A mining tunnel boring machine is a comprehensive mining equipment that integrates mechanical crushing, material transportation, and intelligent control. The following will introduce the functions, applications, advantages, and future development trends of mining tunnel boring machines.

  I. Core functions:

   1. Efficient rock crushing: Through high-strength cutting heads (cutter heads or cutter heads), rocks and coal seams are continuously cut, and the economic cutting hardness can reach f≤9. Some hard rock tunnel boring machines can even cope with granite with a point load compressive strength of up to 179MPa.

   2. Continuous slag discharge and transportation: Equipped with a shovel, belt conveyor system or screw conveyor, it can realize automatic loading and transportation of crushed materials, reduce manual intervention, and increase the average daily slag discharge by 30%.

   3. Intelligent navigation and positioning: Integrating inertial navigation, laser radar and sensor technology, the positioning accuracy reaches ±5cm, and supports automatic calculation of tunnel offset and trajectory correction. For example, Sany Heavy Industry's intelligent tunneling robot achieves precise control of cross-section forming error of ±10cm through multi-sensor fusion technology.

   4. Support integration: Some models integrate hydraulic support systems to achieve synchronous excavation and support operations, reducing the risk of collapse.

    II.  Application scenarios of mine tunneling machines

   1. Coal mine tunnel development: Mainly used for rapid excavation of coal tunnels and semi-coal rock tunnels, and can adapt to ±18° tunnel slopes.

   2. Hard rock tunnel engineering: Suitable for hard rock tunnel construction in the fields of water conservancy, hydropower, rail transit, etc. For example, China Railway Equipment's "Highland Pioneer" TBM was successfully applied to high-altitude railway projects, with a cutter diameter of 10.23 meters and a monthly advance of more than 350 meters.

   3. Metal mining: For the development of deep resources such as copper and iron ore, China Railway Construction Heavy Industry's roller cutter rock tunneling machine achieves continuous cutting of ore bodies, reduces blasting dust pollution, and improves mining safety.

   4. Urban underground space construction: For example, Qingdao Metro Line 2 uses DSUC TBM, and the average daily excavation efficiency is 7 times higher than that of traditional drilling and blasting methods, while reducing the vibration impact on the surrounding environment.

  III. Technical advantages of mine tunneling machines

   1. Efficiency and economy

   ① The tunneling speed can reach 5-7 times that of the traditional drilling and blasting method, with a maximum daily advance of 22.5 meters;

   ② Reduce over-excavation by 20%-30%, saving support materials and construction costs.

   2. Safety and environmental protection

   ① Remote control technology keeps operators away from high-risk working faces. For example, after China Coal Group applied intelligent tunneling robots, the number of underground workers was reduced by 60%;

   ② Low noise (<85dB) and dust suppression system (spray dust reduction efficiency of 90%) significantly improve the working environment.

   3. Geological adaptability

   ① Adapt to different working conditions through modular design: the longitudinal axis tunneling machine is suitable for soft rock layers, while the horizontal axis type is good at hard rock crushing;

   ② The hydraulic system has electro-hydraulic dual control function, which can cope with complex geology such as faults and broken zones.

   4. Intelligent upgrade

   ① Contour cutting, autonomous obstacle avoidance and fault diagnosis technologies are widely used;

   ② In 2023, the number of domestic intelligent tunneling machines will reach 64, and the automation utilization rate will exceed 80%.

  IV. Future development trend of mining tunneling machines

   Mining tunneling machines are evolving towards ultra-large-scale, green and low-carbon (electric energy replaces hydraulic drive) and full autonomy (AI path planning + digital twin monitoring), and my country has entered the first echelon of global tunneling equipment research and development.