See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/225335485

Earth pressure balance control for EPB shield

Article  in  Science in China Series E Technological Sciences · October 2009

DOI: 10.1007/s11431-009-0245-7

CITATIONS READS

19 1,390

4 authors:

Huayong Yang Shi Hu

Zhejiang University Xi'an Jiaotong University
172 PUBLICATIONS   1,367 CITATIONS    46 PUBLICATIONS   509 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Gong Guofang Guoliang Hu

Zhejiang University East China JiaoTong University
44 PUBLICATIONS   442 CITATIONS    22 PUBLICATIONS   273 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Shield tunnell boring machine View project

Vibrator View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Guoliang Hu on 09 June 2015.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Science in China Series E: Technological Sciences www.scichina.com
© 2009 SCIENCE IN CHINA PRESS tech.scichina.com
www.springerlink.com
Springer

Earth pressure balance control for EPB shield

YANG HuaYong1, SHI Hu1, GONG GuoFang1†& HU GuoLiang2
1
State Key Laboratory of Fluid Power Transmission and Control, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China;
2
College of Mechatronics, East China Jiaotong University, Nanchang 330013, China

This paper mainly deals with the critical technology of earth pressure balance (EPB) control in shield
tunneling. On the assumption that the conditioned soil in the working chamber of the shield is plasti-
cized, a theoretical principle for EPB control is proposed. Dynamic equilibrium of intake volume and
discharge volume generated by thrust and discharge is modeled theoretically to simulate the earth
pressure variation during excavating. The thrust system and the screw conveyor system for earth
pressure control are developed based on the electro-hydraulic technique. The control models of the
thrust speed regulation of the cylinders and the rotating speed adjustment of the screw conveyor are
also presented. Simulation for earth pressure control is conducted with software AMESim and
MATLAB/Simulink to verify the models. Experiments are carried out with intake control in clay soil and
discharge control in sandy gravel section, respectively. The experimental results show that the earth
pressure variations in the working chamber can be kept at the expected value with a practically ac-
ceptable precision by means of real-time tuning the thrust speed or the revolving speed of discharge
system.

earth pressure balance (EPB), shield, thrust system, screw conveyor, hydraulic system

1 Introduction cutting face during excavation. The cutting face can be

With the rapid urban development and the continuous
extension of transport systems, demands of underground
space exploration and tunnel construction have been
considerably growing. In response to the increased
needs, developing the tunneling technology character-
ized by safe, inexpensive and highly efficient is signifi-
cantly necessitated.
Compared with the conventional excavation methods
such as cut-and-cover and the new Austrian tunneling
method (NATM), shield tunneling is a well established
method. It allows tunnel advance in a wide range of soil
with difficult conditions such as high ground water
pressure, soft soils with low cover depths. This method
features relatively complex construction processes and
interactions between the ground, the cutter, the jacks, the
tunnel lining and the backfill grouting. The development
of the shield tunneling method throughout the history
has concentrated on how to stabilize and support the
supported in several ways such as mechanical means,
compressed air, or the excavated soil itself. So far, based
on different face stabilizing principles, there are mainly
two types of shields widely used in tunnel constructions:
the earth pressure balance (EPB) shield system devel-
oped in Japan and the slurry shield introduced from
Europe. Moreover, due to its convenient operation and
easy realization of face stabilization, the EPB shield has
proven to be successful for tunneling in soft ground and
had extensive applications.
Figure 1 shows the general construction of the EPB
shield tunneling machine. In EPB shield, the excavated
soil continuously taken into and stored in the closed
chamber is compressed when it is transported backward
Received December 4, 2008; accepted March 25, 2009
doi: 10.1007/s11431-009-0245-7
†
Corresponding author (email: gfgong@zju.edu.cn)
Supported by the National Outstanding Youth Foundation of China (Grant No.
50425518) and the National Basic Research Program of China (“973” Project)
(Grant No. 2007CB714004)

Citation: Yang H Y, Shi H, Gong G F, et al. Earth pressure balance control for EPB shield. Sci China Ser E-Tech Sci, 2009, 52(10): 2840―2848, doi:
10.1007/s11431-009-0245-7
 Figure 1 Working principle of the EPB shield machine.

