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  Analysis of disc cutter consumption of a Double Shield TBM

  Increasing demand on energy boosted up the construction of hydro-electric power plants (HEPP) in Turkey in the last decade, especially after including the private sector into the energy market. The installed capacity of current HEPPs in Turkey is over 20,000 MW providing for more than 70 billion kWh hydropower energy (Yilmaz et al., 2014). However, after realization of around 1,500 new HEPP projects in the near future, the energy obtained is going to be around 110,000 GWh. Utilization of TBMs is unavoidable for tunnels considered within these projects to realize fast and cheaper construction. Excavation performance of TBMs is very crucial for economy of the projects. One important aspect of excavation performance is cutter life / replacement and/or consumption rates in terms of cutter cost and replacement time loses. The two most widely used cutter consumption rate prediction methods for disc cutters are CSM (Colorado School of Mines) and NTH (Norwegian Institute of Technology) methods (Ozdemir, 1995; NTNU, 1998). Although these methods including some others predict cutter consumption rates very well, there are some diversity between them in some cases. Therefore, the research studies should be continued to develop more precise methods for predicting disc cutter consumption rates. The basic parameters affecting cutter life / replacement rates and/or consumption rates can be classified into 3 general groups as seen in Table 1 (Copur, 1999): a) geological and geotechnical, b) excavation machine (TBM) related, and c) operational parameters. Among them, the geological and geotechnical parameters are the most dominant ones. The machine related parameters should be arranged / designed according to the expected geological and geotechnical conditions for the best excavation performance and minimum cost. Field observations on replacements of 17 inch constant cross-section singledisc cutters and parameters affecting cutter consumption in construction of Yamanli II HEPP Tunnel excavated by a double shield TBM with 4.305 m excavation diameter are summarized in this study in relation to geological-geotechnical conditions, as well TBM operational conditions. The project site is located in Adana-Turkey. The project owner is Enerjisa and the contractor is NTF Construction Co.

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