Monitoring of stand-and-roof-bolting support: Design optimization

Abstract

Assuring the stability of underground headings in order to fulfill their technical functions without any disturbance and provide a safe workplace for mining staff seems to be a fundamental issue in mining activity. In recent years, rockbolts: bar or cable have been most frequently applied as a means of reinforcement. Such a construction is often referred to as a stand-and-roofbolting support. The paper presents sample results of monitoring stand-and-roof-bolting support systems selected from numerous research projects carried out by the authors. The results discussed below are based on the measurements of the strength parameters of rocks in the laboratory and in-situ research, convergence of underground excavations, forces in rockbolts, separation of roof rock strata tested with extensometric probes, telltales and endoscopes, as well as steel yielding support frames load tested with dynamometers. The complex measurements of stand-and-roof-bolting supports along with specifications of geological, mining and geomechanical conditions allowed to formulate a proper evaluation of support behavior and its effectiveness for particular conditions.