by rotation of the screw[1,2]. As a result, an internal earth should be increased. Otherwise, the thrust speed should
pressure is generated to accomplish the cutting face be increased or the revolving speed of the screw con-
counterbalance against the existing overburden and hy- veyor should be decreased. If p happens to be equal to p0,
drostatic pressures shown in Figure 1. There are two the excavation will continue without adjustment. A more
principles that have to be followed in controlling earth detailed control model for an advanced shield tunneling
pressure in the soil chamber during EPB shield tunnel- process is illustrated in Figure 3[7], where the earth
ing. The pressure must be neither too high nor too low to pressure and the thrust speed feedbacks are taken as
prevent the occurrence of ground heave or settlement. At double inputs while the desired revolving speed of the
the same time, it should be a value that is as low as pos-
sible to reduce the cutter torque and wearing. Conse-
quently, it is of great significance to implement EPB
control properly and efficiently.
Earlier studies on shield excavation have mainly fo-
cused on tunneling behaviors like ground deformation
and other driving parameters by FEA simulation or
theoretical formula computations[3−5]. In this paper, an
attempt on EPB control management achieved with the
help of thrust system and screw conveyor is made by
simulation and experiments. The rest of the paper is or-
ganized as follows. Section 2 proposes the detailed prin-
ciple of EPB control. In Section 3, the electro-hydraulic
control systems of the thrust and the discharge are de- Figure 2 Flowchart of excavation/discharge control.

signed, and their control models are established. Sec-

tions 4 and 5 give the simulation and experimental re-
sults of earth pressure control, respectively. Section 6
draws a conclusion about the main points of the paper.

2 Theoretical model
Figure 2 shows the common method of EPB control[6].
When tunneling, a pressure set value p0 is assumed be-
forehand. If the actual earth pressure p in the working
chamber is higher than p0, the thrust speed should be
decreased or the revolving speed of the screw conveyor Figure 3 EPB control scheme.

