SOIL CONDITIONING
Soil Conditioning
in EPB Tunnelling
Machines
Richard Lewis, YL
Associates Ltd, explains
in-depth the sometimes
overlooked yet vital issue of
soil conditioning in EPBMs
ONE OF THE MOST important activities in
closed face EPB tunnelling, and one to
which often too little attention is paid, is
the Soil Conditioning or Ground
Conditioning. This is sometimes referred to
as the GCS Ground Conditioning System.
EPB tunnelling started originally in
Japan in the 1970s as an extension of the
simple blind shield, for use in soft clays
and silts which would easily extrude
through the machine. As they developed,
not only did the benefits of this process
(as an alternative to the slurry shield
which was developed earlier), become
apparent but so did the difficulties of
extending the process into less benign
ground conditions which did not flow or
extrude so easily. Initially the injection of
water and then the use of a mud,
consisting of bentonite, clay and/or
polymers, was used to make the material
20 TUNNELLING JOURNAL
Top: Foam testing in the
machine factory before
shipping
more malleable and able to be handled.
This however resulted in difficulties with
the handling and disposal of the material
after it had left the TBM. Being wet and
sloppy made it difficult for conveying in the
tunnel and on the surface, whilst bentonite
and chemicals made it unwelcome in
disposal pits for environmental reasons.
And so the use of biodegradable foam,
later reinforced with strengthening
polymers was developed. Again this was
pioneered in Japan, although one of the
first uses in Europe was on the Passante
Ferroviario Milano in Italy, where Mitsubishi
and Obayashi introduced it to the Italian
contractor Torno for use on their EPB
machine in about 1991. These days, it is
considered an essential part of EPB
tunnelling.
Despite this it is too often treated with
little respect, as an unimportant ancillary,
and an area where cost savings can be
made. However inadequate equipment and
insufficient materials should not be a
means of saving a few pennies. This will
often lead to blocked cutterheads, stuck
machines, slow progress and much more
expenditure later. A stitch in time saved
nine has never been a more appropriate
proverb.
So what are the purposes and benefits of
Soil Conditioning and how is this achieved.
Purposes and benefits
a. When the ground is excavated and
brought into the cutterhead chamber, its
bulk density is naturally reduced as the
degree of consolidation is relaxed. This
means that the increased spaces between
the solid particles of the ground have to
be filled with something. To prevent
water being drawn from the ground
ahead, these spaces are filled with the
conditioning agent be it fluid or foam.
And so a degree of stability in the ground
ahead of the TBM is maintained.

b.The conditioning agent also imparts a
degree of improved consistency, making
it flow more easily through the
cutterhead, and thus preventing it
becoming blocked and solid due to
compaction and lack of fluidity. This is
particularly important with large
diameter EPB machines (as has been
found out recently on more than one
project) because not only does the
material have to travel further through
the cutterhead to find the screw
conveyor, the central area is large and
with the slower movement of a slower
rotating cutterhead, the reduced mixing
action makes it more difficult to maintain
the fluidity. This is why some
manufacturers have tried to use an
active centre cutter i.e. a smaller
separate cutterhead in the central area
which can rotate at a faster rate than the
peripheral section. However this is a
complicated and expensive solution and
the substantially increased costs are not
always justified.
c. When there is a substantial amount of
sticky clay in the ground there is a high
risk of this clogging and hardening,
particularly in the central area. This is a
specific problem that has been addressed
in specialist papers on the subject, such
as that by Prof Marcus Thewes
see Ref. 1.
d.The conditioning
agent is also
required to provide
some
impermeability to
the material. It is
essential that the
pressure inside the
chamber is the
same as the
surrounding
ground so that the
face can be
balanced and
supported. To
achieve this the
material in the
screw conveyor
must have
sufficient
impermeability to prevent water flowing
straight through the screw conveyor as it
transports the muck and controls the
material flow. In very open gravels with
few fines this is difficult and will probably
require the addition of fine material, e.g.
limestone dust with bentonite and
polymers. Some people will know the
rule of thumb that each pitch of the
screw conveyor will withstand 0.2 bar of
pressure differential. This is only true
when there are sufficient fines in the
ground to make the material reasonably
impermeable.
e. Whilst achieving these three main
objectives of face stability, fluidity and
impermeability, various other benefits are
derived from the soil conditioning. The
presence of foam and/or bentonite
reduces the abrasivity of the spoil
resulting in less abrasive wear to the
cutterhead structure and to the cutters
themselves.
f. The fluidity of the material in the
cutterhead enables the supporting
pressure applied from the thrust rams
through the TBM bulkhead to be applied
evenly and more effectively to the
excavated face.
g.The torque required to be applied by the
cutterhead is reduced due to the
increased fluidity and reduced internal
friction in the muck. The torque required
by the screw conveyor is similarly
reduced.
h.There is a reduction in the tendency for
granular material in the cutterhead to
segregate and form voids.
