Estimating gas and rock outburst risk on the basis of knowledge and experience - the expert system based on fuzzy logic

Abstract

The Author endeavored to consult some of the Polish experts who deal with assessing and preventing outburst hazards as to their knowledge and experience. On the basis of this knowledge, an expert system, based on fuzzy logic, was created. The system allows automatic assessment of outburst hazard. The work was completed in two stages. The first stage involved researching relevant sources and rules concerning outburst hazard, and, subsequently, determining a number of parameters measured or observed in the mining industry that are potentially connected with the outburst phenomenon and can be useful when estimating outburst hazard. Then, the Author contacted selected experts who are actively involved in preventing outburst hazard, both in the industry and science field. The experts were anonymously surveyed, which made it possible to select the parameters which are the most essential in assessing outburst hazard. The second stage involved gaining knowledge from the experts by means of a questionnaire-interview. Subjective opinions on estimating outburst hazard on the basis of the parameters selected during the first stage were then systematized using the structures typical of the expert system based on fuzzy logic.