Case study on the influence of rock brittleness on the TBM tunnelling performance.

Brittleness is an important mechanical property of rock. Accurately evaluating rock brittleness and its influence on the TBM tunnelling performance is necessary. In this work, via two practical engineering cases, with the aim of overcoming the difficulty of penetrating extremely hard rock (breccia fused tuff) in the project, the influence of rock brittleness on the TBM tunnelling performance was studied via comparative analysis with that project.