Dare to Bite on "Hard Bones" and Practice "Hard Skills" - Observation on the Development of Shield Machine Industry in Central China
2024-06-21
On May 16th, the "Dinghai" and "Yongzhou" ultra large diameter mud water balance shield tunneling machines simultaneously rotated the cutterheads at both ends of the newly built Jintang Subsea Tunnel on the Ningbo Zhoushan Railway, marking the official start of shield tunneling for China's longest undersea high-speed railway tunnel. This is a microcosm of the continuous assistance of shield tunneling machines from the central region in the construction of major country projects. The central region has a complete range of manufacturing industries and is an important modern equipment manufacturing and high-tech industry base in China. In recent years, a group of shield tunneling machine manufacturing enterprises represented by China Railway Construction Heavy Industry and China Railway Equipment have fully leveraged their advantages in the central region, promoting the gradual breakthrough of domestic shield tunneling machines from scratch and from existence to excellence. The development potential of underground space is enormous, but it also faces obstacles such as complex and ever-changing geological environments. The main bearing is known as the "heart" of shield tunneling machines. Faced with extreme underground working conditions, it needs to meet key performance requirements such as high reliability and long service life. In the view of Liu Feixiang, Chief Scientist of China Railway Construction Heavy Industry, "this is the 'last link' of the full industry chain autonomy of shield tunneling machines.". In order to achieve a technological breakthrough in this critical link, China Railway Construction Heavy Industry Corporation (CRCC) has collaborated with upstream and downstream enterprises and higher education institutions to carry out collaborative research and development, develop professional calculation software for large-diameter heavy-duty main bearings, and attempt hundreds of materials and processes. On October 12, 2023, the main bearing of a 8.61 meter diameter shield tunneling machine independently developed by China Railway Construction Heavy Industry Corporation was taken offline in Changsha, marking the world's leading level in the development and industrialization of domestically produced ultra large diameter main bearings. Just as shield tunneling machines continue to advance underground, shield tunneling machine enterprises in the central region have not chosen to retreat in the face of "tough" challenges, but have continuously strengthened technological innovation and breakthroughs guided by problems. This is one of the important reasons why the shield tunneling machine industry in the central region can rise like a new force. "What was not before is now available, which is the most significant change from manufacturing to creation." Ning Xiangke, Deputy Chief Engineer of China Railway Equipment Heading Machine Research Institute, stated that several R&D teams formed by the company are working hard to accelerate research and development around topics such as water jet, laser, acoustic tunneling, and ultra complex geological structure tunneling. According to statistics, since the establishment of China Railway Equipment, more than 1500 sets of excavation equipment have been developed to adapt to various geological conditions, and a series of innovative products have continuously broken industry records. Through multiple technological upgrades, equipment updates, and process iterations, shield machine manufacturing enterprises are constantly moving towards a technological "no man's land". The "central creation" in the shield machine field continues to emerge, injecting inexhaustible new momentum into industrial development. At the Railway Construction Heavy Industry Foundation and Frontier Technology Research and Design Institute located in Changsha, a digital twin system for shield tunneling machines is very eye-catching. In recent years, the R&D team of China Railway Construction Heavy Industry has continuously promoted digital empowerment, and the digital twin system of shield tunneling machines innovatively created has unleashed the power of "digital intelligence" in "great power heavy equipment". "This system can real-time organize the operation data of shield machine components, underground environment data and other engineering construction data. After system analysis, it can help technical personnel make operational decisions for current models online, and provide big data support for the optimization and upgrading of next-generation products." Wang Yongsheng, Deputy Director of the Digital Twin Research Institute of China Railway Construction Heavy Industry, said that digital twins have broken the boundary between virtual and real, achieved a forward shift in risk threshold, and can create conditions for product development from more dimensions. At present, the digital twin system of underground engineering equipment of CRCC Heavy Industry has extended to the fields of shield tunneling machines, drilling and blasting equipment, and coal mining equipment, and is widely used in large-scale engineering construction such as railways, highways, mines, and water conservancy at home and abroad. (Lai Xin She)
Edit：He Chuanning Responsible editor：Su Suiyue
Source：Xinhua
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