Wear 392–393 (2017) 109–117

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Wear
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/wear

Experimental study on wear behaviors of TBM disc cutter ring under drying, MARK
water and seawater conditions
⁎
Xuhui Zhanga,b, Yimin Xiaa,b, , Yichao Zhangc, Qing Tana,b, Zongming Zhua,b, Laikuang Lina,b
a
College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China
b
State Key Laboratory of High Performance Complex Manufacturing, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China
c
Patent Examination Cooperation Sichuan Center of the Patent Office, SIPO, Chengdu 610000, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: To study the wear behaviors of the tunnel boring machine (TBM) disc cutter ring under drying, water and
TBM seawater conditions, a series of cutter-rock wear tests were conducted based on the self-designed TBM cutter
Cutter ring performance test bench. The results indicate that the wear behaviors of the cutter ring are affected significantly
Wear behavior by wear conditions. The largest mass loss of the cutter ring is under the drying condition, followed by the
Drying condition
seawater condition, and the smallest is under the water condition. The differences in mass loss were explained by
Water condition
the cutter force, wear mechanism, and wear debris etc of the cutter ring. These results can provide some re-
Seawater condition
ferences for the wear resistance design and service life prediction of the TBM cutter ring.

1. Introduction
Tunnel boring machines (TBMs), as dedicated engineering ma-
chines, are widely employed in tunnel constructions due to their high
excavation efficiency and excellent safety [1,2]. TBMs are applicable
for various grounds including the rock, soil and soil-rock mixed grounds
[3]. When tunneling in rock ground, the disc cutters installed on the
TBM cutterhead are the most efficient and popular cutting tools to cut
the hard rock [4,5]. During the tunneling process, the disc cutter ring
interacts with and cuts rock directly through the rotation of the TBM
cutterhead [6,7], and thus the cutter ring suffers from heavy contact
stress and serious wear [8,9]. Undoubtedly, the severe cutting condition
and serious wear of the cutter ring will cause high consumption of the
disc cutter and high economic loss. A large volume of engineering data
shows that the economic loss caused by cutter ring wear accounts for
twenty percent of the total cost [10]. Thus, the wear problem of the
cutter ring has attracted increasing attention both in the academic field
and in the engineering field.
The wear mechanisms of the cutter ring have been investigated by
many researchers. Lislerud [11] concluded that there are four basic
wear mechanisms of the TBM cutter wear, including tribochemical re-
action, surface fatigue, adhesive wear and abrasive wear. Barzegari
et al. [12] found there are three types of wear mechanisms, i.e. impact,
adhesive wear and abrasive wear. Zhao et al. [13] discovered that the
wear mechanism of the cutter ring is abrasive wear. The abrasive wear
including ploughing, micro cutting, micro fatigue and micro cracking is
caused by hard particles sliding against the wearing surface [14,15].
Espallargas et al. [16] proposed that abrasion is the commonest wear
mechanism for the disc cutter ring.
Generally, the wear behavior of the cutter ring depends on various
factors including rock properties, cutter ring properties, and TBM
working conditions [17,18]. For rock properties, Al-Ameen and Waller
[19], West [20], Plinninger et al. [21], Yaralı et al. [22], Ko et al. [23],
Er and Er [24], and Capik et al. [25] investigated the effect of rock
strength and abrasive mineral content on Cerchar Abrasivity Index
(CAI) value. Macias et al. [26], Majeed and Abu [27], and Petrica et al.
[14,15] studied the influences of rock types on rock abrasivity. It should
be pointed out that the above-mentioned researches are mainly focused
on rock abrasivity rather than the wear behaviors of the cutter ring. For
cutter ring properties, Lin et al. [18] studied the specific matching
characteristics between cutter ring hardness and rock. Michalakopoulos
[28] investigated the influence of hardness on CAI based on the wear
testing device. All of the aforementioned studies are helpful in under-
standing the effects of rock properties and cutter ring properties on the
wear characteristics of the cutter ring.
During the tunneling process, the TBM may encounter different
working conditions such as dry rock grounds, or moist rock grounds
which are soaked in water or seawater due to the complexity of rock
grounds [29–31]. When the disc cutter ring cuts rock under different
cutting conditions, the wear behavior may show difference. For ex-
ample, when the cutter ring cuts rock under the seawater condition, its
surface may be corroded by seawater during the cutting process [16].

