A comparative analysis of pillar design methods and its application to marble mines

The methods for designing pillars in underground mines are fundamentally based on empirical formulae that do not take into account the quality of the rock mass as an input parameter. This makes them difficult to apply in other types of ground that are different to those used to establish each empiri...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Rock mechanics and rock engineering 2006-11, Vol.39 (5), p.421-444
Main Authors: GONZALEZ-NICIEZA, C, ALVAREZ-FERNANDEZ, M. I, MENENDEZ-DIAZ, A, ALVAREZ-VIGIL, A. E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Buildings. Public works
Comparative analysis
Computation methods. Tables. Charts
Empirical analysis
Exact sciences and technology
Failure
Geotechnics
Marble
Mines
Pillars
Rock
Rocks
Safety
Safety factors
Shear
Soil mechanics. Rocks mechanics
Structural analysis. Stresses
Underground mines
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The methods for designing pillars in underground mines are fundamentally based on empirical formulae that do not take into account the quality of the rock mass as an input parameter. This makes them difficult to apply in other types of ground that are different to those used to establish each empirical formula. To avoid this inconvenience, the present paper examines existing empirical formulae to then propose a modification of these formulae adjusting the resistance of the pillars on the basis of the RMR (Bieniawski's Rock Mass Rating). The compression safety factor of the pillars is analyzed for each modified formula and a study is carried out of shear failure if planes of weakness exist in the pillars. Finally, the safety factors of the pillars in a marble mine situated in Alicante (Southern Spain) were calculated in order to validate the new formulae. From the results obtained, it is concluded that this new formulation determines the safety factor of pillars of the mine with greater reliability, provided that the pillars are isolated. At the same time, the introduction of the RMR in the formulae results in a better fit of the strength of each pillar to the characteristics of the rock mass.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
ISSN:0723-2632
1434-453X
DOI:10.1007/s00603-005-0078-z