Mechanical tunneling apparatus and process for tunnel in quicksand stratum

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11976558-B2
Application number	US-202318460340-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 1, 2023
Priority date	Apr 15, 2021
Publication date	May 7, 2024
Grant date	May 7, 2024

Abstract

The present invention relates to a mechanical tunneling apparatus and process for a tunnel in a quicksand stratum. The mechanical tunneling apparatus comprises isolating apparatuses arranged at an upper end and a lower end of a supporting apparatus; an excavation apparatus arranged at a front end of the supporting apparatus; a spraying apparatus arranged on the isolating apparatuses and the excavation apparatus; a muck discharging apparatus arranged at a lower part of the supporting apparatus; and a propulsion apparatus arranged at a rear end of the supporting apparatus.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A mechanical tunneling process for a tunnel in a quicksand stratum, using a mechanical tunneling apparatus for the tunnel in the quicksand stratum for construction, the mechanical tunneling apparatus for the tunnel in the quicksand stratum comprising a supporting apparatus, isolating apparatus, an excavation apparatus, a spraying apparatus, a muck discharging apparatus and a propulsion apparatus, wherein
the isolating apparatus is arranged at an upper end and a lower end of the supporting apparatus, and used for isolating a quicksand stratum in an excavation area from that in a non-excavation area, and the isolating apparatus comprises a circular shield;
the excavation apparatus is arranged at a front end of the supporting apparatus, and used for excavating and collecting quicksands of an excavation surface of the quicksand stratum, the excavation apparatus comprises a cutterhead and a drive apparatus, the cutterhead is provided with a plurality of cutters, and the cutters communicate with an interior of the cutterhead;
the spraying apparatus is arranged on the isolating apparatus and the excavation apparatus, and used for pouring slurry into the quicksand stratum, the spraying apparatus comprises spraying ports, an inner surface and an outer surface of the circular shield and the interior of the cutterhead are all provided with the spraying ports, and the spraying ports are provided with brushes;
the muck discharging apparatus is arranged at a lower part of the supporting apparatus, and used for conveying muck collected by the excavation apparatus out of the tunnel; and
the propulsion apparatus is arranged at a rear end of the supporting apparatus, and used for pushing the tunneling apparatus forward;
the process specifically comprises the following steps:
(1) pushing a rear duct piece by a jack to apply propulsive force, pushing the tunneling apparatus forward in turn, and inserting the circular shield into the quicksand stratum to isolate stress and strain transfer between the quicksand strata in the excavation area and the non-excavation area;
(2) pouring, by using the spraying apparatus, the slurry into the quicksand stratum from the spraying ports on the inner surface and the outer surface of the circular shield, so as to make quicksands outside the tunneling apparatus and inside the circular shield be reinforced and stabilized without being disturbed and destroyed;
(3) driving the cutterhead by the drive apparatus to rotate, effectively segmenting the excavation surface of the quicksand stratum using the conical cutterhead, and excavating and collecting the quicksands using the cutters, wherein the cutters communicate with the cutterhead, and the cutters are capable of making excavated quicksands enter the cutterhead for collection during excavation;
(4) spraying, by the spraying apparatus, the slurry into the cutterhead from the spraying ports inside the cutterhead, so as to make tunneled quicksand muck in the cutterhead be formed; and
(5) conveying, by a screw conveyor, the muck in the cutterhead onto a belt conveyor, and then transporting the muck outside the tunnel.

2. The mechanical tunneling process for the tunnel in the quicksand stratum according to claim 1 , wherein the circular shield has an outer diameter of 6.77 m, an inner diameter of 6.70 m and a length of 2.00 m; and a plurality of spraying ports are formed between the outer diameter and the inner diameter.

3. The mechanical tunneling process for the tunnel in the quicksand stratum according to claim 2 , wherein the propulsion apparatus is arranged at a rear end of the circular shield; the propulsion apparatus comprises the rear duct piece and the jack; and the rear duct piece is pushed forward by the jack to apply the propulsive force, so as to push the tunneling apparatus forward.

4. The mechanical tunneling process for the tunnel in the quicksand stratum according to claim 1 , wherein the drive apparatus comprises a rotating bearing; one end of the rotating bearing is connected with the cutterhead; the rotating bearing may drive the cutterhead to rotate.

5. The mechanical tunneling process for the tunnel in the quicksand stratum according to claim 4 , wherein the cutterhead is conical; and the cutters are distributed on the conical cutterhead in a cruciform arrangement, and distributed in 4 rings in total with an interval between two rings being 1.0 m.

6. The mechanical tunneling process for the tunnel in the quicksand stratum according to claim 4 , wherein the brushes are arranged between the cutterhead and the circular shield.

7. The mechanical tunneling process for the tunnel in the quicksand stratum according to claim 4 , wherein the muck discharging apparatus comprises the screw conveyor arranged in the cutterhead; and the belt conveyor is arranged at an end of the screw conveyor.

Assignees

• Univ Shandong

Inventors

• Wu Ke
• Liu Dapeng
• Xu Wenbin
• Liu Yajun
• Dou Zhongyu
• Liu Zhenhua

Classifications

• E21D9/001 Primary

  Improving soil or rock, e.g. by freezing; Injections (for sinking shafts E21D1/10; injection of liquids for binding dust E21F5/18; improving or preserving foundation soil or rock E02D3/00; borehole closures, i.e. packers, for use during the injection process E21B33/12) · CPC title

• E21D9/04

  Driving tunnels or galleries through loose materials; Apparatus therefor not otherwise provided for {(E21D9/005, E21D9/06 take precedence; soil improvement E21D9/001; provisional protective covers E21D19/04)} · CPC title

• E21D9/0664

  with means for applying a coating layer to the front face, e.g. by spraying · CPC title

• E21D9/0678

  Adding additives, e.g. chemical compositions, to the slurry or the cuttings · CPC title

• E21D9/087 Primary

  with a rotary drilling-head cutting simultaneously the whole cross-section, i.e. full-face machines · CPC title