The development of a ground support design strategy for deep mines subjected to dynamic-loading conditions

Abstract

In underground mines, a ground support system is required to maintain the integrity of an excavation over its service life. The design of support systems typically accounts for the anticipated static loads and is, to some extent, supported by quantitative engineering guidelines. In deep and high stress mines, dynamic loads associated with mining-induced seismicity represent an important component of the demand imposed on the support. Quantifying dynamic loads that apply on, and between, reinforcement and surface support elements is an important challenge. In this respect, the design of ground support systems for dynamic-loading conditions has relied importantly on qualitative assessments of support performance. This paper presents a ground support design strategy, supported by high-quality field data, for deep and high stress mines subjected to dynamic-loading conditions. The strategy has been developed and validated using rockburst data from three seismically active mines located in the Sudbury region, Canada, and cumulating 32 years of mining.

Assessing the contribution of seismicity to the demand on ground support elements at LaRonde mine

“…Therefore, the PPV does not clearly influence the degradation of ground support elements at this site, which may be explained by the important limitations that influence this parameter and that must be taken into account. These limitations include the effect of geological features, lithology and mine voids on radiation and refraction of seismic waves (Morissette 2015;Potvin & Wesseloo 2013). Also, the analysis was performed in a context of near-field condition.…”

The need for new technology to optimise the engineering design of ground support systems in underground mines

“…The second major study is documented in Morissette et al (2012Morissette et al ( , 2014 and Morissette and Hadjigeorgiou (2017) who collected 323 cases of rockburst damage in three mines in the Sudbury Basin, Canada. The authors have also performed interesting statistical and empirical analyses on this carefully collected database.…”

Ground support and strata monitoring: what is needed?

“…Some examples of surface support include steel mesh, straps and shotcrete. In recent years, efforts have been dedicated to understanding the effectiveness of surface supports (Kanda & Stacey 2019) and the interaction between reinforcement and surface supports in the case of dynamic loading (Morissette & Hadjigeorgiou 2017).…”