Research on the rock cutting performance and feasibility verification of small-scale rotary cutting test for disc cutter.

Small-scale rock cutting tests serve as a simple approach to evaluate the performance of tunnel boring machines (TBMs), but the feasibility of this method requires further investigation. Herein, a small-scale rotary cutting machine is developed to conduct rock cutting tests, and the cutting performance is investigated. The results indicate that similar cutting performance can be achieved through both small-scale and full-scale tests.