A roller cutter arrangement for a cutting wheel of a tunnel boring machine, including an interchangeable cup, a bearing block which is supported in the interchangeable cup in such a way that it is displaceable along a displacement axis, and a cutting roller unit having at least one cutting roller, which is rotatably supported in the bearing block and which acts along a working axis. The working axis is angled with respect to the displacement axis, so that cutting rollers of the cutting roller units may be situated in close proximity to one another, in particular in the central area of the cutting wheel.

A cutter disc for a tunnel boring machine includes a middle disc portion defining a radially outer surface or edge for engaging a surface, a left toothed portion defining a first set of teeth set back from the outer edge, and a right toothed portion defining a second set of teeth set back from the outer edge. In an embodiment, a central bore through the cutter disc is configured to attach the cutter disc to a hub for rotatably mounting the cutter disc on a shaft. In an embodiment, the hub is formed integrally with the cutter disc. The left and right toothed portions provide structural support to the middle portion and facilitate rotation of the cutter disc when boring in soft or mixed conditions, but do not interfere with boring in hard rock conditions.

A mining tool (100) for a drill head (150) of a tunnel boring machine (180) for mining in rock (102), wherein the mining tool (100) has a roller cutter fastening device (104), mountable on the drill head (150), for accommodating and mounting a rotatable roller cutter (106), the roller cutter (106) for mining in rock (102) is accommodated or in particular can be interchangeably accommodated rotatably in the roller cutter fastening device (104), and a sensor arrangement (112) for detecting a mechanical load of the mining tool (100), in particular of the roller cutter (106), wherein the sensor arrangement (112) is formed at least partially in the roller cutter fastening device (104) and/or on the sleeve (177) mounted on the roller cutter (106) with at least one load-sensitive element (108) mounted thereon.

An inline mounting assembly for a TBM cutter assembly includes first and second housing mounts, having upper and lower ear portions, and an inline channel sized to receive an end of the cutter assembly. The housing mounts include a first guide and a second guide defining forward and rearward abutment faces. A wedge assembly includes a bolt that extends through the first guide and engages a wedge configured to clamp the cutter shaft to the housing mount. A back support assembly includes a clamp block that abuts the rearward abutment face, a bridge block that abuts the forward abutment face, and a bolt that extends through the blocks. The bridge block abuts the shaft to provide support.

A cutter assembly includes a disc subassembly rotatably mounted on a shaft with bearing assemblies, and end retainers. The disc subassembly includes a first hub member having a tubular portion that houses the bearing assemblies and an outer flange portion, a second hub member that slidably engages the tubular portion, and an annular cutter ring, preferably formed from a tool steel, and optionally formed in a plurality of segments. The first and second hub members define a channel that receives and clampingly engages a rectangular inner base portion of the cutter ring. The clamping force is provided by a plurality of bolts that join the first and second hub members, while the flange portion of the first hub member remains separated from the second hub member by a gap (S). In an embodiment the cutter ring includes a carbide core.

A roller cutter arrangement for a cutting wheel of a tunnel boring machine, including an interchangeable cup, a bearing block which is supported in the interchangeable cup in such a way that it is displaceable along a displacement axis, and a cutting roller unit having at least one cutting roller, which is rotatably supported in the bearing block and which acts along a working axis. The working axis is angled with respect to the displacement axis, so that cutting rollers of the cutting roller units may be situated in close proximity to one another, in particular in the central area of the cutting wheel.

In an embodiment, a disc cutter for use on a tunnel boring machine may include a shaft and a cutter assembly rotatably mounted on the shaft. The cutter assembly may include a cutter ring extending circumferentially about a central axis and one or more bearing apparatuses rotatably mounting the cutter assembly to the shaft. Each bearing apparatuses may include a rotor extending circumferentially about the central axis and a first plurality of superhard bearing elements distributed circumferentially about the central axis. Each first superhard bearing element may be attached to the rotor and may include a bearing surface. The bearing apparatuses may further include a stator extending circumferentially about the central axis and a second plurality of superhard bearing elements attached to the stator that are generally opposed to the first plurality of superhard bearing elements of the rotor.

A cutter head for excavating hard rock materials in rock face includes a carrier attachable to a cutter arm of a cutter machine and a drive shaft rotatably supported by the carrier. The drive shaft is rotatable about a drive axis and has at one end a support portion for mounting disc cutters. A plurality of disc cutters are mounted on the support portion and configured to perform undercutting against the rock face. Each disc cutter is rotatable about a respective support axis, the respective rotational axis of each disc cutter being configured to be substantially transverse to the rotational axis of the cutter head. A mining machine including the cutter head is also disclosed.

Novel hybrid tunnel boring methods, systems, and apparatuses are described. Example hybrid methods integrate (a) thermal processing, e.g., preconditioning and/or thermal spallation (which may be used as pre-treatment), and (b) mechanical processing while boring tunnels in rock and other formations. Thermal processing and mechanical processing may be used alternatively or simultaneously. For example, the preconditioning may use thermal energy to induce thermal shock and weaken the rock (e.g., cause expansion stress, micro-fractures, thermal spallation, etc.). This preconditioning changes the relevant properties of the rock relative to the additional (e.g., mechanical) excavation, including, among other things, effective compressive stress, abrasion properties, and hardness. This preconditioned rock can therefore be efficiently removed using mechanical drilling tools, resulting in, for example, faster boring speeds, reduced tool wear, enhanced precision, and longer deployment lengths (e.g., in comparison to conventional TBM and especially MTBM approaches).

A cutting ring assembly for a tunnel boring machine includes a fixed axle, an inner ring rotationally fixed to the axle and having an inner raceway on a radially outer surface, a cutting ring having a radially inner surface forming an outer raceway, and a plurality of rolling elements between the inner raceway and the outer raceway supporting the cutting ring on the inner ring for rotation relative to the axle.