Abstract: The most important part of the excavation for earth pressure balance (EPB) shield machine is keeping the earth pressure and the water-earth pressure underground in balance, and the earth pressure in chamber has recently become a research focus. The on-line recognition of soil mass can be realized according to the field penetration index (FPI) and torque penetration index (TPI), and the soil parameters can be used for setting the thrust, torque and advance rate of shield machine. An earth pressure control model for chamber is built based on the law of mass conservation and the performance of the residue earth. In this model, multi-system coordination control is applied with model predictive controller. Setting a target for advance rate of shield machine in the design of the model predictive controller is a way to operate the advance rate and rotation speed of the screw conveyor at the same time. Compared to the conventional PID controller, model predictive controller has a better performance.

Key words: chamber, earth pressure balance shield machine, model predictive control, multi-system coordination control