⁎
Corresponding author at: College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China.
E-mail address: xiaymj@mail.csu.edu.cn (Y. Xia).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2017.09.020
Received 12 September 2017; Received in revised form 24 September 2017; Accepted 24 September 2017
Available online 27 September 2017
0043-1648/ © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
X. Zhang et al. Wear 392–393 (2017) 109–117

Fig. 1. Cutter-rock wear test device.

Fig. 2. Disc cutter ring: (a) structure of cutter ring;

(b) sample of cutter ring.

Table 1 As a result, the abrasion of the cutter ring will be influenced by the
Chemical composition of H13 steel (%). corrosion. In this sense, the wear behaviors of the cutter ring are in-
fluenced by the mutual interaction of abrasion and corrosion. Ac-
C Si Mn Cr Mo V Fe
cording to Madsen [32], the interaction of abrasion and corrosion in-
0.52 0.96 0.30 5.03 1.23 0.92 balance volving the mining tool can be expressed by Eq. (1).
T=W + C + S (1)

Table 2 Where T denotes the total wear induced by both abrasion and corrosion,
Rock sample properties. W denotes the wear induced only by abrasion, C denotes the wear in-
duced only by corrosion and S denotes the synergistic wear. According
Density(g/cm3) 2.52
Elastic modulus (GPa) 62.5
to Eq. (1), the synergy of abrasion and corrosion can enhance the mass
Uniaxial compressive strength (MPa) 145.2 loss and influence the wear behaviors of the TBM cutter ring. Thus, the
Brazilian tensile strength (MPa) 6.72 cutting conditions play an important role in wear behaviors of the
Equivalent quartz Content (%) 41.39 cutter ring. Unfortunately, the cutting conditions such as water and
seawater are usually ignored when the wear behaviors of the TBM disc
cutter ring are investigated. Meanwhile, the cutting conditions are

Fig. 3. Rock sample: (a) rock morphology; (b) rock

shape.

