Use of indentation tests to study the influence of confining stress on rock fragmentation by a TBM cutter

This paper explores the influence of the confining stress on rock fragmentation under the cutter of tunnel boring machine (TBM) by indentation test. Acoustic emission (AE) system was employed for real-time monitoring the rock fragmentation process during the indentation test. Granite and marble samples were used in the indentation test. The rock fragmentation processes with the different confining stress levels was studied based on the...