CHARACTERIZATION AND EFFECTIVENESS MODEL OF A SEISMIC IMITATOR

THIS PROPOSAL DESCRIBES AN SBIR PROJECT TO DEFINE AND CHARACTERIZE A SEISMIC SIGNAL GENERATOR THAT CAN BE USED TO IMITATE THE SEISMIC SIGNALS CREATED BY AN UNDERGROUND TUNNEL BORING MACHINE (TBM). IT HAS BEEN SUGGESTED THAT A SEISMIC IMITATOR CAN BE USED TO MASK THE OPERATION OF A TBM AS WELL AS INTERFERE WITH ANY LOCATION ATTEMPTS THAT COULD NULLIFY THE STRATEGIC BENEFIT OF AN UNDERGROUND FACILITY. THE MAIN OBJECTIVE OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO ACCURATELY DEFINE A TBM SOURCE MODEL AND TO USE THIS MODEL TO DEFINE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A SEISMIC IMITATOR. THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE SEISMIC IMITATOR WILL BE DETERMINED BY ITS ABILITY TO MASK DETECTION AND PREVENT OR DISTURB A TBM LOCATION ATTEMPT. PHASE I IS DIVIDED INTO FOUR TASKS. TASK ONE DEVELOPS A SOFTWARE MODEL OF THE SEISMIC EMISSIONS FROM A TBM. THE MODEL WILL BE VALIDATED BY COMPARISON AND ACTUAL TBM FIELD DATA FROM PREVIOUS MEASUREMENTS. TASK TWO WILL INVESTIGATE CANDIDATE DEVICES WHICH COULD FUNCTION AS SEISMIC IMITATORS. TASK THREE STUDIES THE PROBLEM OF USING A SEISMIC IMITATOR TO MASK SIGNAL DETECTION. THE FINAL TASK, TASK FOUR, INVESTIGATES THE INTERFERING EFFECTS A SEISMIC IMITATOR WOULD HAVE ON A TBM LOCATION PROCEDURE.