Breaking the Rock to See the Qingdao “Drilling Dragon”

On July 7th this year, TBM equipment manufactured for the Philippines diversion project was successfully off the assembly line. After the arrival, the tunnel construction project will be completed locally. This is the first time that our country has independently developed, designed and manufactured tunnel boring machine products to go abroad.

On July 19 of this year, the first TBM (Tunnel TBM) was opened on the west coast line of Metro Line 1, and the mechanization of the subway in the West Coast New Area officially began.

These TBM equipments are all “Qingdao Made” and are from China Shipbuilding Heavy Industry (Qingdao) Rail Transportation Equipment Co., Ltd. From subway construction to water diversion projects, from Qingdao to the Philippines, Qingdao not only possesses the manufacturing capacity of tunnel boring machines, but also continues to make major breakthroughs in the field of equipment manufacturing.

Based on the construction of subway tunnels, China Shipbuilding Heavy Industry (Qingdao) Rail Transportation Equipment Co., Ltd. has introduced cutting-edge tunneling technology from companies such as Italy and Germany, and has continued to digest and absorb in the daily progress of projects to complete the technological innovation. At present, 6 sets of TBM equipment and 6 sets of EPB (Earth Pressure Balanced Shield Machine) have been completed. By the end of October this year, 8 TBMs and 12 EPBs will be delivered for Qingdao Metro Line 1, 3 invention patents and more than 10 utility model patents, and will achieve 100% independent intellectual property within the year and increase the localization rate to 80%.

Success from "Introduction" to "Creation"

Developed the first "Tonglong" in China

"Tong Long" is the first DSUC double shield hard rock tunnel boring machine manufactured by China Shipbuilding Heavy Industry (Qingdao) Rail Transportation Equipment Co., Ltd. The device is 135 meters long and weighs 850 tons. The excavation diameter is 6.3 meters. The front of the equipment is pulled by a huge fuselage, followed by complex system integration equipment.

"Thomon" TBM cutter plate

The cutter head of the "Tonglong" TBM achieved the ability to "eat soft and hard" rock formations through the rotation of the cutterhead. During the construction of the subway, it drilled about 330 meters in a month, and the efficiency was 10 times that of the traditional blasting method.
According to Chen Fan, Chairman of China Shipbuilding Industry (Qingdao) Rail Transportation Equipment Co., Ltd., “Tonglong” is the result of the joint efforts of the two companies after the introduction of the design and manufacturing technology of Italian SELI Company. When it started to manufacture the first equipment, the company’s own technology was basically zero. On the basis of relying entirely on foreign parties, it “paid a lot of tuition fees” and ultimately broke the situation that TBM equipment in China’s subway construction was totally dependent on foreign imports.

It is understood that the cost of importing TBM equipment for a subway construction is about 200 million yuan. After the “Tonglong” production in the country, the cost has dropped to almost 50% of imported equipment. Chen Fan introduced that most products of the tunnel boring machine such as the cutterhead, main bearing, hydraulic system, electrical automation control system, and navigation system are still dependent on imports. “In cooperation with foreign companies, the other party will not only increase the import price of various components of the equipment. , Earn for the difference, but also on the equipment design integration technology is kept confidential, our R & D technical staff follow up the entire process of equipment manufacturing, foreign engineers do not teach, on their own check the information, find the successful experience of similar industries, not only manufacturing equipment , also pay close attention to the maintenance of the equipment after it was made, and gradually mastered the manufacturing, design, and integration of TBM equipment."

From 2013, China Shipbuilding (Qingdao) Rail Transportation Equipment Co., Ltd. completed the first phase project of the tunnel boring machine R&D, auxiliary and assembly manufacturing base. By 2015, the first domestic “Tonglong” entered the construction of the Qingdao subway, which took two years. . Now, it takes only 8 to 10 months to make a TBM device for subway construction. Chen Fan introduced that the equipment ordered by the Philippines was excavated at a diameter of 4.94 meters. In February this year, an order contract was signed. After the preliminary investigation, the final assembly and commissioning took only one month. Behind the record-setting assembly time in the industry is the company's process of digesting, absorbing and reinventing imported technology.

Fully formed "autonomous technology"

"Bonding to the sea" to participate in international competition

At present, CSSC (Qingdao) Rail Transportation Equipment Co., Ltd. has nearly 40 professional R&D and design personnel, has sufficient talents and technical reserves, and has built the first batch of academicians and expert workstations of high-end equipment manufacturing enterprises in Qingdao. The tunnel boring machine R&D and production base occupies an area of ​​approximately 150 mu and can produce 30-40 large-scale machinery and equipment per year, and maintains 10 roadheaders.

Chen Fan told the author that starting from the Metro Line 2, the tunnel boring machines used in the construction of the Qingdao Metro were made in Qingdao, and mechanization operations for subway construction have been carried out on lines 2 and 1 and so on.

According to plan, TBM equipment will be drilled into the construction site of Metro Line 8 next year. The excavation diameter will be 7 meters. From equipment production to post-maintenance, it will be completely manufactured by CSSC (Qingdao) Rail Transportation Equipment Co., Ltd. Chen Fan told reporters that through cooperation with overseas, it provided facilities for the original accumulation of technology. At present, the company has accumulated more than eight boring machine manufacturing processes and has completely formed its own technology.

“One of the keys to testing the core technological capabilities is the level of post-maintenance that the company has after the operation of the equipment. During the construction of the island section of No. 1 line, a boring machine suffered a technical failure. In accordance with past practice, it should have been an Italian engineer. Responsible for maintenance, but the road section confidentiality does not allow foreign personnel to enter, and ultimately our engineers on-site inspection, found the fault point and the cause of the failure, and proposed a solution.” Technical personnel.

From "introduction" to "creation", China Shipbuilding Industry (Qingdao) Rail Transportation Equipment Co., Ltd. has the ability to lead the manufacturing level of tunnel boring machines of domestic counterparts and allow the company's development to enter the next stage of development.

In Chen Fan's opinion, the "next stage of development" is the strategy of "borrowing into the sea". That is, after mastering its own technology, by further improving its cooperation with companies such as Italy's SELI, the overseas advantages of international veteran companies can be brought into play, and the introduction of more overseas orders can continuously improve the overseas influence of tunnel boring machine manufacturing technology. According to Chen Fan, the order for exporting TBM equipment to the Philippines was provided by Italian SELI. Since the equipment manufacturing level was approved by the foreign party, TMB's design integration fell on Qingdao. According to contract orders, a 5m diameter tunnel boring machine will be exported to the Philippines for the construction of water diversion projects.

It is understood that China Shipbuilding Industry (Qingdao) Rail Transportation Equipment Co., Ltd. takes the Philippines project as a breakthrough, and actively explores the Southeast Asian market. The project is currently in contact with Malaysia, Thailand, and other projects to further expand the product's international influence. (Liu Ping)