Design of new propulsion system of shield tunneling machine based on compliance characteristics

Considering the geological complex and problems of equipment failure caused by sudden change excavating load, the concept of compliance was proposed and its evaluation index for a thrust system of shield tunnel boring machine was defined. The effect of accumulator, overflow valve, oil properties, long pipe, etc. on the compliance characteristics of the system was analyzed. An analytical model of shield thrust system was established and its compliance evaluation index was calculated taking a flow control valve mode system as an example. A design software platform with MATLAB/GUI was developed based on the evaluation index. A new shield thrust system was designed according to engineering loads in a certain domestic tunneling project. Then the compliance index curves of a typical foreign shield thrust system and the new developed one were compared. Results showed that the compliance index of the new shield thrust system increased by 25% than that of existing one.