ABSTRACT
One of the biggest technical challenges when considering long hard rock tunnels is the estimation of the cutter tools wear, which affects the advance rates, utilization of TBMs and therefore, the overall cost. This challenge also requires a careful TBM design, adapted to the ground conditions, which has an important influence in the cutter tools consumption and TBM maintenance. An accurate estimation is a key element for rock tunnelling analysis and has a relevant impact in the risk evaluation. Those estimations are required to be as close as possible to the actual performance, mostly relevant in long tunnels, at early project stages, when data is scarce. This paper shows estimations undertaken by means of the most widely used predictive methodologies. The article evaluates the main factors affecting the wearing process and presents a comparison analysis of forecasting models versus the actual data in some recent long tunnel projects in hard rocks.