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X. Zhang et al.
Table 3
Chemical composition of artificial seawater (g/L).
Compound NaCl MgCl2 Na2SO4 CaCl2
Concentration 24.53 5.20 4.09 1.16
Fig. 4. Mass loss under different wear conditions.
Fig. 5. Cutter force under different conditions.
rarely considered in wear resistance design and service life prediction of
the TBM cutter ring. In view of this situation, the cutter-rock wear tests
under drying, water and seawater conditions were conducted based on
the self-designed TBM cutter performance test bench, and the wear
behaviors of the TBM cutter ring under these three kinds of wear con-
ditions were investigated.
2. Experimental details
2.1. Test device
The cutter-rock wear tests were carried out on the self-designed
TBM cutter performance test bench whose overall size is about
5 m×3.2 m×3.5 m. The test bench mainly consists of three parts: hy-
draulic system, testing system and mechanical cutting system. The wear
rig used to conduct wear tests is installed on the test bench through a
transition structure, as shown in Fig. 1. Then a force sensor which can
record the three directional force and a cutter ring were mounted on the
wear rig. The cutter ring connected with the cutter shaft by a limiting
key can be driven to rotate actively through a hydraulic motor.
Meanwhile, the cutting depth is controlled by the vertical hydraulic
111
Wear 392–393 (2017) 109–117
KCl NaHCO3 KBr H3BO3 SrCl2 NaF
0.695 0.201 0.101 0.027 0.025 0.003
cylinder and it can be kept at a constant value by utilizing a displace-
ment sensor during the wearing process. The rock samples used in wear
tests were cast in the steel box and fixed by the bolts. Furthermore, the
cutting position and cutting feed of the rock sample are controlled by
the lateral hydraulic cylinder and the longitudinal hydraulic cylinder,
respectively. In addition, the limit loads of the vertical, the long-
itudinal, and the lateral hydraulic cylinder are 600 kN, 450 kN and
70 kN, respectively; the maximum cutting strokes of the vertical, the
longitudinal, and the lateral directions are 500 mm, 1500 mm and
550 mm, respectively.
2.2. Cutter ring
Generally, the diameter and tip width of the disc cutter ring used in
engineering are 432 mm and 17.8 mm, respectively. However, the re-
duced scale cutter rings with a diameter of 140 mm and a tip width of
5 mm were used instead of a full scale cutter ring considering the size
(432 mm), weight(about 30 kg) and price (over 600USD) as well as the
operability of these cutter-rock wear tests, which were bought from
Tiangong Geotechnical Engineering Equipment Co., Ltd.. The size and
contour of the cutter ring sample are shown in Fig. 2. The cutter ring
samples used in wear tests are made from H13 steel, which is identical
with a actual TBM cutter ring, and its chemical composition is illu-
strated in Table 1. After processing of the reduced cutter rings, the
cutter ring samples were preheated (at 600 °C for 1.5 h and then 800 °C
for 1.5 h), quenched (at 1080 °C for 1.5 h) and tempered (at 560 °C for
2 h and then at 540 °C for 2 h) based on the heat treatment method of
the actual TBM cutter ring. The hardness and toughness of the cutter
rings after heat treatment are 583 HV and 8.6 J/cm2, respectively.
2.3. Rock samples
In this study, a typical hard rock named gneiss was used in these
cutter-rock wear tests, which is obtained from a tunnel engineering site.
The rock sample properties including density, elastic modulus, uniaxial
compressive strength, brazilian tensile strength and equivalent quartz
content measured from the laboratory tests are given in Table 2. The
gneiss is a grey, fine, compact and homogeneous rock, as shown in
Fig. 3(a). And, the rock samples were cut into the dimensions of
900×380×260 mm3 with a diamond saw to fit the size of the steel box
in the test bench, as shown Fig. 3(b).
2.4. Experimental design
Kolymbas [33] pointed out that the relative sliding between the
cutter ring and the rock surface is the main cause of cutter ring wear. To
truly simulate the working states of the actual TBM cutter ring, the
average contact stress between the cutter ring and the rock surface
under the laboratory conditions should be the same as that under actual
working states according to the Hertzian rule [34,35]. The Rostami
[4,36] contact stress model considering rock properties and cutter ring
structure was applied to calculate the contact stress of the cutter ring
since this model has been widely used to predict the cutting force of the
TBM disc cutter, as shown in Eqs. (2) and (3). Thus, Eq. (4) should be
satisfied to connect the experimental wear state with the actual wear
state of the cutter ring.
S
P = C3 ⋅σc 2σt
φ RT (2)
X. Zhang et al. Wear 392–393 (2017) 109–117

Fig. 6. Micrographs of the cutter worn surfaces

under different wear conditions: (a) drying condi-
tion; (b) water condition; (c) seawater condition.

