Investigation of vibration patterns occurred during tbm excavation and rock cutting tests

TBMs are widely utilized for infrastructure projects and to reach favorable excavation rates, selected TBMs should be operated to comply with the geological changes. Therefore, recognizing and understanding the geological changes during the excavation is of great importance. In that aspect, vibrations generated during the excavation can give useful information about the geological conditions. However, this topic has not been studied in detail and only limited number of researches have been conducted up to now. This paper summarizes vibration patterns created during rock cutting by using a full scale linear rock cutting machine as well as during TBM excavation in field. Vibrations created during TBM excavation and TBM performance data recorded for 328 rings, were compared to each other and geological data. It was seen that geological conditions effects vibration pattern. In addition it was also found that broken or flat cutters have also effect on vibration. It was also seen during the laboratory tests that acceleration amplitudes were related with rock type and cutting patterns.