TECHNICAL | TBM TUNNELING
takes less than three minutes and the pipe gets
cleaned off with water immediately following the task, to await the next mold arriving on the production line. Sensors are vital to the automation process, including
lasers for dimension measurements to ensure the mold is proper position and it is fully closed prior to concrete pour – or casting will be prevented. Correct positioning of some inserts can also be checked, although installing cast-in EPDM gasket is not likely for automation yet and perhaps a full re-design of the sealing system needs to be investigated. Optical cameras take high resolution photos before
and after the surface finishing work by the rotating pipe, helping to detect small holes/voids which may (depending on project/local standards) require another pass by the pipe. Sensors mounted of the side of a mold can also
support temperature measurement of concrete and assessment of early strength development, which helps with optimizing heat energy, the concrete mix design, and also demolding planning. Effective data management is a crucial to the
automation approach, including receipt of the various sensor measurements as inputs to the AI control system’s algorithms. Gradually, as more data are obtained on the repeated tasks, the AI becomes ‘trained’ to better judge against the quality parameters and then issue commands for further actions, if required. The manufacturing history of each segment can be
held in the data management system. The majority of production lines have static molds
and therefore, for automation, the robots could travel on linear rails/traveling systems, as would electric overhead cranes (EOT) move around the plant, carrying materials to the necessary points of work activity. Areas for further R&D work include automated
manufacture of segment reinforcement formed as steel bar cages, says Herrenknecht.
Above (from top to bottom):
Schematic of a production line of segment molds with robots tending Robot cleaning segment mold in a preparatory step for a concrete pour Robot-controlled roller providing surface finish to wet concrete in mold Schematic of multiple automated production lines
36 | Spring 2023
REFERENCE: Medel, S. 2022. Automation in Segment
Production and Integration of Artificial Intelligence. North American Tunneling (NAT) conference.
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