spacing in wear tests, φ′ denotes the contact angle between the cutter
ring sample and the rock sample, r is the radius of the cutter ring
sample, and t is the tip width of the cutter ring sample.
According to a larger amount of engineering data in TBM excavation
site, the 17-in. disc cutter ring is commonly used in TBMs where the
diameter and tip width of the cutter ring are 432 mm and 17.8 mm,
respectively, and the cutting depth and cutting spacing of the disc cutter
ring are about 8 mm and 80 mm, respectively. In these cutter-rock wear
tests, however, the reduced scale cutter ring samples with a diameter of
140 mm and a tip width of 5 mm are used, and the cutter spacing is set
to 15 mm to make full use of the rock sample. Thus, the cutting depth of
the cutter ring sample should be controlled at 1 mm in these cutter-rock
wear tests based on Eq. (4).
Considering the bearing capacity and vibration of the test bench, the
rotating speed of the cutter ring is controlled at about 20r/min, and the
average feed speed of the rock sample is determined to be 6.7 mm/min,
Fig. 7. Wear depth and surface roughness under different wear conditions. which is nearly two times the relative sliding velocity between an actual
disc cutter and the rock. To obtain a measurable wear loss and reduce
the random errors, every cutter-rock wear distances is controlled at
R − h⎞
φ = cos−1 ⎛ 400 mm, lasting for 1 h under the given feed speed, and four repeated
⎝ R ⎠ (3) wear tests were carried out for each wear condition.
The cutter-rock wear tests were performed under three wear con-
S s ditions. When cutting rock under the drying condition, the cutter ring
=
φ RT φ′ rt (4) wears against the rock sample without water or seawater. When cutting
rock under the water or seawater condition, the rock surface is covered
where P denotes the basic stress of the contact zone, C is the di- with water or seawater whose depth is about 15 mm, and the water or
mensionless coefficient, S is the cutter spacing, σc is the uniaxial com- seawater is surrounded with plastic plates which are fixed by glass
pressive strength, σt is the tensile strength, φ denotes the contact angle cement, as shown in Fig. 1. For seawater condition, artificial seawater
between the cutter ring and the rock, R is the radius of the disc cutter, T made according to Liu et al., Jin et al. [37,38] was used in these wear
is the tip width of the cutter, h is the cutting depth, s is the cutter

