Open Pit Slope Stability Analysis in Soft Rock Formations at Thar Coalfield Pakistan

Slope Stability Analysis is one of the main aspects of Open-pit mine planning because the calculations regarding the stability of slopes are necessary to assess the stability of the open pit slopes together with the financial feasibility of the mining operations. This study was conducted to analyse...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Archives of mining sciences = Archiwum górnictwa 2022-01, Vol.67 (3), p.437
Main Authors: Pathan, Shafi Muhammad, Pathan, Abdul Ghani, Siddiqui, Fahad Irfan, Memon, Muhammad Burhan, Soomro, Mairaj Hyder Alias Aamir
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Coal mines
Coefficients
Finite element method
Groundwater
Hydrostatic pressure
Mathematical models
Open pit mining
Pore water pressure
Pressure effects
Pressure ratio
Rocks
Safety factors
Shear strength
Slope stability
Stability analysis
Water pressure
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Summary:Slope Stability Analysis is one of the main aspects of Open-pit mine planning because the calculations regarding the stability of slopes are necessary to assess the stability of the open pit slopes together with the financial feasibility of the mining operations. This study was conducted to analyse the effect of groundwater on the shear strength properties of soft rock formations and determine the optimum overall slope angle for an open pit coal mine at Thar Coalfield, Pakistan. Computer modelling and analysis of the slope models were performed using Slide(v. 5.0) and Phase2 (v. 6.0) software. Integrated use of Limit Equilibrium based Probabilistic (LE-P) analysis and Finite Element Method (FEM) based shear strength reduction analysis was performed to determine the safe overall slope angle against circular failure. Several pit slope models were developed at different overall slope angles and pore-water pressure ratio (Ru) coefficients. Each model was initially analysed under dry conditions and then by incorporating the effect of pore-water pressure coefficients of Ru = 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 (partially saturated); finally, the strata were considered to be fully saturated. It was concluded that at an overall slope angle of 29 degrees, the overall slope will remain stable under dry and saturated conditions for a critical safety factor of 1.3.
ISSN:0860-7001
1689-0469
DOI:10.24425/ams.2022.142409