Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Research on the Enlargement of Stope Span Based on the Pre-stressed Expandable Pillar Support Technology

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In order to improve the production capacity and efficiency of orebodies, the stope span enlargement with the overhand drift-and-fill mining method based on the pre-stressed expandable pillar support technology is developed by numerical simulation and on-site industrial test. The results demonstrate that compared with the natural pillar support, the vertical deformation of stope roof increases approximately 10 mm, and the stress release and plastic failure of stope roof slightly increase under the pre-stressed expandable pillar support. However, relative to no support, the expandable pillar support can effectively limit the vertical deformation (about 13 mm), stress release and plastic failure of stope roof. The farther the monitoring point is from the stope center or support position, the smaller the vertical deformation and stress release of stope roof will be. In general, the expandable pillar support technology can realize the “yielding support” to stope roof. With the stope span enlarging, the load on the bar-shaped natural pillar is immediately transferred to the adjacent expandable pillars, and the closer the distance is between the expandable pillar and the mining area or the stope center, the greater the bearing stress increment on the expandable pillar will be. The maximum bearing load on pre-stressed expandable pillars does not exceed 700 kN. Deriving from the industrial test, the support design of pre-stressed expandable pillars by the traditional pressure arch theory is conservative. The actual load on the support body is 1/6 times or less than the rock mass weight of stope roof within a semicircular area, and the load bearing area is equivalent to a parabolic shape with large opening. After the on-site industrial test is completed, the stope and expandable pillars are visually safe and stable. From the perspective of technical benefits, the stope span enlarges from 3 to 9 m, the ore production capacity increases from 30 t/day to 90 t/day, and the ore recovery rate improves by 30%. In terms of economic benefits, the profit of test stope is 77026 US$.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

R p :

Radius of plastic zone

L :

Stope span

h :

Height of stope

γ :

Bulk density of surrounding rock mass

H :

Buried depth of stope

c :

Cohesion of rock mass

φ :

Internal friction angle of rock mass

Num:

The quantity of pre-stressed expandable pillars

W p :

The width of pre-stressed expandable pillars

[σ]:

Compressive strength of pre-stressed expandable pillars

f :

Safety factor

s :

Length of the test stope perpendicular to the strike direction

S V :

The vertical stress

K H :

The maximum horizontal stress

K h :

The minimum horizontal stress

P :

The active supporting force of a pre-stressed expandable pillar

σ s :

The active stress of a single steel tube

S :

Stressed area of pressure sensors

E V :

The entire economic value

ρ :

Ore density

V :

The pillar volume

ω :

The ore recovery rate

δ :

The price of gold per gram

α :

Average grade of ore

References

  • Abel JF (1988) Soft rock pillars. Int J Min Geol Eng 6:215–248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barczak TM (2005) An overview of standing roof support practices and developments in the United States. In: Proceedings of the third South African rock engineering symposium, Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa: J S Afr I Min Metall, pp 301–334

  • Barczak TM (2006) A retrospective assessment of longwall roof support with a focus on challenging accepted roof support concepts and design premises. In: Proceedings of 25th International Conference on Ground Control in Mining, Morgantown, WV: West Virginia University, p 24

  • Barczak TM, Gearhart DF (1993) Engineering methods for the design and employment of wood cribs. US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, USA

  • Barczak TM, Tadolini SC (2006) Standing support alternatives in western United States longwalls. Min Eng-Littleton 58(2):49–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Barczak TM, Tadolini SC (2007) New support concepts for hard rock mining applications. In: Proceedings of the CIM Conference and Exhibition. Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum, Montreal, Quebec, pp 30–37

  • Barczak TM, Tadolini SC (2008) Pumpable roof supports: an evolution in longwall roof support technology. Trans Soc Min Metall Explor 324:19–31

    Google Scholar 

  • Barczak TM, Tadolini SC, McKelvey P (2004) Hydraulic pre-stressing units: an innovation in roof support technology. In: Proceedings of 23rd international conference on ground control in mining, Morgantown, WV: Coal International, pp 286–294

  • Barrientos G, Parker J (1975) Use of the pressure arch in mine design at white pine. Trans Soc Min Engrs 256(1):75–82

    Google Scholar 

  • Batchler T (2017) Analysis of the design and performance characteristics of pumpable roof supports. Int J Min Sci Tec 27(1):91–99

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bieniawski ZT (1989) Engineering rock mass classifications. Wiley InterScience, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Brady BHG, Brown ET (1993) Rock mechanics: for underground mining. Springer science & business media, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown ET, Hoek E (1978) Trends in relationships between measured in situ stresses and depth. Int. J. Rock Mech. Min Sci 15:211–215

    Google Scholar 

  • Clements M (2003) Shotcreting in Australian underground mines: a decade of rapid improvement. Shotcrete Spring, pp 6–9

  • Daehnke A (2001) Addressing the variability of elongate support performance. J S Afr I Min Metall 101(2):83–90

    Google Scholar 

  • Daehnke MKC, Zyl V, Roberts M (2001) Review and application of stope support design criteria. J S Afr I Min Metall 101(3):135–164

