Research Information System
ROCK MECHANICS AND ROCK ENGINEERING, vol.40, no.5, pp.477-490, 2007 (SCI-Expanded)
Shore hardness has been used to estimate some mechanical and physical properties of rocks for many years. This study differs from previous studies in a way that it is directly oriented to rock cuttability. Two Shore hardness values (SH1 and SH2) and a coefficient of deformation value (K) have been measured for 30 different rock samples. In the first stage of the study, optimum specific energy values for 16 different rock samples obtained from full-scale cutting tests were correlated with the Shore hardness values of the same rock samples changingSH(1) values from 9 to 66 and SH2 values from 25 to 83, with deformation coefficient values changing from 26 to 195. In the second stage, the performance of a roadheader used in the Kucuksu (Istanbul) tunnel was recorded in detail and the instantaneous cutting rate of the machine was determined. Then, the relationship between Shore hardness values, deformation coefficient and the instantaneous cutting rate of the machine was determined for different formations encountered. It is concluded that there is a relationship between Shore hardness values, optimum specific energy and compressive strength, which may be used to estimate the rock cuttability and the instantaneous cutting rates of roadheaders within certain limits of reliability.