Ram Accelerator Projectile Weakening for Tunnel Advancement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional drilling and excavation methods, such as drill-and-blast techniques, are inefficient and time-consuming, with over 55% of mining operation time spent on breaking rock and debris removal, limiting the advancement of tunnels or shafts to only 10-20 feet per round.
Innovation Solution
The use of a ram accelerator system that accelerates projectiles into the workface to weaken the material, allowing for faster and safer extension of tunnels or shafts by using pressurized gas or combustion to propel projectiles, potentially 3 to 10 times faster than conventional methods, and reducing the need for explosives.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional drilling and blasting operations are used to form tunnels or shafts, then the material is broken and debris is removed, but the process is time-consuming and limits advancement to only 10-20 feet per round
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the conventional mechanical drilling and blasting system with a ram accelerator system that uses pressurized gas to accelerate projectiles to high velocities. The projectiles impact the rock face, creating shock waves that fracture the material without requiring traditional drilling, charging, and blasting operations. This substitution dramatically reduces the time required for rock breaking and enables continuous tunneling operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The ram accelerator system performs preliminary action by accelerating projectiles to high velocities before impact. The pressurized gas propels the projectiles through a barrel, building up kinetic energy that is released upon impact with the rock face. This preliminary acceleration phase creates shock waves that pre-fracture the material, making subsequent debris removal faster and more efficient.
2Productivity
If drill-and-blast techniques are used, then rock is broken and tunnels are extended, but over 55% of operation time is spent on breaking rock and removing debris
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the two-stage mechanical process of drilling/blasting and debris removal with a single-stage ram accelerator system. The pressurized gas-propelled projectiles both fracture the rock and facilitate debris ejection through their impact forces and created shock waves. This consolidation eliminates the need for separate debris removal operations, reducing the 55% time loss associated with these activities.
Solution Approach 2:
The ram accelerator system enables continuous useful action by maintaining a steady stream of projectile impacts on the rock face. The system can operate continuously with rapid reloading of projectiles, keeping the tunneling process uninterrupted. This continuity eliminates the idle time between blasting cycles and debris removal operations that plague conventional methods.
3Productivity
If conventional mining methods are used, then tunnels are advanced slowly at less than 100 feet per day, but the process is safer with established procedures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces conventional explosives with a controlled pressurized gas propulsion system. The gas accelerates projectiles through a contained barrel, providing a predictable and controllable force that can be precisely managed. This substitution eliminates the uncertainties and safety risks associated with handling and detonating explosives, while maintaining the ability to advance tunnels at much higher speeds through controlled projectile impact.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables continuous mining operations with accelerated projectile impacts weakening the material, allowing for faster and safer tunneling with reduced costs and increased safety by eliminating the need for explosives, achieving up to 35% lower costs and extending tunnels 3 to 10 times faster than conventional methods.
Implementation Method 1
The use of a ram accelerator system that accelerates projectiles into the workface to weaken the material, allowing for faster and safer extension of tunnels or shafts by using pressurized gas or combustion to propel projectiles
Implementation Method 2
The use of a ram accelerator system that accelerates projectiles into the workface to weaken the material, allowing for faster and safer extension of tunnels or shafts by using pressurized gas or combustion to propel projectiles
Implementation Method 3
accelerates projectiles into the workface to weaken the material
Data Source
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AI summary
Systems for forming or extending a tunnel or shaft within a working surface may include a ram accelerator assembly for accelerating a projectile into geologic material to weaken a region of the geologic material. A cutting tool may then be used to remove the weakened material more rapidly, with lower energy use and less wear on the cutting tool than use of the cutting tool independently. A collection assembly may be used to move debris away from the working surface while the projectile and cutting operations are performed to enable generally continuous use of the system. The number of projectiles that are accelerated and the rate at which projectiles are used may be controlled based on characteristics of the geologic material and the rate at which created debris may be removed, allowing an operation to be optimized for speed, cost, stability, or other factors.