Wear Characteristics of TBM Disc Cutter Ring Sliding against Different Types of Rock

To investigate wear characteristics of tunnel boring machine (TBM) disc cutter rings interacting with types of rock, a range of wear tests were performed on a TBM cutter test rig, and laboratory-scale disc cutters were used in the experiments. The mass loss, vertical load, temperature field, wear mechanism and change rule of cutter tip for the disc cutter rings were obtained during the tests. The results indicate that the rock types and properties of rock exhibit great influences on the cutter wear. The variation of the weight loss testing with different types of rock is partially explained by the discrepancies of vertical load, cutting temperature, and the transition of wear mechanisms. In addition, the test results show that the wear characteristics of cutter rings are mainly affected by uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) rather than equivalent quartz content (EQC) for types of rock. This study will benefit the design of cutter rings with enhanced wear resistance.