Optimal Control of Slurry Pressure during Shield Tunnelling Based on Random Forest and Particle Swarm Optimization

The control of slurry pressure aiming to be consistent with the external water and earth pressure during shield tunnelling has great significance for face stability,especially in urban areas or underwater where the surrounding environment is very sensitive to the fluctuation of slurry pressure.In this study,an optimal control method for slurry pressure during shield tunnelling is developed,which is composed of an identifier and a controller.The established identifier based on the random forest(RF)can describe the complex non-linear relationship between slurry pressure and its influencing factors.The proposed controller based on particle swarm optimization(PSO)can optimize the key factor to precisely control the slurry pressure at the normal state of advancement.A data set from Tsinghua Yuan Tunnel in China was used to train the RF model and several performance measures like R2,RMSE,etc.,were employed to evaluate.Then,the hybrid RF-PSO control method is adopted to optimize the control of slurry pressure.The good agreement between optimized slurry pressure and expected values demonstrates a high identifying and control precision.

A THERMOMECHANICAL DAMAGE APPROACH TO CONSTITUTIVE MODELS FOR RATE-INDEPENDENT DISSIPATIVE GEOMATERIALS

This paper builds the formulations of hyperplastic damage theory for rate-independent geomaterials to describe the bulk and the likely damage behavior of granular materials. Using 2 kinematic internal variables and the conjugates, dissipative and yield function can be reasonably introduced. A systematic constitutive presentation of 32 possible ways within the thermodynamical damage framework is presented, which entirely formulates the constitutive behavior through two scalar thermodynamic potentials. Combining the four common thermodynamical energy functions, two independent kinematic internal variables and the accordingly generalized stress are introduced to describe the damage behavior and structural rearrangement of the granules for any bulk deformation. A few Legendre transformations are used to establish the links between energy functions so that the complex incremental response of geomaterials can be entirely established from these four energy functions. The constitutive relations are built with the thermodynamics laws, which account for the important structural aspects of geomaterials. Some examples axe provided in the appendix to validate the applicability and implementation of the framework. This theory is based on previous work by Houlsby et al., and extends to the multi-mechanisms description. This framework paves a way in developing models for specific geomaterials with an examinable basis.

Evaluation and prediction of earth pressure balance shield performance in complex rock strata:A case study in Dalian,China

This research explores the potential for the evaluation and prediction of earth pressure balance shield performance based on a gray system model.The research focuses on a shield tunnel excavated for Metro Line 2 in Dalian,China.Due to the large error between the initial geological exploration data and real strata,the project construction is extremely difficult.In view of the current situation regarding the project,a quantitative method for evaluating the tunneling efficiency was proposed using cutterhead rotation(R),advance speed(S),total thrust(F)and torque(T).A total of 80 datasets with three input parameters and one output variable(F or T)were collected from this project,and a prediction framework based gray system model was established.Based on the prediction model,five prediction schemes were set up.Through error analysis,the optimal prediction scheme was obtained from the five schemes.The parametric investigation performed indicates that the relationships between F and the three input variables in the gray system model harmonize with the theoretical explanation.The case shows that the shield tunneling performance and efficiency are improved by the tunneling parameter prediction model based on the gray system model.

A multi-purpose prototype test system for mechanical behavior of tunnel supporting structure: Development and application

A multi-purpose prototype test system is developed to study the mechanical behavior of tunnel sup-porting structure,including a modular counterforce device,a powerful loading equipment,an advanced intelligent management system and an efficient noncontact deformation measurement system.The functions of the prototype test system are adjustable size and shape of the modular counterforce structure,sufficient load reserve and accurate loading,multi-connection linkage intelligent management,and high-precision and continuously positioned noncontact deformation measurement.The modular counterforce structure is currently the largest in the world,with an outer diameter of 20.5 m,an inner diameter of 16.5 m and a height of 6 m.The case application proves that the prototype test system can reproduce the mechanical behavior of the tunnel lining during load-bearing,deformation and failure processes in detail.

A DUAL-SURFACE DAMAGE MODEL AND EVALUATION FOR NATURAL SOILS WITHIN THE THERMOMECHANICAL FRAMEWORK

Naturally deposited or residual soils exhibit more complicated behavior than remolded clays. A dual-surface damage model for structured soils is developed based on the thermodynamics framework established in our first paper. The shift stresses and the transformation between the generalized dissipative stress space and actual stress space are established following a systematic procedure. The corresponding constitutive behavior of the proposed model is determined, which reflects the internal structural configuration and damage behavior for geomaterials. Four evolution variables κj^i（i=D, R;j=V, S） and the basic parameters λ, s, v and e0 are introduced to account for the progressive loss of internal structure for natural clays. A series of fully triaxial tests and isotropic compression tests are performed for structured and reconstituted samples of Beijing and Zhengzhou natural clays. The validation of the proposed model is examined by comparing the numerical results with the experimental data.

