A new transient electromagnetic prospecting method in TBM tunnel environment

Abstract Tunnel boring machine (TBM) construction is a safe and efficient tunnel construction method at this stage, which contributes to the essential role of ahead prospecting methods, an essential prerequisite for ensuring the safety of TBM construction. Due to the high interference in the TBM tunnel environment, it is difficult to effectively apply multiple ahead prospecting methods. The existing geophysical methods are restricted because of the extremely small prospecting space in the TBM tunnel environment. Also, the TBM tunnel environment is required to introduce high-resolution detection methods. This paper proposes an ahead prospecting method suitable for TBM tunnel, using the simulation of three-dimensional vector finite element. Specifically, this prospecting method uses transient electromagnetic electrical radiation sources to emit and receives the Ex. Besides, the full field apparent resistivity imaging method is used to perform imaging interpretation of the adverse geological structures in front of the tunnel face in a semi-quantitative manner, to obtain the prospecting results required for the ahead prospecting in TBM tunnel.