Survey Of Developments In The Field Of Rock Mechanics

Great strides have been made during the past few years in the field of rock mechanics, and steps have been taken to implement our newly acquired knowledge to advance the mining industry and improve the lot of the miner. This article is a summary of the latest progress in those areas of rock mechanics indicated by the subtitles. Let's look at these new tools for mining men. GROUND STABILITY DETERMINATIONS Much valuable information in the field of rock mechanics can be obtained by relatively simple, inexpensive measurements and observations, and this kind of investigation can be classed under the general heading of "Ground Stability Determinations." The instrumentation involved in this type of work is relatively simple and inexpensive, and its operation is not difficult to understand.1,2 Precise deformation measurements accurate to a few thousandths of an inch are very helpful in detecting stope convergence, pillar compression, floor heave, etc. Such measurements recorded over a period of weeks and months will detect and forwarn against failure of the overall mine structure long before any other visual evidence can be observed. Such advance warning then permits the introduction of sufficient artificial support in time to do some good. Instead of precise measurements which must be made with a special instrument, sensitive warning lights can be used which will flash red upon sensing movements as small as .002 or .003 in. These devices are well received by miners, and very practical under noisy conditions. High precision is important tit this area, but in large openings, engineer's tapes plus machinists scales reading to .01 in. may be sufficient. Uniform tensioning of the tape is of course essential. Long term, precise measurements have shown repeatedly that opening convergence lends to be slow and uniform except when accelerated to sudden large displacements by blasting, rock bursts or other sudden large scale failures. It is interesting to note that measurements in South Africa in very deep mines have shown 40% of the closure was footwall rise, and only 60% was hanging-wall sag.