Hunan Zhongtian Rock Drilling Unveils New Product—Zhongtian No. 6 Mud Cake Barrier Agent Specifically Designed for Slurry Shield Machines
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2025-03-26
Although the slurry shield tunneling technology is already quite mature, the issue of cutterhead muck buildup has consistently posed a significant challenge during construction. When slurry shields advance through clayey strata or mudstone layers rich in fine particles, the inherent adhesive properties of the slurry itself easily lead to the formation of hardened muck cakes on the cutterhead face. Such muck buildup not only increases the cutterhead torque and reduces excavation efficiency but also severely impacts both construction progress and safety. Currently, many ultra-large-diameter slurry shields employ atmospheric cutterheads, which, while mitigating the risk of cutter changes, unfortunately fail to address the problem entirely—since these cutterheads either lack an opening at their center or have insufficient opening area, thereby exacerbating the likelihood of muck accumulation.
For many years, the Hunan Zhongtian Rock Drilling R&D Center has been researching the mechanisms behind mud cake formation as well as developing corresponding solutions. They have successively introduced products and technologies such as cutterhead coatings designed to prevent mud cake buildup, and high-pressure water-jet systems powered by serpentine robots for effective cleaning. In March 2025, Hunan Zhongtian Rock Drilling officially launched its new slurry shield tunneling machine. Mud Cake Barrier Please find here the public announcement of the material's technical experiments—industry experts are invited to provide guidance.
Mud Cake Barrier
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