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X. Zhang et al.
Fig. 8. Temperature field under different wear conditions: (a) drying condition; (b) water condition; (c) seawater condition.
tests, whose chemical composition is shown in Table 3.
During the cutter-rock wear tests, the forces and temperature fields
of the cutter rings were respectively recorded by the force sensor
(measuring range: ± 60 kN, measurement error: ± 5%, China) and the
Fluke Ti300 Infrared Camera (measuring range: −20 °C to +650 °C,
measurement error: ± 2%, America). Meanwhile, the wear debris was
collected with the help of a magnet during the wearing process. After
the wear tests, the cutter ring was cleaned by air blasting and the mass
loss was calculated with an electronic balance (measurement accuracy:
0.01 g). Then, the worn surface of the cutter ring was measured by the
KEYENGE VK-X100 laser microscopic 3D profile measurement appa-
ratus (measurement accuracy: 0.04 µm, minimum resolution: 0.008 µm,
Japan).
3. Experimental results
3.1. Mass loss
The mass losses of the cutter ring under three kinds of wear con-
ditions are illustrated in Fig. 4. The highest mass loss of 11.78 g was
observed when wearing under drying condition, and the lowest mass
loss of 8.08 g was achieved when wearing under water condition.
Drying condition produces about 1.46 times more wear on the cutter
ring surface compared to water condition and 1.22 times more com-
pared to seawater condition. It indicates that the water or sweater
condition can improve the wear behaviors of the cutter ring.
3.2. Cutter force
Fig. 5 shows the average vertical force and tangential force under
three wear conditions. It should be pointed out that the tangential force
is caused by the tangential resistance of the rock (at a fixed depth of
cut) and the sliding of the cutter ring against the rock. Since the cutting
depths under three kinds of wear conditions are identical, the part of
tangential force caused by the tangential resistance of the rock (at a
fixed depth of cut) should be the same under three wear conditions.
However, the part of tangential force caused by the sliding of the cutter
ring against the rock may be different due to the effect of water or
seawater. Thus, the sliding of the cutter ring under different cutting
conditions can still be reflected by the tangential force which is used to
reflect the sliding friction degree in this paper. It is found that the
average vertical forces under three wear conditions are almost the same
which are about 14.5 kN. It implies that the water and seawater con-
ditions will not significantly change the vertical force of the cutter ring.
However, there are obvious differences for the tangential force of the
cutter ring. It can be observed that the largest tangential force is under
the drying condition, followed by the water condition, and the smallest
is under the seawater condition. The average tangential force under the
drying condition is about 1.32 times larger than that under the seawater
condition. It can be concluded that the water and seawater conditions
can reduce the tangential force and improve the sliding friction of the
cutter ring. And the seawater condition can reduce the tangential force
of the cutter ring more effectively compared with the water condition.
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Wear 392–393 (2017) 109–117
Combined with the results in Section 3.1 that the mass loss under the
water or seawater condition is less than that under the drying condi-
tion, it can be explained that the tangential force under the water or
seawater condition is smaller than that under the drying condition,
resulting in less mass loss. It should be noted that the mass loss under
the seawater condition is larger than that under the water condition
although the tangential force of the former is less than that of the later.
This may be caused by the difference in wear mechanism under these
wear conditions, and specific explanations will be given in the next
section.
3.3. Wear mechanism
To investigate the change of the mass loss under three kinds of wear
conditions clearly, the two and three-dimensional micrographs of the
cutter ring worn surfaces are summarized in Fig. 6, which shows ob-
vious scratches and grooves on all worn surfaces. It may be explained
that the grooves were mainly caused by the sliding of particles which
can pierce into the cutter ring rather than by rolling [39]. Different
wear mechanisms can be observed due to the difference of the wear
conditions. When wearing under the drying condition, the cutter ring
suffers the severest wear. Both micro cutting and ploughing can be
observed on the worn surface, indicating that the material is ploughed
on both sides of the grooves or the material is cut away from the cutter
ring surface, as shown in Fig. 6(a). It implies that the hard particles on
rock surface can pierce into the cutter ring surface and plough or re-
move the material easily from the cutter ring due to the lower hardness
of the cutter ring, causing severe plastic deformation and high mass
loss. When wearing under the water condition, as shown in Fig. 6(b),
the wear mechanism is slight micro cutting with small and shallow
cutting grooves and no obvious ploughing can be observed on the worn
surface. Therefore, the worn surface under the water condition is re-
latively smooth compared with that under the drying condition, re-
sulting in a low mass loss. It shows that the water can act as a lubricant
and reduce the mass loss during the cutter-rock wearing process. When
wearing under the seawater condition, the wear mechanism shows
micro cutting with a series of grooves on the worn surface. It is worth
noting that pitting marks can be found on the worn surface, as shown in
Fig. 6(c). This illustrates that the seawater can corrode the cutter sur-
face although it also plays the role of lubricant corresponding to the
lowest tangential force. Thus, the mass loss induced by seawater con-
dition is larger than that induced by water condition.
The average wear depths under three kinds of wear conditions are
shown in Fig. 7. It can be observed that the wear depths under the
drying condition, water condition and seawater condition are
27.80 µm, 11.51 µm, 14.23 µm, respectively. It also indicates that the
hard particles on the rock surface are easier to pierce into the cutter
ring surface when wearing under the drying condition, resulting in a
higher mass loss. In addition, since the seawater can corrode the cutter
ring surface during the wearing process, the wear depth under the
seawater condition is higher than that under the water condition,
leading to a higher mass loss.
X. Zhang et al. Wear 392–393 (2017) 109–117

Fig. 9. Wear debris under different wear conditions: (a) drying condition; (b) water condition; (c) seawater condition.

