Proceedings of the World Tunnel Congress 2017 – Surface challenges – Underground solutions. Bergen, Norway.

Wear prediction and maintenance frequencies of slurry pipes for

TBM tunnelling
T. Y. Ko
SK Engineering & Construction, Seoul, Korea.
Y. T. Pak
SK Engineering & Construction, Seoul, Korea.
T. K. Kim
SK Engineering & Construction, Seoul, Korea.

ABSTRACT: In this study, the average wear rates of slurry discharge pipes were determined from
the thickness of slurry discharge pipe, which was periodically measured at the TBM site in
Singapore. The wear rate of slurry pipes for Bukit Timah Granite was obtained. The wear rate of
pipes was found to have higher values near the TBM. The wear rates for G(V) grade and mixed zone
were 1.5 times higher than that of G(I) to G(IV) grade. Slurry pipe wear rate tended to increase in
proportion to the slurry discharge velocity. The optimal slurry pipe replacement or rotation frequency
can be estimated through the selection of the pipe wear rate considering geological condition and the
reasonable remaining thickness of pipes.

1 INTRODUCTION TBM site in Singapore. Correlation between the

In slurry shield tunneling excavated material is
transported by the slurry discharge pipe. Not
only cutting tools, but also slurry pipes suffered
from wear. Wear is the primary cause of
damage for slurry pipe transporting excavated
material. A failure of the slurry discharge pipe
results in downtime and increasing cost. Thus,
regular slurry pipe maintenance is required to
maximize the life of slurry pipes and overall
cost efficiency. In particular, more severe wear
can occur to discharge pipes in the slurry shield
TBM in the excavating rock strata due to the
transport of slurry containing various size and
shape of rock chips. There has been much
research on the slurry pipe wear in the field of
mining, dredging industries, paper and pulp
industries, sewage pumping, and agricultural
waste etc. (Sinha et al., 2015), but little research
has been carried out for the slurry shield TBM.
In this study, theoretical equations related to
the wear of slurry pipe in the field of mining or
oil sand industry were examined through
literature review. An average daily wear rate
and wear rate per excavated distance were
determined from the loss of pipe thickness
periodically measured at the actual slurry shield
1
slurry discharge velocity and the wear rate was
derived. Finally, optimal slurry pipe
replacement or rotation frequency for
maintenance was suggested through the
selection of the pipe wear rate considering
geological condition and reasonable pipe
management thickness.
2 SLURRY PIPE WEAR
2.1 Wear mechanism in slurry pipe
Wear is the progressive removal of material
from a solid surface due to abrasion, corrosion,
or a combination of abrasion and corrosion.
This study deals only with abrasion.
In general, wear in slurry transporting system
can be classified under three main types of
abrasion: erosion, gouging and grinding (Jacobs,
1991).
Erosion results from the impact of small
particles on the wearing surface and is a
common cause of wear in most slurry
transporting system. It is considered to have two
mechanisms, cutting and deformation. Sharp
 Proceedings of the World Tunnel Congress 2017 – Surface challenges – Underground solutions. Bergen, Norway.
