Numerical Simulation of Rock Breaking by Disc Cutter of Tunnel Boring Machine

By using the explicit nonlinear dynamic analysis program of LS-DYNA, three-dimension finite element model of rock breaking by disc cutter of tunnel boring machine is established, in which elastic material is adopted to describe the elastic behavior of cutter ring and Holmguist Johnson Concrete (HJC) model is adopted to describe the brittle behavior of rock. With the finite element method, the process of rock breaking by disc cutter is simulated, and then the movement characteristics, forces of disc cutter and rock fragmentation mechanism are analyzed. The results indicate that the numerical technique can contribute to gaining an understanding of rock breaking mechanism by disc cutter and improving the design of disc cutter parameters.