Wear is a major factor of disc cutters’ failure. No current theory offers a standard for the prediction of disc cutter wear yet. In the field the wear prediction method commonly used is based on the excavation length of tunnel boring machine（TBM） to predict the disc cutter wear and its wear law, considering the location number of each disc cutter on the cutterhead（radius for installation）; in theory, there is a prediction method of using arc wear coefficient. However, the preceding two methods have their own errors, with their accuracy being 40% or so and largely relying on the technicians’ experience. Therefore, radial wear coefficient, axial wear coefficient and trajectory wear coefficient are defined on the basis of the operating characteristics of TBM. With reference to the installation and characteristics of disc cutters, those coefficients are modified according to penetration, which gives rise to the presentation of comprehensive axial wear coefficient, comprehensive radial wear coefficient and comprehensive trajectory wear coefficient. Calculation and determination of wear coefficients are made with consideration of data from a segment of TBM project（excavation length 173 m）. The resulting wear coefficient values, after modification, are adopted to predict the disc cutter wear in the follow-up segment of the TBM project（excavation length of 5621 m）. The prediction results show that the disc cutter wear predicted with comprehensive radial wear coefficient and comprehensive trajectory wear coefficient are not only accurate（accuracy 16.12%） but also highly congruous, whereas there is a larger deviation in the prediction with comprehensive axial wear coefficient（accuracy 41%, which is in agreement with the prediction of disc cutters’ life in the field）. This paper puts forth a new method concerning prediction of life span and wear of TBM disc cutters as well as timing for replacing disc cutters.
To study the rock deformation with three- dimensional model under rolling forces of disc cutter, by car- rying out the circular-grooving test with disc cutter rolling around on the rock, the rock mechanical behavior under rolling disc cutter is studied, the mechanical model of disc cutter rolling around the groove is established, and the the- ory of single-point and double-angle variables is proposed. Based on this theory, the physics equations and geometric equations of rock mechanical behavior under disc cutters of tunnel boring machine （TBM） are studied, and then the bal- ance equations of interactive forces between disc cutter and rock are established. Accordingly, formulas about normal force, rolling force and side force of a disc cutter are de- rived, and their validity is studied by tests. Therefore, a new method and theory is proposed to study rock- breaking mech- anism of disc cutters.
At present the mechanical model of the interac- tion between a disc cutter and rock mainly concerns indentation experiment, linear cutting experiment and tunnel boring machine （TBM） on-site data. This is not in line with the actual rock-breaking movement of the disc cutter and impedes to some extent the research on the rock-breaking mechanism, wear mechanism and design theory. Therefore, our study focuses on the interaction between the slantingly installed disc cutter and rock, developing a model in accordance with the actual rock-breaking movement. Displacement equations are established through an analysis of the velocity vector at the rock-breaking point of the disc cutter blade; the func- tional relationship between the displacement parameters at the rock-breaking point and its rectangular coordinates is established through an analysis of micro-displacement vectors at the rock-breaking point, thus leading to the geometric equations of rock deformation caused by the slantingly installed disc cutter. Considering the basically linear relationship between the cutting force of disc cutters and the rock deformation before and after the leap break of rock, we express the constitutive relations of rock deformation as generalized Hooke＇s law and analyze the effect of the slanting installa- tion angle of disc cutters on the rock-breaking force. This will, as we hope, make groundbreaking contributions to the development of the design theory and installation practice of TBM.