and angular particles tend to erode wearing
surfaces by direct cutting. Rounded particles
produce erosion by deformation. Figure 1
illustrates the mechanism of erosion abrasion.
Figure 1. Mechanism of erosion abrasion
Gouging abrasion takes place when large
particles intrude with sufficient force resulting
in tearing of the wearing surface. This type of
wear is predominant in slurry transporting
system of slurry shield TBMs excavating rock
strata.
Grinding wear arise from the crushing of fine
particles being trapped between two surfaces.
2.2 Wear theory
Wear rate is related to the velocity and quantity
of flow, and size and shape of particles in the
slurry. One of the most often quoted expression
is a power law relation with the velocity of
slurry flow (Kawashima et al., 1978).
Wear rate µ V n
where V is the velocity of the slurry flow and n
is the power index depending on the material
and the other factors.
For slurry pipe wear, the power index n
varies from 0.85 to 4.5 (Jacobs, 1991).
Karabelas (1978) suggested the empirical
expression of wear rate as a function of mean
particle size and mean slurry velocity.
E = 6.1d m2.15V 3.7
where E is maximum wear rate [mm/yr], dm is
the mean particle size [mm], and V is mean
slurry velocity [m/s].
These expressions were derived mining,
sewage pimping, and agricultural waste industry
where mean particle size ranges from 30 to 165
µm and velocity varies from 1.9 to 4.0 m/s.
There is no expression derived from the
application of slurry shield TBMs.
3 PREDICTION OF SLURRY PIPE WEAR
USING FIELD MEASUREMENT DATA
The thickness of slurry discharge pipe in the
Singapore OOO TBM site was periodically
measured to determine the wear rate of pipes.
Ground conditions along the tunnel alignment is
composed of Bukit Timah Granite with different
weathering grade from fresh (G(I)) to
completely weathered rock (G(V)) and mixed
face zone. Weathering classification for Bulit
Timah Granite in accordance with BS Code
5930 (British Standards Institution, 1999) is
shown in Table 1 for reference.
Table 1. Bukit Timah Grinite general description
Geo Grade /
Notation Class
Classification
G(I) I Fresh
G(II) II Slightly weathered
G(III) III Moderately weathered
G(IV) IV Highly weathered
G(V) V Completely weathered
G(VI) VI Residual soil
The TBMs having a diameter of 6.9 m, 19
inch disc cutters, and disc cutter spacing of
85mm were used to excavate the tunnel of 5.29
km in length.
The slurry pipe used in the job site is a
carbon steel pipe having a diameter of 20.32 cm
(8 inch), a length of 6 m, and a thickness of 13
(1) mm. Generally these pipes are used as a water
pipe, a boiler steam pipe, and a high-rise
building water pipe with the internal pressure of
1.0 to 9.8 MPa at a temperature of lower than
350 ℃.
The measurement location in the pipe was
divided into three areas such as front, middle
and rear as can be seen in Figure 2.
(2)
Figure 2. Slurry pipe thickness measuring point
Thickness was measured at the bottom of
pipes where the greatest wear occurred using
ultrasonic thickness gauges. The pipe thickness
measurement period was 8 months from April to
December 2015. The thickness was measured
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 Proceedings of the World Tunnel Congress 2017 – Surface challenges – Underground solutions. Bergen, Norway.