Yang H Y et al. Sci China Ser E-Tech Sci | Oct. 2009 | vol. 52 | no. 10 | 2840-2848 2841
screw conveyor and the thrust speed are the double out-
puts.
In the tunnel construction process, additives are often
injected into the working chamber to improve the char-
acteristics of the excavated soil so that it is plasticized
and easy to convey[8]. Therefore, we can assume that the
soil in the chamber is plastic. Following the principle
described above and neglecting the soil deformation
caused by thrust force, then we conduct the following
analysis. Consider the EPB control system in which the
intake rate of the soil chamber is
qi = πR 2 v ,
where R is the radius of cutter head and v is the thrust
speed. The discharge rate by screw conveyor is
1
qo = πρ 2Tns = ρ 2Tiωm , (2)
2 ing the working chambers of motor, pump and pipes,
where ρ is the radius of the screw vane, T is the screw
pitch, i is the gear ratio, ns is the revolving speed of
screw conveyor, and ωm is the angular speed of motor.
The flow continuity equation for plastic earth will be
V dpe
qi = qo + cep ( pe − po ) + e , (3)
β e dt
where cep is the external leakage coefficient, pe is the
earth pressure in chamber, po is the leakage earth pres-
sure approaching to zero, Ve is the volume of chamber,
and βe is the bulk modulus of the stuffs in chamber. By
neglecting the mechanical efficiency, the torque equa-
tion of the hydraulic motor is given as follows
dω m
Tm = Dm p1 = J m + Bmωm + TL , (4)
dt
where Jm is the total inertia of soil, vanes and screw, Tm
is the output torque of hydraulic motor, Bm is the coeffi-
cient of viscosity, Dm is the displacement of the motor,
p1 is the working pressure, and TL is the load torque act-
ing on the axis of motor. In the hydraulic motor system
Figure 4 Block diagram of EPB control system.
2842 Yang H Y et al. Sci China Ser E-Tech Sci | Oct. 2009 | vol. 52 | no. 10 | 2840-2848
controlled by pump, if the return line pressure is zero,
then the output flow rate of the variable displacement
pump is
q p = K qp γ − Ctp p1 , (5)
where Kqp is the flow gain of the pump, γ is the offset
angle of swashplate governed by the variable displace-
ment mechanism controlled electrically, and Ctp is the
total leakage coefficient consisting of internal and ex-
ternal leakages of the pump. In the pressure chamber of
the motor, the flow continuity equation is
dθ V dp
(1) q p = Ctm p1 + Dm m + 0 1 , (6)
dt β dt
where Ctm is the total leakage coefficient consisting of
internal and external leakages of the motor, θm is the
rotary angle of the motor, V0 is the total volume includ-
and β is the effective bulk modulus.
For the thrust system, the oil flow continuity equation
of thrust cylinder can be represented as
V dp L
qL = Av + Ctc pL + , (7)
E dt
where qL is the load flow rate, A is the acting piston area,
Ctc is the coefficient of leakage, pL is load pressure, V is
the total working volume, and E is the effective bulk
modulus. The equation according to equilibrium force
can be described as
dv
ApL = m + Bv v + Kx + F , (8)
dt
where m is the total mass of the moving parts, Bv is the
coefficient of viscosity, K is the total load stiffness, and
F is the load force.
Applying Laplace transformation to all above equa-
tions gives the transfer function of the open-loop control
system[9]. The block diagram of EPB control system is
shown in Figure 4.
 In the practical excavation, the adjustments of thrust
speed and rotation speed to achieve earth pressure bal-
ance are completed manually to a large extent. Usually,
there are two control schemes adopted in engineering
practice: intake volume control, in which the discharge
volume in a unit time is given by presetting a constant
rotation of screw conveyor but the thrust speed is
changing continually to maintain a desired earth pres-
sure in the chamber; discharge volume control, in which
the intake volume in a unit time is given by presetting a
constant thrust speed but the rotation of screw conveyor
is regulated according to the feedback earth pressure.
Besides, the two methods can also be used together in
theory to obtain more preferable control results. In fact, Figure 5 Group control of thrust hydraulic system.
the thrust speed is generally determined based on the
geological conditions. It should be put as high as possi- valve 2 to form a closed-loop control system. In this way,
ble if not beyond tunneling capacity, so the regulation of the thrust speed will be adjusted steplessly. Similarly, the
thrust speed will inevitably spoil the construction sched- pressure control is realized with pressure sensor 7. The
ule of the whole tunnel construction. Thus, the rotation regulation of thrust speed and pressure has relations with
of screw conveyor is certain to be an adjustable variable the earth pressure acquired by real-time monitoring the
in earth pressure control. working chamber.
In the thrusting process, the oil flow through the ori-
3 EPB realization system fice of the throttle valve located inside valve 2 can be
represented as
3.1 Thrust hydraulic control system
q2 = K q 2 y2 , (9)
The thrust system performs the tasks of shield advancing
where q2 denotes the flow rate, Kq2 denotes the flow gain,
and route tracking. In view of the heavy and variable
y2 denotes the spool displacement. It should be noted
loads, it is exclusively driven by the hydraulic system.
that the pressure drop across the throttle valve is a con-
To satisfy the complex requirements of tunneling, such
stant. The dynamics equation of the spool is described as
as extremely adverse geological condition and sharp
curve constructions, it is indispensable that the speed d 2 y2 d y2
FM 2 = m2 2
+ D2 + K 2 y2 , (10)
and the pressure of thrust jacks are highly controllable to dt dt
achieve earth pressure balance. In order to reduce the where FM2 is the output force of the solenoid of valve 2,
complexity and the cost of the control system, in this m2 the mass of the spool, D2 the coefficient of viscous
project, the thrust system falls into six identical groups friction, and K2 the stiffness of spring. The oil flow
to simulate the grouped control scheme of the actual through valve 3 is
shield. Figure 5 shows one control group, which is typi- q3 = K q 3 y3 + K p 3 pL , (11)
cally composed of a proportional pressure relief vale, a
where q3 is the flow rate, Kq3 is the flow gain, y3 is the
proportional flow control valve, two directional valves
spool displacement, Kp3 is flow-pressure coefficient, and
and other auxiliary components[10].
pL is the load pressure. The dynamics equation of the
When the shield advances, valve 1 is off. Oil flows
spool is obtained by
into valve 2, where the flow rate can maintain a constant
d 2 y3
dy3
value proportional to the electric signal acting on elec- pL A3 − FM 3 = m3 2
+ D3
+ K3 y3 , (12)
tromagnet. The regulated oil flow enters into the blind dt dt
end chamber of the cylinder, thereby the rod extends. where A3 is the effective acting area of the poppet, FM3 is
During advancing, the thrust distance measured by dis- the output force of the solenoid of valve 3, m3 is the
placement sensor is converted into velocity signal which mass of the moving body, D3 is the coefficient of vis-
is delivered to the controller of proportional flow control cous friction, and K3 is the total stiffness of the spring

