ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Mech. Eng.
Sec. Vibration Systems
Volume 11 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmech.2025.1631584
Study on dynamics and vibration response of shield cutterhead in composite strata based on Hertz contact
Provisionally accepted
- 1Road and Bridge Construction Co., Ltd., Beijing, China
- 2Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, China
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The shield cutterhead experiences eccentric loads when excavating through composite strata, leading to potential deviation of the cutterhead. This study examines the static response, modal characteristics, and vibration response of a shield cutterhead in composite strata, utilizing Hertz contact theory. The cutterhead-rock interaction is equivalently modeled as mechanical spring constraints, with contact stiffness derived from elastic contact theory for disc cutter-rock contact.The static and dynamic responses of the cutterhead under maximum thrust and rock-breaking load are analyzed using finite element simulations. Results show that moderately weathered limestone induces larger displacements compared to hard rock. Modal analysis reveals that the natural frequencies increase with rock modulus, with composite strata exhibiting intermediate values compared to the soft and hard rock. Vibration responses under rock-breaking load demonstrate rotational symmetry in uniform strata but asymmetry in composite strata, where the displacement of the upper half exceeds the lower half due to stiffness contrast. This work provides a theoretical framework for optimizing cutterhead design and tunneling parameters in heterogeneous strata.
Keywords: Cutterhead, Dynamic characteristics, Composite strata, Rock-breaking load, Vibration response
Received: 20 May 2025; Accepted: 11 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Xu, Fan, Qian, Yang and Zhou. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xilong Zhou, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, China
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