trajectory of the device remains in a region which is permissible for maintaining the desired set point trajectory.

Disclosed a combined rock-breaking TBM tunneling method in complex strata for realizing three-way force detection, comprising the steps of preparing a combined mechanical-hydraulic rock-breaking cutter head for TBM construction; starting construction; advancing the combined mechanical-hydraulic rock-breaking cutter head; pushing and pressing against a tunnel face by a mechanical cutter tool; subjecting a three-way force detection cutter to squeezing forces; feeding back three-way force data by a three-way force sensor; processing information by a TBM back-end control processor; obtaining a value of rock-cutter contact angle ; feeding back parameter information to a TBM cutter head control center by a lithology index center; responding by the TBM cutter head control center, obtaining and adjusting parameters by the mechanical cutter tool equipped with the three-way force sensor; and breaking rock by the combined mechanical-hydraulic rock-breaking cutter head. The method disclosed is energy-saving and efficient, and has high rock-breaking efficiency.

The invention relates to a cutting wheel of a tunnel boring machine comprising at least one material discharge opening (5), said discharge opening (5) being delimited by a circumferential wall (10), the cutting wheel (3) being characterized in that it further comprises at least one ultrasonic emitter (6) configured to generate a mechanical vibratory motion in a range of ultrasonic frequencies, said emitter (6) being fixed against the circumferential wall (10) so as to transmit the mechanical vibratory motion to the vibrating circumferential wall (10) and to reduce its coefficient of friction.

A mobile tunnel boring unit is disclosed, comprising a support body driven by first drive means, the first drive means including a pair of spaced apart crawler tracks in contact with the tunnel floor and related track driving means to move the tracks. A cutter head drive means is located at an operatively front end of the boring unit, to which a rotatable cutter head can be fitted and rotatingly driven, in use, the cutter head comprising a full face cutter head fitted with cutters to bore a tunnel face. The cutter head is arranged to allow cuttings to pass through the cutter head for discharge into a muck hopper and onto a first conveyor arrangement, the cutter head drive means and a rear portion of the cutter head defining aligned central apertures to accommodate the muck hopper and a front part of the first conveyor arrangement. A telescopic shield arrangement is provided to shield the boring unit.

A mobile tunnel boring unit is disclosed, comprising a support body driven by first drive means, the first drive means including a pair of spaced apart crawler tracks in contact with the tunnel floor and related track driving means to move the tracks. A cutter head drive means is located at an operatively front end of the boring unit, to which a rotatable cutter head can be fitted and rotatingly driven, in use, the cutter head comprising a full face cutter head fitted with cutters to bore a tunnel face. The cutter head is arranged to allow cuttings to pass through the cutter head for discharge into a muck hopper and onto a first conveyor arrangement, the cutter head drive means and a rear portion of the cutter head defining aligned central apertures to accommodate the muck hopper and a front part of the first conveyor arrangement. A telescopic shield arrangement is provided to shield the boring unit.

Provided is a tunnel boring machine that can detect a wear condition of a disc cutter with a highly reliable configuration. The tunnel boring machine includes a measurement device. The measurement device is disposed behind the disc cutter mounted on a cutter head. The measurement device has a function as an acquisition unit that acquires cutting edge position data indicating a position of a cutting edge part of a cutter ring in the disc cutter. The tunnel boring machine further includes a DC discrimination unit that discriminates which one of a plurality of disc cutters is the disc cutter the cutting edge position data of which is acquired by the measurement device and a wear amount calculator that calculates a wear amount of the cutting edge part of the discriminated disc cutter.

Provided is a tunnel boring machine that can detect a wear condition of a disc cutter with a highly reliable configuration. The tunnel boring machine includes a measurement device. The measurement device is disposed behind the disc cutter mounted on a cutter head. The measurement device has a function as an acquisition unit that acquires cutting edge position data indicating a position of a cutting edge part of a cutter ring in the disc cutter. The tunnel boring machine further includes a DC discrimination unit that discriminates which one of a plurality of disc cutters is the disc cutter the cutting edge position data of which is acquired by the measurement device and a wear amount calculator that calculates a wear amount of the cutting edge part of the discriminated disc cutter.

The invention relates to a cutting wheel of a tunnel boring machine comprising at least one material discharge opening (5), said discharge opening (5) being delimited by a circumferential wall (10), the cutting wheel (3) being characterized in that it further comprises at least one ultrasonic emitter (6) configured to generate a mechanical vibratory motion in a range of ultrasonic frequencies, said emitter (6) being fixed against the circumferential wall (10) so as to transmit the mechanical vibratory motion to the vibrating circumferential wall (10) and to reduce its coefficient of friction.

The present invention relates to a cutter replacement robot and its adaptive cutter system for tunnel boring machine and belongs to the field of tunnel construction equipment design. Traditional cutter system adopts multi-wedge fastening mode, and the fasteners are many and separate from each other. It is only suitable for manual disassembly and assembly. So, robot can not disassemble and assemble cutter quickly. For the current cutter weight, the current load-weight ratio of industrial robots can not meet the narrow space inside the cutter head of the TBM, so mature industrial robots can not change the all of cutters. Based on the above situation, according to the internal space structure of the cutter head of the TBM, the invention designs a new type of cutter-changing robot and three type cutter systems to realize the rapid disassembly and assembly of the cutter.

The present invention provides a vibration and strain monitoring method for key positions of a tunnel boring machine (TBM), and belongs to the technical field of real-time monitoring for underground construction of the TBM. The present invention aims to provide a monitoring device and an all-weather monitoring and forecasting system thereof. The present invention acquires monitoring data through vibration and strain sensors and a wireless data transmission system, thereby realizing long-term real-time monitoring for vibration and strain states of key positions of a main machine system of the TBM during operation, reminding operators in time for maintenance and repair, preventing fatigue breakage on key weak positions of the main machine system of the TBM and ensuring safe and reliable operation of the TBM. The present invention further provides an evaluation method for strain states of positions which cannot be measured, i.e., an equivalent mapping method, thereby building a set of vibration monitoring and strain monitoring systems for the tunneling process of the key positions of the main machine system of the TBM.