Yang H Y et al. Sci China Ser E-Tech Sci | Oct. 2009 | vol. 52 | no. 10 | 2840-2848 2843
concerned. The flow equation of the cylinder is derived
as
dx V dp L
qL = q2 − q3 = A + Ctc p L + , (13)
dt E dt
where qL is the cylinder flow, A is the effective working
area, x is the displacement of cylinder, Ctc is the coeffi-
cient of leakage, V is the total actuating volume, and E is
the effective bulk modulus. The dynamics equation of
the cylinder is
d2 x dx
ApL = M + Bv + Kx + FL ,
dt dt
where M is the total mass of the moving parts, Bv is the
viscous damping coefficient, K is the stiffness of load,
and FL is the load force. The current dynamics across the
proportional solenoid coil can be described by the de-
rivative equation as follows
di dy
u (t ) = L + iR + K v , (15)
dt dt
where u is the voltage, L is the inductance, i is the cur-
rent, R is the total resistances of coils and amplifier, and
Kv is the coefficient of velocity back electromotive force
induced by the armature displacement. Because the cur-
rent-force characteristics of the proportional solenoid is
approximately linear, the output electromagnetic force
can be written as
FM = K F i,
where FM is the electromagnetic force, and KF is the
current force gain. By combining all the equations given
above, the block diagram of the electro-hydraulic dis-
placement/speed control system is constructed as in
Figure 6, where u3 and u2 are the pressure and the flow
rate input signals while x is the output displacement.
Here, we take the displacement as an output for the sake
of easy measuring and consideration of multi-cylinder
coordination motion control[11,12]. In the closed-loop
control system, derivative calculation is used to convert
Figure 6 Block diagram of the thrust displacement/speed control system.
2844 Yang H Y et al. Sci China Ser E-Tech Sci | Oct. 2009 | vol. 52 | no. 10 | 2840-2848
displacement into speed to achieve speed regulation.
In the control system, the conventional PID control-
lers are employed as shown in Figure 6. The saturator is
used to prevent the parameters mismatch. As for pres-
sure control, the pressure relief valve is not necessary to
overflow all the time. So the system can be simplified to
a speed control system, and the input signals of the sys-
tem are determined in combination with other parame-
ters in tunneling[13].
In addition, fast retraction design is considered in the
(14) thrust system to satisfy the requirements of segment
erecting. When the flow through valve 2 is shorted by
valve 1 and valve 4 works at left position, a larger flow
floods into the rod end of the cylinder, then the rod re-
tracts quickly.
3.2 Screw conveyor system
The muck discharge from soil chamber is an important
procedure in tunneling. It is controlled by the rotation of
screw conveyor and the opening of hydraulic gate at the
rear end of the screw conveyor. The screw conveyor
system has three functions: muck disposal, water block-
ing by discharged muck sealed in the screw, keeping
earth pressure balance by timely adjustments of rotation
or opening on the basis of earth pressure monitoring.
As shown in Figure 7, the variable displacement
pump 6 integrated with a proportional electromagnet
(16)
supplies pressure oil to motor and cylinders. The supply
quantity of the pump is dependent upon the need by ex-
erting proper electric signal. In order to real-time exam-
ine the rotation of the screw conveyor, a rotational speed
sensor 14 is used. The measured earth pressure signal
from the working chamber is transmitted to the propor-
tional amplifier of the pump to adapt the output flow to
be optimal supply, thereby the desired rotational speed
of screw conveyor or opening of gate is fulfilled. The
control scheme of the hydraulic motor drive system can
be seen in Figure 4.
 3.3 Monitoring system
To take into account the economy, compatibility, and
extensibility of the monitoring system, a distributed
network is developed consisting of PLC, industrial con-
trol computer, data acquisition system and configuration
software. PLC performs not only on-board control of
testing system but also data acquisition. As shown in
Figure 8, a CC-Link based field bus is to construct a
master/slaver control system. The PLC master station is
installed in the main control cabinet and slave stations
are placed in an area with intensive electrical equipment.
Thereby, the enormous complicated cable connections
are avoided. Two host computers, one of which is
backup, are connected to PLC by the Ethernet module.
Data exchanges between the computers take place
within the local area network.

4 Simulation
In order to verify the earth pressure balance control
method, a co-simulation was carried out with AMESim
and MATLAB\Simulink software. The mechanical and
hydraulic systems were created in AMESim, and the
MATLAB\Simulink software package together with
AMESim took charge of the control model design.
Parameters involved in the simulation of typical work-
ing conditions in a practical job site are listed in Table
Figure 7 Screw conveyor hydraulic system. 1[14]. These parameters were given on the assumption

Figure 8 Condition monitoring system.