114
X. Zhang et al.
Fig. 10. Wear debris distribution under different wear conditions.
3.4. Temperature field
The temperature field of the cutter ring was balanced after wearing
about 10 min, and the stable temperature fields under three wear
conditions are shown in Fig. 8. It can be found that the temperature on
the worn surface of the cutter ring is much higher than that on the
cutter shaft and other parts. And the highest temperature of the cutter
ring appears at the contact area between the cutter ring surface and the
rock surface since the friction heats are generated at this contact area.
Meanwhile, the highest temperatures under the drying condition, water
condition and seawater condition are about 223.6 °C, 97.1 °C and
85.2 °C, respectively. It shows that the relative sliding between the rock
surface and the cutter ring surface under the drying condition is more
serious than that under the water and seawater conditions, leading to a
high temperature field and a high mass loss. Furthermore, the tem-
perature under the seawater condition is lower than that under the
water condition, but the temperature difference between these two
kinds of conditions is relatively small.
3.5. Wear debris
The wear debris under different wear conditions was collected with
a magnet, and sieved with square hole sieves, as shown in Fig. 9. For
drying condition, the wear debris is composed of filament and powder,
as shown in Fig. 9(a). The size of the longest debris produced under the
drying condition is more than 60 mm. As stated above, the wear depth
and the temperature under the drying condition is larger than that
under the water condition and seawater condition. It indicates that the
hard particle can pierce into the worn surface of the cutter ring readily
and the debris can not be separated from the material easily, causing
some long wear debris. However, the wear debris produced under the
water condition is mainly powder and no long filament can be found
compared with that under the drying condition, as shown in Fig. 9(b).
Fig. 11. Morphology of wear debris under different wear conditions: (a) drying condition; (b) water condition; (c) seawater condition.
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Wear 392–393 (2017) 109–117
There are some granular debris whose size is between 0.6 mm and
1.18 mm. As depicted in Fig. 9(c), the wear debris produced under the
seawater condition shows like blocks with a touch of red whose size is
more than 1.18 mm, and only a small amount of powdery debris can be
observed whose size is less than 0.3 mm. This indicates that the cor-
rosion plays a important role to cause the mass loss of the cutter ring
when wearing under the seawater condition.
The wear debris distribution under different wear conditions is
shown in Fig. 10. The size of most debris produced under the drying
condition ranges from 0 mm to 1.18 mm, and the wear debris whose
size is between 0.3 mm and 0.6 mm accounts for the largest proportion.
For water condition, the size of most debris also ranges from 0 mm to
1.18 mm, and the wear debris whose size is less than 0.15 mm accounts
for the largest proportion. However, for seawater condition, the size of
most debris is ranged from 0.6 to 4.75 mm, and the wear debris whose
size is between 2.36 mm and 4.75 mm accounts for the largest pro-
portion.
The morphology of wear debris under different wear conditions was
investigated by SEM, as shown in Fig. 11. Similarly, the wear debris
produced under the drying condition appears filamentous and powdery,
which is consistent with the above analysis. For water condition and
seawater condition, the wear debris mainly shows powdery and lumpy,
respectively, as shown in Fig. 11(b) and Fig. 11(c).
4. Discussion
As stated above, the tangential force of the cutter ring under the
drying condition is larger than that under the water and seawater
conditions, indicating that the relative sliding between the rock surface
and the cutter ring surface under the drying condition is more serious
than that under the water and seawater conditions. As a result, more
frictional heats will be produced and the temperature of the cutter ring
will also be higher under the drying condition compared with that
under the water and seawater conditions, as shown in Fig. 8. The
highest temperatures of the cutter ring under drying condition, water
condition and seawater condition are about 223.6 °C, 97.1 °C and
85.2 °C, respectively. Thus, the hard particle on the rock surface can
pierce into the cutter ring surface deeply and plough or cut away the
materials easily from the cutter ring under the drying condition,
causing higher wear depth and larger wear loss. Since the wear depth is
higher under the drying condition which is about two times of that
under the water and sea water conditions, some abrasive particles can
easily plough an amount of material to either side or cut away the
