Influence of water saturation on rock abrasivity and implications for TBM cutter wear

Abstract

Water saturation is regarded as an effective approach to reduce rock abrasivity and mitigate cutter wear; however, the influence of water saturation on rock abrasivity and the water-weakening mechanisms remain incompletely understood. This study addresses this research gap through a series of Cerchar abrasivity index (CAI) tests using thirteen rock samples under dry and saturated conditions. Meanwhile, basic geomechanical tests of rock samples are conducted under dry and saturated states, mainly including P-wave velocity (UPV), uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), elastic modulus (E), Brittleness index (B) and Brazilian tensile strength (BTS). Next, the correlations of CAI with mechanical parameters of rocks are established using linear regression analysis. Following this, the effect of water saturation on the improvement of cutter wear and the relationships between rock properties, CAI, and the weakening effect of water saturation are systematically explored. The results indicated that CAI, UCS, BTS, B and E in saturated states show a downward trend compared with their dry states, while UPV increases when the rocks are saturated. The regression results showed that there are strong positive linear correlations between CAI and UCS, BTS and B. This study provides critical theoretical and practical implications for improving cutter wear during TBM excavation.

Keywords

rock abrasivity / cutter wear / Cerchar abrasivity index (CAI) / water saturation / regression analysis

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