Yang H Y et al. Sci China Ser E-Tech Sci | Oct. 2009 | vol. 52 | no. 10 | 2840-2848 2845
Table 1 Values of simulation parameters sure balance control[14]. It can be seen that after some
Parameters Values fluctuations the three parameters ran on the set values
Simulator load 100 kN steadily. Because the earth pressure was determined by
Spring rate 1010 N/m the thrust speed and the discharge speed jointly, its
Damper ratio 106 N/(m·s−1) curve varied more dramatically at the starting stage as
Set value of advancing speed 36 mm/min shown in Figure 9(c) than the advancing speed shown in
Set value of revolving speed 3 r/min Figure 9(a) and the revolving speed of the screw con-
Set value of earth pressure 0.2 bar veyor shown in Figure 9(b).
Combining the three figures, we can derive that the
of excavation through a homogeneous layer with perfect proposed control strategy is able to realize earth pressure
plastic property, irrespective of different kinds of soils. balance of shield tunneling and has a moderate accom-
Figure 9 shows the simulation results for earth pres- modation for disturbances. So the design of control sys-
tem mentioned above is suitable for shield control and
can accomplish the work of keeping excavation face
stable.

Figure 9 Simulation results for earth pressure balance control.
5 Experiments
The experiments were carried out on a test rig made up
of an EPB shield with an outer diameter of 1.8 m and a
large loading simulator filled with various pressurized
soils. The tested soils fell into several sections in hori-
zontal direction according to classifications[15]. The load
was equivalent to an underground tunneling with an
overburden depth of 10 m. By theoretical calculation
and construction experiences, the earth pressure in the
working chamber should range from 0.02 to 0.03 MPa.
Two earth pressure sensors and two symmetrical cylin-
ders were used in the experiments for simple but repre-
sentative purpose. The parameters of soils employed in
the experiments are listed in Table 2. Soils were condi-
tioned to the plasticized state during experimental tun-
neling by adding addictives. It is helpful for soil cutting
and conveying, and for experiments to approximate the
in-situ construction more closely.
5.1 Advance control
It is a key issue in earth pressure balance control to
achieve the dynamic equilibrium of the intake volume
and the discharge volume in the soil chamber. The preset
earth pressure value is usually obtained by a trial and
error method and reasonable for supporting excavating
face, so it is the chief task to keep this value running in
an acceptable spectrum. In the advance control mode,

Table 2 Parameters of two kinds of soils in the test

Soils Moisture content (%) Unit weight (kN/m3) Angle of internal friction (º) Cohesion (kPa) Void ratio
Clay 47.2 17.0 10.0 10.0 1.26
Sandy gravel 18.0 20.2 37.8 0.1 0.559

