Numerical and Experimental Study of a Device for Electrical Power Lines Probing for a Tunnel-Boring Complex Control System

Abstract

The article considers the problems of the magnetic field distribution, generated by a power electric cable at the micro-tunnel-boring shield arrangement site by numerical modeling with a further full-scale device model experiment. The impact of foreign magnetic field sources on readings of three-component sensors was established in the process of the study. The considerable existence of parasitic noises, conditioned by external magnetic fields and high sensitivity of the probes, which will require the use of additional filters, was established. When using three-component ferroprobes, the most informative is the probe component coinciding with the tunnel shield longitudinal axis Z. The study showed that with current values greater than 200 A and changes in cable location during the experiment, it is possible to record signals from other sensor components and subsequently determine the location and orientation of the current-carrying cable. The experimental results obtained confirm the feasibility of a multi-sensor probing device for the micro-tunneling machine shield movement control system.