In the underhand cut-and-fill mining method,a sill mat(i.e.an artificial horizontal pillar)constructed by cemented backfill is essential to prevent mine workers from being directly exposed under problematic rock roofs...In the underhand cut-and-fill mining method,a sill mat(i.e.an artificial horizontal pillar)constructed by cemented backfill is essential to prevent mine workers from being directly exposed under problematic rock roofs.A critical issue is to determine the minimum required strength of the sill mat to ensure a safe and cost-effective design.Until now,Mitchell’s analytical solution is the only available option,considering two stiff and immobile rock walls.Unavoidable rock wall closure associated with stope excavation below the sill mat was neglected.This,along with other undefined parameters,explains why Mitchell’s solution is rarely used in sill mat design.A new analytical solution for determining the minimum required strength of the sill mat accounting for wall closure is necessary.In this study,a closed-form analytical solution for estimating rock wall closure generated by stope excavation below a sill mat is developed by using Salamon’s and Flamant’s models.The proposed analytical solution does not contain any coefficients of correction or calibration.Despite several assumptions(or somewhat of oversimplifications)necessary to render a simple analytical solution possible,good agreements are obtained between the rock wall closures predicted by applying the proposed analytical solution and those obtained numerically with FLAC3D for many cases with arbitrarily chosen geometrical and material parameters.The proposed analytical solution is therefore validated and can be used to evaluate the rock wall closure generated by stope excavation below a sill mat.展开更多
Underhand cut-and-fill mining has been widely used in underground mining operations,especially when the rock mass or orebody is of poor quality or prone to rockburst due to high stress.In such cases,mining workers sho...Underhand cut-and-fill mining has been widely used in underground mining operations,especially when the rock mass or orebody is of poor quality or prone to rockburst due to high stress.In such cases,mining workers should carry out all production activities under the cemented backfill roof or sill mat instead of a highly fractured and unstable rock roof or a strong rock roof with a high potential of rockburst.Therefore,the stability and required strength of the sill mat are critical issues for mining engineers.In 1991,Mitchell considered that sill mat could fail by caving,sliding,rotation,and flexure.Mitchell also proposed an analytical solution to determine the minimum required strength of the sill mat for each type of failure based on two stiff or immobile rock walls.However,recent publications using numerical modeling and field measurements indicate that the compressive stresses in the sill mat induced by rock wall closure due to a stope excavation beneath the sill mat can be significant.It is thus highly necessary to investigate the required strength of the sill mat by considering rock wall closure.In this study,the crushing failure of sill mat due to rock wall closure generated by underground excavation and a new failure mode called"crushing and caving”is revealed by numerical modeling.An analytical solution corresponding to each failure mode is then developed to estimate the minimum required cohesion(cmin)of the sill mat.A criterion is also proposed to determine if the sill mat fails by crushing or crushing-and-caving failure.The proposed analytical solution does not involve any correction coefficients.The validity of the proposed analytical solution is demonstrated by numerical modeling.The proposed analytical solution can thus be employed to predict the cmin of sill mat subjected to wall closure generated by underlying stope excavation.展开更多
The underhand cut-and-fill mining method is widely employed in underground mines,especially when the quality of surrounding rock mass or ore body is inferior or subjected to high stresses.Such a method typically requi...The underhand cut-and-fill mining method is widely employed in underground mines,especially when the quality of surrounding rock mass or ore body is inferior or subjected to high stresses.Such a method typically requires the construction of sill mats with cemented backfill to provide operators with safe artificial roofs.Accurate estimation of the minimum required strength of the sill mat is crucial to minimize binder consumption and ensure its stability upon base exposure.Over the years,only a few publications were devoted to determining the minimum required cohesion(cmin)of sill mats.None of them considered rock wall closure to be associated with the creep of surrounding rock mass.Moreover,the effect of rock wall closure associated with rock creep on the cminof the sill mat remains unknown.Thus,a series of numerical simulations was performed to fill this gap.The influence of rock creep on the cminof base-exposed sill mat was investigated for the first time.The numerical results indicate that Mitchell’s models could be suitable for sill mats subjected to negligible wall closure.However,this scenario is rare,especially when mine depth is large.In general,the cminof sill mats increases as mine depth increases.Neglecting rock creep would significantly underestimate the cminof sill mats.When mine depth is large and the rock mass exhibits severe creep,cemented backfill with ductile behavior(i.e.,with low stiffness but enough strength)should be considered to reduce binder consumption and prevent crushing failure.In all cases,promptly filling the mined-out stope below the sill mat can improve its stability and reduce its cminvalue.展开更多
基金financial support from the Young Scientist Project of the National Key Research and Development Program of China(Grant No.2021YFC2900600)the Beijing Nova Program(Grant No.20220484057)+1 种基金The authors acknowledge the financial support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada(Grant No.RGPIN-2018-06902)industrial partners of the Research Institute on Mines and the Environment(RIME UQAT-Polytechnique:https://irme.ca/en/).