2846 Yang H Y et al. Sci China Ser E-Tech Sci | Oct. 2009 | vol. 52 | no. 10 | 2840-2848
the revolving speed of the screw conveyor is held in
constant by setting the displacement of the pump in-
variable. In this experiment, the revolving speed was 1.5
r/min. To allow for tunneling simulation through soft
clay soil, the thrust hydraulic pressure was fixed at 24
MPa and the revolving speed of cutter head at 0.5 r/min.
As shown in Figure 10 (a), two symmetrically mounted
thrust cylinders operated with their speeds varying be-
tween 30 and 40 mm/min. The regulation was done by
tuning the control knob manually. From Figure 10 (b), it
can be seen that there was a sharp drop at the beginning
stage due to the excavated soil shift from the nonho-
mogeneous layer. Furthermore, the measured earth
pressures by two symmetrically positioned sensors indi-
cated the uniform pressure distribution in the soil cham-
ber.
5.2 Discharge control
In practically executed tunneling projects, because
changing the revolving speed of screw conveyor exerts
far less influence on overall tunneling behavior than
thrust speed variation, the discharge control mode is
more widely used and easily operated in realizing earth
pressure balance. The discharge control experiment was
conducted in the advancing distance from 240 to 420 cm
which was a sandy gravel section. In this tunneling sec-
Figure 10 EPB control by advance speed.
Yang H Y et al. Sci China Ser E-Tech Sci | Oct. 2009 | vol. 52 | no. 10 | 2840-2848
tion, foam and bentonite were added to improve the ex-
cavating condition to facilitate cutting, supporting and
transporting the soil with economical tunneling parame-
ters. As shown in Figure 11(b), the earth pressure in the
soil chamber was oscillating around 30 kPa after rising
slowly from the clay pressure level. The thrust speed
and the revolving speed of the cutter head stayed in set
values, only the revolving speed of the screw conveyor
was tuned, reacting to the varying earth pressure in the
soil chamber. In Figure 11(a), there was an overshoot in
the starting period after a failure stop of the machine.
In the whole control process, the revolving speed of the
screw conveyor was automatically regulated according
to the earth pressure feedback by adopting the
self-tuning proportional integral derivative control tech-
nique.
Figure 11 EPB control by discharge control.
6 Conclusion
Based on the working principle of EPB shield, the
mathematical model was proposed on the assumption of
plasticized soil in the closed soil chamber, referring to
the dynamic equilibrium of closed chamber in fluid
power transmission. The intake volume, ultimately de-
pendent upon the thrust speed, and the discharge volume
2847
decided directly by the revolving speed of the screw
conveyor, were the two principal parameters to achieve
earth pressure balance. By controlling the cylinder speed
of the thrust hydraulic system and the rotation of the
discharge hydraulic system or one of them, the two pa-
rameters mentioned above reached a relative agreement.
Following this principle, two experiments of thrust and
discharge control were completed respectively with a
1 Herbert H, Rolf S. Method of, and apparatus for, controlling the ad-
vance of a tunnel drive shield. United States Patent, 4095436, 1978
2 Walter W, Herbert H. Hydraulic control system for and methods of
controlling the operation of tunnelling apparatus. United States Patent,
4391553, 1983
3 Aphichat S, Mitsutaka S, Kouji K. Theoretical model of shield be-
havior during excavation II: Application. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng,
2002, 128(2): 156—165
4 Murad Y A, George Z V. Computational model for the simulation of
the shield tunneling process in cohesive soils. Int J Numer Anal Me-
thods Geomech, 1999, 23(1): 23—44
5 Bernhard M, Martin H, Lothar A. Mechanised Shield Tunnelling.
Berlin: Erbst & Sohn, 1996
6 Hisakazu M. Earth pressure balanced shield method. Tunnels &
Tunnelling, 1980, 7(1): 47—49
7 Cheng Y. Application of neural networks to automatic soil pressure
balance control for shield tunneling. Autom Construction, 1997, 5(5):
421—426
8 Nomoto T, Imaura S, Hagiwara T, et al. Shield tunnel construction in
centrifuge. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng, 1999, 125(4): 289—300
9 Ogata K. Modern Control Engineering. 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River:
2848 Yang H Y et al. Sci China Ser E-Tech Sci | Oct. 2009 | vol. 52 | no. 10 | 2840-2848
View publication stats
large EPB shield test system. The experimental results
verified the proposed theoretical principle for EPB con-
trol and the control methods of keeping earth pressure in
an acceptable range. Considering the prior knowledge
about the kind of the tested soil and the predictability of
many factors in lab test, further work will focus on the
earth pressure control under complex geological condi-
tions and other difficult cases.
Prentice-Hall, 1997
10 Hu G L, Gong G F, Yang H Y. Electro-hydraulic control system of
shield tunnel boring machine for simulator stand. In: Processing 6th
International Conference on Fluid Power Transmission and Control.
Hangzhou: World Publishing House, 2005. 94—99
11 Hong S, George T C. Motion synchronization for dual-cylinder elec-
trohydraulic lift systems. IEEE/ASME Trans Mech, 2002, 7(2): 171
—181
12 Ke L, Mannan M A, Xu M Q, et al. Electro-hydraulic proportional
control of twin-cylinder hydraulic elevators. Control Eng Practice,
2001, 9(4): 367—373
13 Hu G L, Gong G F, Yang H Y. Thrust hydraulic system of shield
tunnel boring machine with pressure and flow compound control (in
Chinese). J Mech Eng, 2006, 42(6): 124—127
14 Yang H Y, Hu G L, Gong G F. Earth pressure balance control for a test
rig of shield tunneling machine using electrohydraulic proportional
techniques. In: Processing 5th International Fluid Power Conference.
Aachen: RWTH Press, 2006. 20—22
15 Hu G L. Research Into Electro-hydraulic Control System for a Simu-
lator Test Rig of Shield Tunneling Machine (in Chinese). Dissertation
of Doctoral Degree. Hangzhou: Zhejiang University, 2006