How is all this achieved? The answer to
this comes with the answers to three
further questions
Where do we inject the conditioning
agent?
How much should we inject?
What should be injected?
Figure 1: Two examples of a rotary coupling
Where to inject
The key is that the excavated material must
be conditioned or modified as soon as it is
excavated. Therefore the place to inject the
conditioning agent is at the face of the
cutterhead, immediately behind the cutting
tools that are doing the excavating. This
means that the conditioning agent must be
piped to the rotating cutterhead through a
rotary coupling or rotary joint - situated at
the centre of the cutterhead. Additional
injection lines to the bulkhead and to the
screw conveyor may also be fitted, but the
crucial ones are those to the front of the
SOIL CONDITIONING
cutterhead. Figure 1 shows two types of
rotary joint, though each manufacturer has
his own design, and these are not the only
ones.
By the time the material has been
excavated and is already in the cutterhead,
it may be too late to modify if it is too stiff.
It must be conditioned before it gets to that
stage. Injection ports in the screw can be
useful for reducing the impermeability of
the material if that has got out of hand,
but again it is sometimes too late by then.
However if the spoil in the screw is still too
stiff, care must be taken when injecting a
conditioner through the casing, since this
will reduce the friction at the periphery and
may encourage the screw to rotate without
conveying. It is better to inject at or close to
the entrance of the screw so that it is well
mixed in with the material across the full
diameter of the screw.
The next aspect about the injections
through the cutterhead is that every
injection port must have its own supply of
conditioning agent whether it is foam, or
a fluid such as bentonite or polymer (or
both). The reason for this is that if a single
supply line is used and then divided
through a manifold to several injection
ports, the fluid, be it foam or bentonite,
will always take the path of least resistance
and flow through only one port.
Subsequently the other ports will rapidly
get blocked with muck from the face. So
each line must be independent and be kept
flowing.
Finally there is the positioning of the
ports on the cutterhead. Often the
positioning is determined by the space
available after the cutters have been
positioned. However it is important that
each injection port is expected to cover a
similar swept area of the face, so that
roughly the same quantity is being injected
through each port and a similar volume of
excavated spoil is being conditioned by
TUNNELLING JOURNAL 21
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22 TUNNELLING JOURNAL

each port. The exception to this is that it is
sometimes advisable to have slightly more
conditioning agent being injected near the
centre where there is an increased
possibility of the material clogging and
blocking the flow.
The number of injection ports on the
cutterhead is also a crucial decision and this
is linked to how much injected agent is
required. This is dealt with separately later.
How much to inject
The answer to this, as well as to the next
question, What to inject, can only be
determined ultimately by carrying out trials
on each site with the preferred supplier of
the agent and samples of the ground to
be excavated. However to initially design
the machine and the equipment some
assumptions have to be made and these
then are subsequently refined by site trials.
To calculate the amount of foam that
might be required for a TBM, -
The key parameters that must be known
or assumed are:
a. The TBM Diameter and the design
advance rate. Thus the rate that the
muck is excavated will determine the
quantity of foam required.
b.The FIR and FER. That is FIR - Foam
Injection Ratio and FER Foam
Expansion Ratio.
The FIR is the quantity of foam injected as
a proportion of the insitu ground
excavated.
Thus Foam volume flow = FIR(%) x insitu
volume rate of excavation.
The FIR may vary depending on the
ground being excavated between 10%
and 80%, but is generally between 30%
and 60%
The FER defines the quality of the foam
being injected and represents the
proportion of air to liquid in the foam.
Thus Foam volume flow = FER x Volume of
the liquid foaming solution.