material from the cutter ring surface, causing some long wear debris.
Then, the ploughing and severe micro cutting on the worn surface can
be observed significantly when wearing under the drying condition, as
shown in Fig. 6(a).
When wearing under the water or seawater condition, some fric-
tional heats and hard particles produced during the wearing process can
be removed from the contact surface between the rock and the cutter
ring by water or seawater. In this sense, the water or seawater can act as
lubricant and coolant during the cutter-rock wearing process. Thus,
X. Zhang et al.
they can keep a more stable frictional environment for the contact
surface with a lower temperature field compared with the drying con-
dition as shown in Fig. 8(b) and Fig. 8(c), causing smaller mass loss and
lower wear depth. As a result, the wear mechanism of the cutter ring
shows slight micro cutting, and no long wear debris is produced during
the wearing process when wearing under the water or the seawater
condition, as shown in Fig. 9(b) and Fig. 9(c).
In addition, the mass losses under the water condition and the
seawater condition are 8.08 g and 9.66 g, respectively, as shown in
Figs. 4 and 5. However, the tangential forces under the water condition
and the seawater condition are 10.53 kN and 9.70 kN, respectively. It
indicates that the mass loss under the seawater condition is larger than
that under the water condition although the tangential force under the
seawater is smaller than that under the water condition. The reason for
this is that the seawater can corrode the worn surface during the
wearing process, and then the corroded surface will influence the
abrasion of the cutter ring and increase the material removal rates,
resulting in a higher mass loss. As shown in Fig. 6(c), the pitting marks
can be found on the worn surface, and it can be cut away easily by
abrasive particles during the wearing process. Then the fresh worn
surface will be corroded again. Thus, the blocky wear debris with a
touch of red can be observed, as shown in Fig. 9(c). In this sense, the
mass loss of the cutter ring under the seawater condition is influenced
by the mutual interaction of abrasion and corrosion.
As described in Section 3.3, the wear mechanism under the drying
condition shows ploughing and severe micro cutting, producing some
long wear debris during the wearing process. It indicates that the
hardness of the cutter ring is insufficient when wearing against gneiss
with high UCS. Therefore, the cutter ring with a greater hardness, such
as 632 HV, may be adopted to improve the cutter life when cutting
rocks with high UCS. It should be noted that the hardness of the cutter
ring should not be at a high level because the excessive hardness of the
cutter ring would make the cutter ring too brittle to withstand frac-
turing during the cutting process.
In summary, the wear behaviors of the cutter ring under three kinds
of wear conditions are totally different. Thus, the working conditions
should be taken into account when designing the wear resistance and
evaluating the service life of the TBM cutter ring.
5. Conclusion
In this study, the wear behaviors of the TBM cutter ring under the
drying, water and seawater conditions were investigated based on the
self-designed TBM cutter performance test bench. The following con-
clusions can be drawn:
1. The wear conditions significantly affect the wear behavior of the
TBM cutter ring. The water and seawater conditions can improve the
wear behaviors and reduce the mass loss of the cutter ring.
2. The vertical force changes little and the tangential force changes
greatly under three kinds of conditions. The smallest tangential
force is achieved when wearing under the seawater condition.
3. The wear mechanism of the cutter ring under the drying condition
shows ploughing and micro cutting, but only micro cutting can be
observed under the water condition. Both micro cutting and corro-
sion can be found on the worn cutter surface under the seawater
condition, resulting in a higher mass loss compared with the water
condition.
4. The temperature of the cutter ring under the drying condition is the
highest compared with that under the water and seawater condition.
The wear debris produced under the drying condition shows fila-
mentous and powdery, but under the water condition and the sea-
water condition, the wear debris mainly shows powdery and lumpy,
respectively.
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Wear 392–393 (2017) 109–117
Acknowledgment
This work is supported by the Major State Basic Research
Development Program of China (Granted No. 2013CB035401), the
National Natural Science Foundation of China (Granted No. 51475478),
the Science and Technology Project of Strategic Emerging Industry in
Hunan (Granted No. 2015GK1029) and the Hunan Provincial
Innovation Foundation For Postgraduate (Granted No. CX2017B048).
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