Simulation Case Study - Modelling Distinct Breakdown Events for a Tunnel Boring Machine Excavation

Sep 17, 2026

Uploaded by James

Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) tunneling projects often experience delays that extend schedules and increase costs. This paper presents a case study showing how simulation supports productivity analysis, focusing on delays caused by equipment breakdowns and unexpected conditions. Project data prepared under a Method Productivity Delay Modelling study is used to build a combined discrete-event continuous tunneling simulation model. Calibration aligns simulation output with construction reality and sensitivity analysis identifies the most adverse delays, enabling assessment of mitigation effects on duration and hypothetical costs.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Literature Review

Simulation in construction operations

Applications to tunnel construction

Case Project Background

Delay Definition

Proceedings of the 2015 Winter Simulation Conference L. Yilmaz, W. K. V. Chan, I. Moon, T. M. K. Roeder, C. Macal, and M. D. Rossetti, eds. SIMULATION CASE STUDY: MODELLING DISTINCT BREAKDOWN EVENTS FOR A TUNNEL BORING MACHINE EXCAVATION Michael Werner Simaan AbouRizk University of Alberta Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Natural Resources Engineering Facility, Markin/CNRL Edmonton, AB, T6G 2W2 CANADA ABSTRACT Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) tunneling projects are frequently hit with delays which can cause adverse effects, extending schedules and incurring additional costs. This paper outlines a case study to show how simulation can be effectively used to analyze productivity performance of a project with emphasis on delays from equipment breakdowns and unexpected conditions. Data collected from this project under a Method Productivity Delay Modelling study, completed by a consulting firm, was collected and prepared to model delays on a combined discrete event continuous tunneling simulation model. Calibration was done to the theoretical tunneling model to ensure the results would be reflective of the actual construction project and to measure the effectiveness of the delay modelling. Sensitivity analysis was conducted to distinguish the most unfavourable delays to a tunneling project, allowing further analysis into the results of the mitigation of these delays on project duration and hypothetical costs. 1 LITERATURE REVIEW Simulation has been successfully applied to modelling construction operations as an effective tool to assist decision-making in a wide range of operations in construction (AbouRizk 2010), since the first construction simulation tool, CYCLONE, introduced by Halpin (1977) . CYCLONE was developed to model processes based on discrete event simulation technique, which is an effective method in simulation of construction projects. A number of simulation systems have been developed based on CYCLONE, including RESQUE (Chang and Carr 1987) and Stroboscope (Martinez and Ioannou 1994), which are General Purpose Simulation (GPS) tools, which can represent almost any process. Further advancements to simulation techniques for construction applications include Special Purpose Simulation (SPS) to facilitate modelling of specific type of projects, for example, through Simphony (AbouRizk and Hajjar 1998) which was developed specifically for modelling construction processes. Other advancements include 4D modelling methods and Construction Synthetic Environment (COSYE) (AbouRizk and Hague 2009), amongst others. These simulation systems have been applied to tunnel construction. Touran and Toshiyuki (1987) predicted tunnel advance rate in soft rock with CYCLONE. Ioannou (1988) presented a geologic prediction model for tunneling and risk reduction modelling as well as planning and simulation approaches to augment those predictions. Ruwanpura (2001) forecast soil types and soil families along a tunnel path using Simphony Special Purpose Simulation. Likhitruangsilp and Ioannou (2003) presented a stochastic methodology, based on discrete event simulation, to evaluate tunneling performance. Einstein (2004), and Haas and Einstein (2002) described and innovative simulation system for tunnel construction 978-1-4673-9743-8/15/$31 .00 ©2015 IEEE 3234 Werner andAbouRizk simulation, called Decision Aid for Tunneling. Chung, Mohamed, and AbouRizk (2006) applied Bayesian updating methods and developed a simulation-based productivity model for utility tunnel construction operations. Al-Bataineh (2008) planned tunnel construction by modelling different construction scenarios with Simphony. A general purpose simulation was developed using Simphony for modelling space, logistics, and resource dynamics with genetic algorithms for optimizing the layout based on various constraints and rules (Zhou et al. 2009, Zhou et al. 2008) . Marzouk et al. (2010) applied simulation for planning microtunnels projects an

FAQs

What problem does the case study address in TBM tunneling projects?

The case study addresses frequent delays in TBM tunneling that adversely affect schedules and add costs, especially delays from equipment breakdowns and unexpected conditions.

How is simulation used to analyze productivity performance?

Simulation is used to model delays using a combined discrete-event continuous tunneling simulation, with data prepared under a Method Productivity Delay Modelling study and calibrated to match the actual construction project.

What is the role of sensitivity analysis in the study?

Sensitivity analysis distinguishes the most unfavorable delays for a tunneling project, supporting further analysis of how mitigation measures could change project duration and hypothetical costs.

Sep 17, 2026

Uploaded by James