Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) are widely utilised for mechanical rock cutting in rock tunnelling. Design optimization and performance estimates play a key role in the success of mechanical rock cutting. For designing TBM operational parameters, important aspects such as torque and driving force are important together with the rock mass parameter. Accuracy in the estimation of forces acting on the TBM disc cutter is also important. To understand the complex interaction during the rock cutting process, researchers mostly used a linear cutting machine test (LCM) performed to find the forces working on a unit disc cutter. The outcomes are then used for TBM design on the same rock. In the present study, LS-Dyna software is used to simulate the LCM test in this study for a definite cross-sectional cutter. The Lagrangian method is used as the solution method where the accuracy of the outcomes depends on the failure parameters defined for element erosion. The simulation results are then compared to the laboratory test data from literature. To find the width of the damage area in the targeted rock, the RHT material model will be used in this study. It is important to accurately estimate the width of the damage area so as to determine the effect of the spacing of TBM disc cutters on the forces acting on them.
In the process of underground excavation, mechanized drilling plays a vital role. It is considered as a typical feature in underground excavation. It is significant in the construction of underground systems like tunnels and various mining applications. Design optimization and performance estimation are two of the key aspects in the effective application of mechanised drilling. Tunnel boring machine performance prediction may seem large scale for the dimensional reasons. However, it can become small scale when it is looked from the interaction of the cutting disc with a rock that eventually cause disc cutter wear and rock fragmentation. The primary tool used by TBMs for cutting rock are disc cutters that undergo wear during rock cutting.