It is expressed as a ratio and may vary
between 5 and 30. The higher the FER
value, the drier is the foam created. One
of the advantages of foam over a pure
liquid such as bentonite, is that the
entrained air in the foam fills the voids
and the bubbles of air provide lubricity to
the muck, making it flow more easily. But
after the muck has been removed from
the face the foam degenerates and the air
escapes into the atmosphere leaving a
much drier material which is easier to
handle and dispose.
To create the foam solution a
concentrated foaming agent, more
accurately called a surfactant (or
occasionally a tenside) and sometimes
loosely referred to just as soap, is
supplied to the tunnel where it is first
diluted with water to create the foam
solution, before having compressed air
injected into it through a foam generator
to create the foam.
There are many proprietary suppliers of
surfactant, such as Condat, Mapei, BASF,
Normet (TAM), Lamberti, etc. They vary
not only in price but also in required
dilution rates. So that in considering prices
the required dilution must also be taken
into account. But a typical dilution rate
may be 5%. In which case, for every litre
of concentrated solution supplied to the
tunnel, 20 litres of foaming solution can
be mixed.
Using an FER of say 15, this 20 litres of
foam solution would create 300 litres of
foam to be pumped into the cutterhead,
by the addition of 280 litres of
compressed air. However when calculating
the air flow required from the compressor
to create the required FER it must be
remembered that the air is compressible,
and the face pressure must be allowed for
in computing the maximum FAD (Free Air
Delivery) required.
If an FIR of say 50% was being targeted,
this would be sufficient for 600 litres or
0.5 Cu mtrs of excavated spoil.
So it can be seen that the volume of
foam, surfactant, water and air must be
calculated for each individual project and
geological situation considering the
various condition and criteria that might
be expected.
Ground FIR Range Type of Foam
Gravels 40-80 Type 1
Sandy Gravels 30-70 Type 1 or 2
Sands 20-40 Type 1 or 2
Silty sand 20-40 Type 2
Silts 20-40 Type 2 or 3
Silty clays 20-60 Type 2 or 3
Clay 30 -80 Type 3
What to inject
This is the crucial question and as always
there is no fixed answer. The type of injected
material must suit the ground conditions
and trials and testing on site in each case is
always the best and correct way to proceed.
A foam is preferred in most cases but
one of the weaknesses of foam is that it is
less efficient at creating impermeability.
Although the permeability of the excavated
spoil in the chamber will be reduced as a
result of the compressed air in the foam
filling the voids in the muck in the chamber,
the lack of a fine filler material will mean
that very open ground with high
permeability will not be made sufficiently
impermeable by foam alone.
For this reason in very open gravel or
when excavating through rock where the
fines created are expected to be very low, it
SOIL CONDITIONING
is usually necessary to use a bentonite,
possibly with a filler material such as
limestone dust or fine sand, together with
a polymer such as CMC (Carboxy Methyl
Cellulose ) a viscosity adjusting additive.
In addition polymers are also added to
assist in stabilising and strengthening foam
when it is used, or for the purpose of
reducing clogging in heavy clays and to
assist in the action of the bentonite fillers.
The choice of polymer is a specialised
subject and suppliers should be consulted
about the benefits and applications of their
particular polymer or product. Often the
stabilising polymer is already included
within the proprietary foaming agents.
Foams can be divided into three general
types
1. High in stability and with anti-
segregation properties
2. General purpose foams
3. With high dispersant capability to break
clay bonds and reduce swelling.
Although there is no hard and fast rule for
what to inject into each type of ground - the
following table gives some very general
guide lines, and a starting point for site trials.
This has been based on information and
guidelines provided from various sources.
However it is no substitute for testing on
site using the ground expected and the
local water, whose pH and chemistry may
well alter the performance of any particular
chemical.
Possible Additional
Bentonite, CMC, filler material,
Polymer to control cohesiveness
Polymer to control cohesiveness and consistency
Polymer to control consistency
Polymer to control consistency
Anti-clogging polymers
Anti-clogging polymers
Typical Equipment and Circuits
Although there are various detail
differences in the foam and bentonite
injection circuits between different TBMs,
there are two basic alternatives for the
foam circuit (Note that in these typical
circuits only two seperate supply lines are
shown for clarity, but there would be as
many as required for the size of machine.)
One variation has a separate pump on
each foam line, each pump being supplied
from a common supply of foam solution.
