Design and dimension optimization of cutter disassembly mechanism for shield tunneling machine

This study focuses on configuration and dimension optimization of cutter disassembly mechanism. Firstly, a cutter disassembly mechanism configuration is proposed with four components and simple actions, based on the theory of inventive problem solving (TRIZ) contradiction solutions. Furthermore, a comprehensive dimension optimization strategy was developed, including non-dimensional normalization model, kinematic performance atlases and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method. Then, the optimal relative dimension of crucial parameters was obtained. Combined with the assembly relationship between components, dimension of all parameters was designed for cutter disassembly mechanism. The locking and disassembling process simulation was provided to illustrate the feasibility of the mechanism. The results show that the angular velocity is very smooth and the locking and disassembling actions are realizable without interference for optimized cutter disassembly mechanism. The effectiveness of the configuration and dimension optimization method is validated.