In recent years,with the increase of the difficulty of TBM tunnel construction,the problems of low boring efficiency,fast wear of cutters,damage of TBM components,rockburst and other problems have occurred during the excavation of extremely hard rock tunnels,which have seriously reduced the safety and efficiency of TBM tunnel construction.This article provided statistics on the construction of extremly hard rock tunnels at home and abroad in recent decades and described and analyzed the problems encountered in the construction.The article introduced a series of assisted rock breaking methods,focusing on water jet,microwave,laser,plasma,and dry ice powder pneumatic rock breaking methods,and discussed the advantages and shortcomings of each method.At present,although there are several kinds of methods that have the prospects to assist the TBM breaking rock,there are still shortcomings with the TBM excavation,and further in-depth research is needed.
extremely hard rockTBM excavationwater jetmicrowavelaserplasmadry ice powder pneumatic rock breaking