The circuit (with only two lines shown)
would be as shown in Circuit 1 (p14).
Figure 2 shows a typical example of the
use of separate pumps which can be seen
mounted on each supply line. In this
example the foam generators with airflow
control valves, are mounted in the body of
the TBM and cannot be seen here on the
TUNNELLING JOURNAL 23
SOIL CONDITIONING

possible, to minimise any degeneration of

Circuit 1: With supply pumps on each individual supply line
the foam as it is piped into the cutterhead.
Foam concentrate tank
Controls
At the control panel there are usually either
TBM two or three modes of operation. Most
Bentonite Dosing pump
Water supply panels will have a manual control where all
Polymer Air
the pumps and valves are individually
Flow control
controlled. This is used for setting up,
testing and maintenance purposes.
Supply pumps In operation automatic or semi-automatic
Rotary Foam
coupling generator Polymer tank mode would normally be chosen. The
Supply pumps percent concentration of the surfactant is
selected, and this controls the dosing
Flow control Dosing pump pump. The operator can then select an FER
Water supply
Polymer Air and a fixed flow of foam for each injection
Bentonite line, and the system will control the
solution flow and air flow dependent on
the FER figure that has been selected.
Circuit 2: With a single supply pump and flow control valves on each supply line In semi-automatic mode this would give
a constant flow of foam independent from
Water the advance rate through each injection
supply Foam
TBM concentrate line.
tank
Bentonite Dosing pump In fully automatic mode the flow of foam
Polymer Air solution will be adjusted to the required FIR
Dosing/ rate dependent on the advance rate of the
supply pump TBM.
Flow
The control panels should display and
Rotary Foam control record both instantaneous flow rates and
coupling generator valves
the total amount of conditioning agent
injected, whether foam or other materials.
Dosing pump
Polymer tank Because of the importance of this process,
Polymer Air
the data should be included in the
Bentonite datalogging system incorporated on the
TBM for later analysis and review.

No of Injection ports
back up. pumps used are positive displacement One crucial aspect not discussed so far is
The second variation has a single supply pumps, normally screw type progressive the number of injection ports on the
pump, but with flow control valves on each cavity pumps, so that speed variation can cutterhead. Once again there is no hard
line so that each flow can be individually carefully control the flow of liquid. The and fast rule and consideration must be
controlled, as indicated in Circuit 2, (again tanks and pumps for the surfactant given to the type of ground being
only two lines shown). solution can be positioned on the backup excavated and the advance rate of the
The photo in Figure 3 clearly shows the some way back from the TBM, but the machine.
individual foam solution lines (purple) actual foam generators, where the air is One consideration is the passage of foam
passing through separate flow control injected into the solution and the foam is to the TBM through the pipework and the
valves and flow meters and each having a created, should be positioned as close to passages in the rotary coupling. From the
controlled air supply (yellow hoses) the point of injection on the TBM as Diameter, FIR and Advance rate, the total
supplying air before passing through the
separate foam generators and then forward
to the TBM. Figure 2: Foam Supply system with individual pumps (Type A)
Having fewer pumps, this system is less
expensive, whilst the first system with
individual pumps does provide for slightly
better control of the individual supply lines.
Flowmeters and control valves (not
shown on the circuit diagrams, but visible
in the photographs) are provided on the air,
water and foam solution lines so that the
mixing and control of the foam and
additive injection can be monitored and
controlled from a central control panel.
In both variations the surfactant
concentrate is mixed with a water supply
using a dosing pump so that the dilution
rate can be controlled, but the same
solution is provided for all supply lines. The

24 TUNNELLING JOURNAL

amount of foam required is calculated.
Each pipe to the machine is usually about
1 i.e. 37mm and the recommended
max velocity for the foam in the pipe is
2.5m/sec. Thus the number of pipes to carry
all the foam can be calculated.
The other criteria to consider is the swept
area to be covered by each port. Approx 5
8 sq m of swept face area per injection port
is a reasonable figure, but this may be
reduced near the central area. It should also
be consistent with the flow of foam
available through each injection port being
sufficient to provide the correct FIR for that
area of face at the designed advance rate.
One point of detail about the injection
ports on the cutterhead is that when not in
use they can tend to get blocked. For this
reason some protection in the form of an
open sided steel cover, or a rubber non
return flap should be used to protect them.