    Google Scholar 

  • Dinsdale JR (1934) Roof pressure arching and pressure cycles. Colliery Eng 11:5–8

    Google Scholar 

  • Galvin JM (2016) Ground engineering-principles and practices for underground coal mining. Springer International Publishing Switzerland, Cham

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Grobler H, Chatziefstratiou V, Mousli O, Yumlu, M (2019) Design of high-strength backfill for a drift-and-fill mining method at Olympias mine, Greece. In: Proceedings of the 22nd international conference on paste, Australia: thickened and filtered tailings, Australian centre for geomechanics, pp 401–410

  • Hamrin H (2001) Underground mining methods and applications. In: Hustrulid WA, Bullock RL (eds) Underground mining methods: engineering fundamentals and international case studies. Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc. (SME), Littleton, pp 3–14

  • Hoek E (1994) Strength of rock and rock masses. ISRM News J 2(2):4–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoek E, Brown ET (1988) The Hoek–Brown failure criterion: a 1988 update. In: Proceedings of the 15th Canadian rock mechanics symposium, Toronto, Canada

  • Hoek E, Brown ET (1997) Practical estimates of rock mass strength. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 34(8):1165–1186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoek E, Kaiser PK, Bawden WF (2000) Support of underground excavations in hard rock. CRC Press, London

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Holland CT (1973) Mine pillar design. SME Mining Engineering Handbook. Soc, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Ji WD (1991) Mine rock mechanics. Metallurgical Industry Press, Beijing

    Google Scholar 

  • Kenny P (1969) The caving of the waste on longwall faces. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 6(5):541–555

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lang BDA (1994) Span design for entry-type excavations. PhD. Thesis, University of British Columbia, Canada

  • Li FQ (1995) In situ stress state in mainland China. Mech Probl Geodyn 145:775–787

    Google Scholar 

  • Li KM (2019) Research on Load Bearing Mechanism and Application of Artificial Expandable Pillars in Hard Rock Stope. PhD. Thesis, Northeastern University, China

  • Li YH, Li KM, Feng XT, Cai M (2018) Development and evaluation of artificial expandable pillars for hard rock. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 110(8):68–75

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luan HJ, Jiang YJ, Lin HL, Li GF (2018) Development of a new gob-side entry-retaining approach and its application. Sustainability 10(2):1–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mark C (2000) The state-of-the-art in coal pillar design. Trans Soc Min Eng 308:123–128

    Google Scholar 

  • Mark C, Barczak TM (2000) Fundamentals of coal mine roof support. In: Proceedings of the new technology for coal mine roof support. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Pittsburgh, PA, pp 23–42

  • Marlow P, Mikula PA (2013) Shotcrete ribs and cemented rock fill ground control methods for stoping in weak squeezing rock at Wattle Dam gold mine. In: Proceedings of the seventh international symposium on ground support in mining and underground construction. Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Perth, Western Australia, pp 133–147

  • Martin CD, Maybee WG (2000) The strength of hard rock pillars. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 37(8):1239–1246

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maybee WG (2000) Pillar design in hard brittle rocks. MA Sc. Thesis, Laurentian University, Canada

  • Mucho TP, Barczak TM, Dolinar DR, Bower J, Bryja JJ (1999) Design methodology for standing secondary roof support in longwall tailgates. In: Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Ground Control in Mining. West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, pp 136–148

  • Poulsen BA (2010) Coal pillar load calculation by pressure arch theory and near field extraction ratio. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 47(7):1158–1165

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raby P (2001) Tilt prediction for total station. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office 6,243,658. 5.

  • Roberts DP, Van der Merwe JN, Canbulat I, Sellers EJ, Coetzer S (2002) Development of a method to estimate coal pillar loading. Safe Mines Res Advis Comm Rep 2001-0651

  • Yavuz H (2001) Yielding pillar concept and its design. In: 17th international mining congress and exhibition of Turkey, Turkey, pp 1–8

  • Zhao GY, Li Z, Li JY, Yu PP (2014) Reasonable pillar size design and nugget structural parameters optimization in room-and-pillar mining. J Central South Univ (sci Technol) 45(11):3943–3948

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the State Key Research Development Program of China (Grant number 2018YFC0604601), and supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant number 52004054), and Supported by Revitalization Talent Program (Grant number XLYC1805008).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education on Safe Mining of Deep Metal Mines, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110819, People’s Republic of China

    Kunmeng Li, Yuanhui Li, Zhechao Wang, Shuai Xu & Zhipeng Xiong

  2. China-Canada Centre of Deep Mining Innovation, Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education On Safe Mining of Deep Metal Mines, Northeastern University, Shenyang, Liaoning, 110819, People’s Republic of China

    Yuanhui Li

Authors
  1. Kunmeng Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yuanhui Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Zhechao Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Shuai Xu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Zhipeng Xiong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Kunmeng Li or Yuanhui Li.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Li, K., Li, Y., Wang, Z. et al. Research on the Enlargement of Stope Span Based on the Pre-stressed Expandable Pillar Support Technology. Rock Mech Rock Eng 54, 4663–4675 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-021-02514-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-021-02514-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation