The authors discuss one of the key objectives of geomechanics as a mining science. It consists on the investigation of deformation processes phenomena in rock mass and ground surface toward safe and efficient subsoil management as a type of economic activity, as well as for safe and sustainable operation of permanent underground and surface facilities of subsoil use. The emphasis is laid on the fact that subsoil facilities are not only the permanent structures meant for mineral mining and haulage but also the city and industry infrastructure, transportation lines, power generation and water bodies, high-rise structures, etc. for which underground rock mass and ground surface are the integral geotechnical component. All these subsoil use facilities are subject to risk of instability in case of natural and man-made disasters caused by deformation processes in rock masse and on ground surface. The current advances of geomechanics in the stress-strain analysis of rock mass, revealing its discreteness, mosaic structure and variability of stress and strain patterns in time, have offered a new insight into the sources and causes of natural and man-made catastrophes at the subsoil use objects and make it possible to push the limits of modern problems and objectives of geomechanics.
Underground mining operations require a knowledge of the stress in the rock at the peripheries of the mine workings so that we can select the correct supports, establish the likelihood of caving of the roof or walls of the workings, determine whether the rocks can be blasted, etc.In mines the stress in the rock is studied by measuring its magnitude and direction at exposed surfaces and in the solid rock. Ilivitskii and Sashurin [1] proposed a method for measuring stresses at exposures of hard rocks by partial relief from load, using glued-on strain gauges. This gluing method has shortcomings (the glue takes more than a day to set without heating). In waterlogged workings gluing is a very complex procedure and the polymerizing glue must be protected from moisture. Cold-setting glue based on epoxy resin, which polymerizes in a day under mine conditions, has a very low softening point (25-30~ therefore the load-relief hole must be drilled very carefully so as to avoid heating the rock.To eliminate these shortcomings and speed up measurements, we have proposed an experimental procedure which excludes gluing and uses demountable strain gauges. The measurement scheme is shown in Fig. 1.At the measurement site small-diameter holes are drilled at the corners of an equilateral triangle. Roof-bolts, serving as reference points, are inserted in the holes and the strain gauges tightened up between them. A load-re-, 1%
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