Abstract: In order to better grasp the excavation performance of TBM,the granite sections of Qinling Tunnel in water diversion project from Hanjiang River to Weihe River were taken as the research object in this paper.Through an analysis on rock breaking experiments by rolling cutter and on-site construction parameters, the rock breaking mechanisms by the rolling cutter were obtained, and the variation characteristics of indicators for TBM performances such as excavation speed and equipment utilization rate were revealed.The results showed that under given situ geo-stress, as the penetration depth increased, the normal force of the rolling cutter would increase with a larger variation amplitude and a faster variation frequency, which increased the number of large rock slices between adjacent cutters.Under high ground stress conditions, as the rock bursts were frequent, the average tunneling speed and equipment utilization rate were low.The changes of the on-site penetration index and rock tunneling efficiency index along the milepost were basically synchronous with each other.The on-site penetration index could better evaluate the rock breaking performance of TBM.By adjusting the methods of supporting, slag cleaning and construction organization, the auxiliary construction efficiency could be increased.The TBM tunneling parameters were adjusted and the material of the cutter was improved to ensure the TBM efficient operation.The construction experiences can provide corresponding countermeasures for the follow-up TBM tunnelling of the Qinling Tunnel.