every 21 m (15 rings) from the launching shaft between the measurement locations in the same
to the TBMs. pipe.

3.1 Slurry pipe wear

Figure 3 shows the measured pipe thickness per
60 rings of segmental lining. In Figure 3, the
thickness of pipes gradually decreases as the
measurement time elapses, and then increases
sharply at some points. This means that the pipe
has been replaced between the lowest and the
highest point of thickness or rotated to extend
the service life of the pipes. In the job site the
slurry pipes were rotated 120º to increase the
service life of pipes. Figure 4. Wear rate of slurry pipes

Figure 5 shows the wear rate per excavated

Figure 3. Measured slurry pipe thickness
According to the measurement data, the pipes
were replaced or rotated when the pipe
thickness remained 6.2mm on average.
Replacement or rotation intervals of pipes
showed an average of 115 days.
Daily wear rate, wear rate per excavated
distance, and wear rate per ring of slurry pipes
are presented in Figure 4.
The average daily wear rate is 0.055 mm/day
with the standard deviation of 0.048mm/day
ranging from a minimum of 0.011mm/day to a
maximum of 0.243mm/day. The average wear
rate per excavated distance is 0.017mm/m,
which ranged from 0.002mm/m to 0.087mm/m.
The average wear rate per ring is 0.024mm/ring
ranging from a minimum of 0.003mm/ring to a
maximum of 0.121mm/ring. The locations of
the thickness measurement within the pipe were
in three places, as shown in Figure2: front,
middle, and rear. The wear rate per excavated
distance in each measuring location is
0.017mm/m, 0.016mm/m, and 0.018mm/m on
average. There is little difference in wear rate
distance according to the ring location where
pipe thickness was measured. When the
advancement of the shield TBM reached
distance of the length of a ring, circular ring in
form of a numbers of segments were installed at
the tail of the shield. As the advancement of the
TBM increases, the number of installed ring
increases. Therefore, a greater ring number
means that the location of the ring is relatively
close to the TBM. As can be seen in Figure 5,
the wear rate is found to have higher values near
the TBM in general. This is considering that the
transportation distance of excavated material
including rock chips increased, the rock chips
themselves wearing down and have less
influence on the pipe wear at the end.
Figure 5. Slurry pipe wear rate with respect to measuring
location
In addition, the wear rate measured at ring
number 1 over time is presented in Figure 6.
The wear rate tends to decrease with time. The
reason for this can be explained similarly to
what was explained above.

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 Proceedings of the World Tunnel Congress 2017 – Surface challenges – Underground solutions. Bergen, Norway.

Table 2 shows the wear rate per excavated
distance and the wear rate per ring according to
the weathering grade of Bukit Timah Granite.
3.2 Velocity of slurry discharge and pipe wear
The slurry discharge velocity at the job site was
maintained at 3m/s to 4m/s and the correlation
between the slurry discharge velocity and wear
rate using Equation 1 is shown in Figure 7.

0.1
log10(y)=-9.076+12.99log10(x); R2=0.49
0.08

Wear rate per excavated distance [mm/m]

0.07
0.06
0.05

0.04

0.03

0.02

0.01

0.008
Figure 6. Slurry pipe wear rate at ring number 1 with 0.007
respect to measuring date 0.006
0.005
3 4
Table 2 Slurry pipe wear rate with respect to the Slurry discharge velocity [m/s]

weathering grade of Bukit Timah Granite Figure 7. Correlation between wear rate and slurry
discharge velocity in log-log scale
Weathering Wear rate per Wear rate per
grade excavated ring [mm/ring]
distance [mm/m] The wear rate tends to increase in proportion
G(I) 0.016 0.023 to the slurry discharge velocity. The power
G(II) 0.016 0.023 index is 12.99, which is 2.9 to 15.3 times higher
G(III) 0.016 0.022 than the power index suggested in the literature.
G(IV) 0.012 0.017 Case studies in the literature are derived from
G(V) 0.021 0.030 relatively homogeneous slurry transportation
Mixed zone 0.024 0.034
such as coal mine, and the slurry velocity varies
from 2 to 6 m/s. In this study, it is considered
The wear rates in G(I) to G(IV) grade ground that the difference in the power index occurred
are almost the same or not significantly since the particle size is heterogeneous and the
different. The wear rates in G(V) grade ground slurry discharge velocity is limited to 3m/s to 4
which is almost the soil grade of the completely m/s.
weathered rock and mixed ground are 1.5 times In addition, a new correlation between the
higher than G(I) to G(IV) of rock grade ground. slurry discharge velocity and wear rate is
Major abrasive minerals such as quartz, feldspar presented in Figure 8 and is shown in the
and mica still remained in the G(V) grade Bukit following Equation 3.
Timah Granite (Rahardjo et al., 2004). These
minerals are transported to the bottom of the 0.09
log10(y)=-17.83+4.388x; R2 = 0.69
Wear rate per excavated distance [mm/m]

pipes to accelerate wear. On the other hand, 0.08

most excavated material of G(I) to G(IV) grade 0.07

are transported in the shape of rock chips and 0.06

only a portion of abrasive minerals is exposed to
the pipe. Therefore, the probability of contact 0.05

with the pipe for abrasive minerals is less than 0.04

that of the G(V) grade ground. It is considered 0.03

that the wear rates in G(V) grade ground and 0.02

mixed ground are higher due to these reasons.
0.01

0
3.48 3.51 3.54 3.57 3.6 3.63 3.66 3.69 3.72 3.75 3.78 3.81
Slurry discharge velocity [m/s]