Calculation method for the formation time of dynamic filter cake in slurry shield tunneling

In slurry shield tunneling,the stability of tunnel face is closely related to the filter cake.The cutting of the cutterhead has negative impact on the formation of filter cake.This study focuses on the formation time of dynamic filter cake considering the filtration effect and rotation of cutterhead.Filtration effect is the key factor for slurry infiltration.A multilayer slurry infiltration experiment system is designed to investigate the variation of filtrate rheological property in infiltration process.Slurry mass concentration C_(L),soil permeability coefficient k,the particle diameter ratio between soil equivalent grain size and representative diameter of slurry particles d_(10)/D_(85) are selected as independent design variables to fit the computational formula of filtration coefficient.Based on the relative relation between the mass of deposited particles in soil pores and infiltration time,a mathematical model for calculating the formation time of dynamic filter cake is proposed by combining the formation criteria and formation rate of external filter cake.The accuracy of the proposed model is verified through existing experiment data.Analysis results show that filtration coefficient is positively correlated with slurry mass concentration,while negatively correlated with the soil permeability coefficient and the particle diameter ratio between soil and slurry.As infiltration distance increases,the adsorption capacity of soil skeleton to slurry particles gradually decreases.The formation time of external filter cake is significantly lower than internal filter cake and the ratio is approximately 3.9.Under the dynamic cutting of the cutterhead,the formation time is positively associated with the rotation speed of cutter head,while negatively with the phase angle difference between adjacent cutter arm.The formation rate of external filter cake is greater than 98%when d_(10)/D_(85)≤6.1.Properly increasing the content or decreasing the diameter size of solid-phase particles in slurry can promote the formation of filter cake.

Prediction of fracture initiation in cohesive soils based on data mining modelling and large-scale laboratory verification

Many empirical and analytical methods have been proposed to predict fracturing pressure in cohesive soils.Most of them take into account three to four specific influencing factors and rely on the assumption of a failure mode.In this study,a novel data-mining approach based on the XGBoost algorithm is investigated for predicting fracture initiation in cohesive soils.This has the advantage of handling multiple influencing factors simultaneously,without pre-determining a failure mode.A dataset of 416 samples consisting of 14 distinct features was herein collected from past studies,and used for developing a regressor and a classifier model for fracturing pressure prediction and failure mode classification respectively.The results show that the intrinsic characteristics of the soil govern the failure mode while the fracturing pressure is more sensitive to the stress state.The XGBoost-based model was also tested against conventional approaches,as well as a similar machine learning algorithm namely random forest model.Additionally,several large-scale triaxial fracturing tests and an in-situ case study were carried out to further verify the generalization ability and applicability of the proposed data mining approach,and the results indicate a superior performance of the XGBoost model.

Experimental study on slurry-induced fracturing during shield tunneling

Facial support in slurry shield tunneling is provided by slurry pressure to balance the external earth and water pressure.Hydraulic fracturing may occur and cause a significant decrease in the support pressure if the slurry pressure exceeds the threshold of the soil or rock material,resulting in a serious face collapse accident.Preventing the occurrence of hydraulic fracturing in a slurry shield requires investigating the effects of related influencing factors on the hydraulic fracturing pressure and fracture pattern.In this study,a hydraulic fracturing apparatus was developed to test the slurry-induced fracturing of cohesive soil.The effects of different sample parameters and loading conditions,including types of holes,unconfined compressive strength,slurry viscosity,and axial and circumferential loads,on the fracturing pressure and fracture dip were examined.The results indicate that the fracture dip is mainly affected by the deviator stress.The fracturing pressure increases linearly with the increase in the circumferential pressure,but it is almost independent of the axial pressure.The unconfined compressive strength of soil can reflect its ability to resist fracturing failure.The fracturing pressure increases with an increase in the unconfined compressive strength as well as the slurry viscosity.Based on the test results,an empirical approach was proposed to estimate the fracturing pressure of the soil.

Hydraulic fracturing pressure of concentric double-layered cylinder in cohesive soil

This study aims to investigate hydrofracturing in double-layered soil through theoretical and experimental analysis,as multilayered soils where the difference in mechanical properties exists are generally encountered in practical engineering.First,an analytical solution for fracturing pressure in two different concentric regions of soil was presented based on the cavity expansion theory.Then,several triaxial hydraulic fracturing tests were carried out to validate the analytical solution.The comparison between the experimental and analytical results indicates the remarkable accuracy of the derived formula,and the following conclusions were also obtained.First,there is a linear relationship between the fracturing pressure and confining pressure in concentric double-layered cohesive soil.Second,when the internal-layer soil is softer than the external-layer soil,the presence of internal soil on the fracturing pressure approximately brings the weakening effect,and the greater strength distinction between the two layers,the greater the weakening effect.Third,when the internal-layer soil is harder than the external-layer soil,the existence of the internal-layer soil has a strengthening effect on the fracturing pressure regardless of the proportion of internal-layer soil.Moreover,the influence of strength distinction between the two layers on the fracturing pressure is significant when the proportion of internal-layer soil is less than half,while it’s limited when the proportion is more than half.The proposed solution is potentially useful for geotechnical problems involving aspects of cohesive soil layering in a composite formation.

Effect of cutterhead configuration on tunnel face stability during shield machine maintenance outages

Owing to long-distance advancement or obstacles,shield tunneling machines are typically shut down for maintenance.Engineering safety during maintenance outages is determined by the stability of the tunnel face.Pressure maintenance openings are typically used under complicated hydrogeological conditions.The tunnel face is supported by a medium at the bottom of the excavation chamber and compressed air at the top.Owing to the high risk of face failure,the necessity of support pressure when cutterhead support is implemented and a method for determining the value of compressed air pressure using different support ratios must to be determined.In this study,a non-fully chamber supported rotational failure model considering cutterhead support is developed based on the upper-bound theorem of limit analysis.Numerical simulation is conducted to verify the accuracy of the proposed model.The results indicate that appropriately increasing the specific gravity of the supporting medium can reduce the risk of collapse.The required compressed air pressure increases significantly as the support ratio decreases.Disregarding the supporting effect of the cutterhead will result in a tunnel face with underestimated stability.To satisfy the requirement of chamber openings at atmospheric pressure,the stratum reinforcement strength and range at the shield end are provided based on different cutterhead aperture ratios.