EPB-Labor

The Earth Pressure Balance Shield (EPB Shield for short) is the type of machine predominantly used for tunnelling in fine-grained soils. The excavated soil is used as a support medium to support the face. Conditioning of the ground is often necessary to ensure reliable support pressure transmission. Conditioning agents temporarily give the soil the required properties. These conditioning measures improve, for example, the workability or reduce the water permeability of the excavated material.
In the EPB laboratory of the Chair of Tunnelling, Pipeline Construction and Construction Management at the Ruhr University Bochum, the essential properties of conditioning agents and the suitability of conditioned loose rock as a support medium can be investigated experimentally. The EPB laboratory has a foaming plant, which is also used in this form on shield machines. This enables practical and reproducible foam production.

The services offered by the EPB laboratory include

• Analysing the key properties of conditioning agents and conditioned loose aggregates
• Determining the foaming behaviour, foam quality, cell structure and drainage stability of surfactant foams
• Evaluation of in-situ material with regard to suitability for conditioning or as a support medium (workability, water permeability, shear strength)
• Advice on conditioning issues during the planning phase and during the tunnelling phase