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 Proceedings of the World Tunnel Congress 2017 – Surface challenges – Underground solutions. Bergen, Norway.
Figure 8. A new correlation between wear rate and slurry
discharge velocity
log( y) = -17.83 + 4.388V
where y is he wear rate per excavated distance
[mm/m], and V is slurry discharge velocity
[m/s].
3.3 Optimal slurry pipe replacement or rotation
frequency
In order to determine the optimal pipe
replacement or rotation frequency, the
remaining thickness for maintenance should be
set, and wear rate of the pipe considering
geological conditions of excavation should be
known. If the remaining thickness is set to too
low, the pipe may be damaged due to impact
and scratches caused by excavated material
including rock chips. Therefore, proper
remaining pipe thickness is needed, and it
should be set considering characteristics of the
excavated material being transported.
Based on the loss of pipe measured at the job
site, assuming the remaining thickness of pipes
is 5 to 6mm, and daily wear rate is
0.060mm/day, the replacement or rotation of
pipes should be performed every 100 to 116
days to prevent failure of the slurry pipe.
4. CONCLUSION
In this study, the average wear rates of slurry
discharge pipes were determined from the
thickness of the slurry discharge pipe, which
was periodically measured in Singapore OOO
TBM site. The average daily wear rate was
0.055 mm/day, the average wear rate per
excavated distance was 0.017mm/m, and the
average wear rate per ring was 0.024mm/ring.
The wear rate of pipes was found to have
higher values near the TBM. In addition, the
wear rate measured at the ring number 1
decreased with time.
The wear rates in G(I) to G(IV) grade ground
were almost the same or not significantly
different. The wear rates in G(V) grade ground
which is almost the soil grade of the completely
weathered rock and mixed ground are 1.5 times
higher than G(I) to G(IV) of rock grade ground.
The wear rate tends to increase in proportion
to the slurry discharge velocity. A new
correlation between the slurry discharge
velocity and wear rate has been suggested.
In addition, optimal pipe replacement or
(3) rotation frequency can be determined through
the selection of the pipe wear rate considering
geological conditions of excavation and
reasonable remaining pipe thickness.
Effective management of spare parts of the
slurry pipes and minimization of downtime can
be achieved by regular maintenance of slurry
pipes including optimal replacement or rotation
of slurry pipes.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research was supported by a grant (Project
number: 13SCIP-B066321-01 (Development of
Key Subsea Tunnelling Technology)) from
Infrastructure and Transportation Technology
Promotion Research Program funded by
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
of Korean government.
REFERENCES
British Standards Institution. 1999. Code of Practice for
Site Investigations, BS 5930: 1999. British Standards
Institution, London, 204 p.
Jacobs, B.E.A. 1991. Design of slurry transport systems.
London and New York: Elsevier Science Publishers
Ltd. 291 p.
Karabelas, A.J. 1978. An experimental study of pipe
erosion by turbulent slurry flow. In: Proc.
Hydrotransport 5, Paper E2, pp15-24.
Kawashima, T., Yagi, T., Ise, T., Sato, E. Washimi, H.,
and Yokogawa, A. 1978. Wear of pipes for hydraulic
transport of solids. In: Proc. Hydrotransport 5, Paper
E3, pp 25-44.
Rahardjo, H., Aung, K.K., Leong, E.C. Rezaur, R.B.
2004. Characteristics of residual soils in Singapore as
formed by weathering. Engineering Geology 73 pp
157 - 169.
Sinha, S.L., Dewangan, S.K., Sharma, A. 2015. A review
on particulate slurry erosive wear of industrial
materials: In context with pipeline transportation of
mineral−slurry. Particulate Science and Technology,
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