RI 8579 Analysis of Pillar Stability on Steeply Pitching Seam Using the Finite Element Method

The U.S. Bureau of Mines examined the applicability of existing material models to solve practical geotechnical mining-related problems by solving a yielding pillar stability problem considering confining effects on strength. Numerical difficulties normally encountered with modeling strain softening behavior were eased with a simplified computational procedure using a quasi-elastic approach to account for residual strength after initial failure. Although in agreement with a confined-core pillar design method using actual mine conditions that include mine layout geometry, overburden geology, and rock properties of the deposit and surrounding structure, the results cannot be verified because measured field data are not available at this writing.