文摘In the underhand cut-and-fill mining method,a sill mat(i.e.an artificial horizontal pillar)constructed by cemented backfill is essential to prevent mine workers from being directly exposed under problematic rock roofs.A critical issue is to determine the minimum required strength of the sill mat to ensure a safe and cost-effective design.Until now,Mitchell’s analytical solution is the only available option,considering two stiff and immobile rock walls.Unavoidable rock wall closure associated with stope excavation below the sill mat was neglected.This,along with other undefined parameters,explains why Mitchell’s solution is rarely used in sill mat design.A new analytical solution for determining the minimum required strength of the sill mat accounting for wall closure is necessary.In this study,a closed-form analytical solution for estimating rock wall closure generated by stope excavation below a sill mat is developed by using Salamon’s and Flamant’s models.The proposed analytical solution does not contain any coefficients of correction or calibration.Despite several assumptions(or somewhat of oversimplifications)necessary to render a simple analytical solution possible,good agreements are obtained between the rock wall closures predicted by applying the proposed analytical solution and those obtained numerically with FLAC3D for many cases with arbitrarily chosen geometrical and material parameters.The proposed analytical solution is therefore validated and can be used to evaluate the rock wall closure generated by stope excavation below a sill mat.
基金financial support from the Young Scientist Project of the National Key Research and Development Program of China(Grant No.2021YFC2900600)Beijing Nova Program(Grant No.20220484057)+1 种基金The authors acknowledge the financial support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada(Grant No.RGPIN-2018-06902)industrial partners of the Research Institute on Mines and the Environment(RIME UQAT-Polytechnique:https://irme.ca/en/).
文摘Underhand cut-and-fill mining has been widely used in underground mining operations,especially when the rock mass or orebody is of poor quality or prone to rockburst due to high stress.In such cases,mining workers should carry out all production activities under the cemented backfill roof or sill mat instead of a highly fractured and unstable rock roof or a strong rock roof with a high potential of rockburst.Therefore,the stability and required strength of the sill mat are critical issues for mining engineers.In 1991,Mitchell considered that sill mat could fail by caving,sliding,rotation,and flexure.Mitchell also proposed an analytical solution to determine the minimum required strength of the sill mat for each type of failure based on two stiff or immobile rock walls.However,recent publications using numerical modeling and field measurements indicate that the compressive stresses in the sill mat induced by rock wall closure due to a stope excavation beneath the sill mat can be significant.It is thus highly necessary to investigate the required strength of the sill mat by considering rock wall closure.In this study,the crushing failure of sill mat due to rock wall closure generated by underground excavation and a new failure mode called"crushing and caving”is revealed by numerical modeling.An analytical solution corresponding to each failure mode is then developed to estimate the minimum required cohesion(cmin)of the sill mat.A criterion is also proposed to determine if the sill mat fails by crushing or crushing-and-caving failure.The proposed analytical solution does not involve any correction coefficients.The validity of the proposed analytical solution is demonstrated by numerical modeling.The proposed analytical solution can thus be employed to predict the cmin of sill mat subjected to wall closure generated by underlying stope excavation.
基金financially supported by the Project of National Key Research and Development Program of China(No.2022YFE0129200)the Beijing Nova Program(No.20220484057)+3 种基金the China Scholarship Council(No.202010300001)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.52304101)financial support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada(No.RGPIN-201806902)industrial partners of the Research Institute on Mines and the Environment(No.RIME UQAT-Polytechnique)。
文摘The underhand cut-and-fill mining method is widely employed in underground mines,especially when the quality of surrounding rock mass or ore body is inferior or subjected to high stresses.Such a method typically requires the construction of sill mats with cemented backfill to provide operators with safe artificial roofs.Accurate estimation of the minimum required strength of the sill mat is crucial to minimize binder consumption and ensure its stability upon base exposure.Over the years,only a few publications were devoted to determining the minimum required cohesion(cmin)of sill mats.None of them considered rock wall closure to be associated with the creep of surrounding rock mass.Moreover,the effect of rock wall closure associated with rock creep on the cminof the sill mat remains unknown.Thus,a series of numerical simulations was performed to fill this gap.The influence of rock creep on the cminof base-exposed sill mat was investigated for the first time.The numerical results indicate that Mitchell’s models could be suitable for sill mats subjected to negligible wall closure.However,this scenario is rare,especially when mine depth is large.In general,the cminof sill mats increases as mine depth increases.Neglecting rock creep would significantly underestimate the cminof sill mats.When mine depth is large and the rock mass exhibits severe creep,cemented backfill with ductile behavior(i.e.,with low stiffness but enough strength)should be considered to reduce binder consumption and prevent crushing failure.In all cases,promptly filling the mined-out stope below the sill mat can improve its stability and reduce its cminvalue.