Various designs are available specifically for
this task.
Figure 3: Foam Supply system using flow control valves from a single pump (Type B)
Bentonite
EPB machines should ideally include a
facility for the injection of bentonite into
the cutterhead chamber. Normally this is
not provided on every injection line and in
some machine separate injection ports are
provided. The details of how many
bentonite injection ports are provided will
vary according to the TBM manufacturers
design and with the anticipated geology.
Injection of bentonite, with or without
polymer, as a ground conditioning agent
could be through the same ports as the
foam and when very coarse ground with
SOIL CONDITIONING
spoil is removed from the cutterhead
small quantities of fines are expected, this
would be the preferred type of chamber to enable the intervention, the face
must be supported by compressed air. The
conditioning. Again progressive cavity
bentonite used in the previous conditioning,
pumps are provided, with variable speed
will form a cake or impregnate the ground
controls to ensure the correct quantity of
slightly, and this will inhibit the loss of
injection from bentonite storage tanks
housed on the backup gantries. compressed air during the intervention
resulting in a safer situation.
When the TBM is expected to be stopped
Bentonite is also used in the AFS
for an extended period, bentonite should
Auxiliary Face Support system. This is a
be used in preference to foam for a short
provision to inject a quantity of bentonite
period before the stoppage. This is because
from a storage tank on the backup gantries
the foam entrained in a static cutterhead
into the cutterhead chamber if the face
will diffuse after a few hours and its
pressure falls below a preset value, in order
effectiveness will disappear. Moreover the
to ensure face support. This injection is
air will probably rise to the crown and
pressure controlled and will maintain the
diffuse into the surrounding ground. So the
face pressure at the desired value using a
spoil contained in a TBM which is to be
pressure regulator.
stationary for any length of time is
preferably conditioned with a This is an emergency safety feature only
bentonite/polymer fluid. and is not intended to be used during the
tunnelling process. This is because:
The facility to use bentonite as the
a. the volume of bentonite stored on the
conditioning agent is also required before an
backup would be too small for this and
intervention for cutter changes. When the
b.If the face pressure is
maintained by the AFS
pressure regulators
during tunnelling
there is no protection
against over excavation.
Under normal
operating situation
the face pressure is
maintained by the
speed of the screw
conveyor limiting the
volume of muck
removed. If face
pressure is maintained
by the AFS, this
control is lost and
there is high risk of
over-excavation.
Testing
It is important that both
the equipment and the
foam mix itself used in a
Soil Conditioning System
is tested prior to the TBM
being put into use. During
factory assembly the foam
circuits should be fully
tested to ensure correct
It is important that functioning of the system.
both the equipment This is usually achieved by
first firing up each line
and the foam mix individually, and then
through them all together,
itself used in a Soil whilst the head is turning
(See Figure 4). Although
Conditioning this make a bit of a mess
in the factory it is well
System is tested worth doing as the
operation of plc and
prior to the TBM controls can also be
checked.
being put into use. But this is only intended
TUNNELLING JOURNAL 25
SOIL CONDITIONING
Figure 5: Typical good quality foam
to test the equipment. The actual foam
mix must be formulated and tested on site
in conjunction with the chosen supplier to
ensure that a good strong foam can be
generated. Figure 5 shows what a good
foam should look like this was generated
in a laboratory trial.
Conclusions.
Conditioning of the excavated spoil is an
essential component of EPB tunnelling,
and although foam is the agent used in
26 TUNNELLING JOURNAL
Figure 4: Foam testing in the factory
Conditioning of the
excavated spoil is an
essential component of
EPB tunnelling, and
although foam is the
agent used in the majority
of cases now, it is not the
only conditioning agent
to be considered.
the majority of cases now, it is not the versatility in the controls and equipment is
only conditioning agent to be considered. important to be able to deal with the
It should also be remembered that the use unexpected. The same rule applies with
of too much foam can also cause soil conditioning as with all other aspects
problems in the surrounding ground, so of tunnel construction Always expect
having a good control system, and having the unexpected.
REFERENCES
Ref 1. Clogging of TBM drives in clay identification and mitigation of risks. - M. Thewes,
(STUVA e.V., Cologne, Germany) and W. Burger, (Herrenknecht AG, Schwanau, Germany)