• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.472-482
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• 2023

The grid-type or room-and-pillar method is applied for the purpose of mining horizontally buried minerals. In this study, design and pilot test were performed to apply the room-and-pillar method which uses natural rock as a rock pillar to the construction of underground space. The area where the pilot test was conducted was in stone mine and had good rock conditions with an appropriate depth (about 30 m) to apply the pilot test. The pilot test site was selected by reviewing accessibility and ground conditions and then site construction was performed through detailed ground investigation and design. The pilot test was designed with a column shape of 8×8 m and a cross-section of 8×12 m. The blasting pattern was determined through test blasting at the site, and blasting of 3 m excavation with 89 holes was performed. Through field observations, the average width of 12.5 m and the average height of 8.3 m were measured. Therefore, it is possible to proceed similar to the cross-sectional shape considered in the design.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.473-483
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• 2020

This paper examines the vertical stress change concentrated on mine pillar which occurs due to the stress disturbance from opening excavation at room and pillar mine by FLAC3D, a finite difference method (FDM) software. The mesh size combination is decided with a careful consideration of relative error and run-time, then its performance is verified. A series of numerical analyses is conducted and the vertical stress at central pillar was observed for the test cases of 1×1 to 11×11 mine pillars, 40 m to 320 m depth with 40 m difference. The results show that the vertical stress of pillar approaches to the similar value with the value estimated by tributary area theory(TAT) when the development area (N_P) is increased or the height of overburden (H_OB) is decreased, while it is overestimated in the opposite case. Furthermore, it also represents that the vertical stress factor (VSF) converges to a specific value when the depth is increased whille keeping the development area identical.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.464-472
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• 2014

In large-opening room-and-pillar mining sites, particularly without the devices for the ventilation control, the airflow pattern created by the local fan operation is too complicated to quantify and also shows low ventilation efficiency. This study aims at performing a series of CFD analysis for the so-called venturi effects of the local fans; the effects of increasing airflow rate along the axis downstream of fan resulting from increased kinetic energy and subsequently decreased static pressure in the downstream. Effects of the fan type and installation height are compared. 1 vane-axial fan and 2 propeller fans are analyzed for their venturi effects, while the vane-axial fan was installed at the height of 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0m for comparison. The results can be applied to improve the economy and efficiency of local fans for securing better air quality and work environment management.

• Explosives and Blasting
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.12-19
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• 2018

When an underground limestone mine selects room-and-pillar mining method, in which the stability of mine openings is maintained by leaving safety pillars, the stability of safety pillars is always incompatible with their productivity. Therefore, the engineering decision for stability and productivity is essential. In this study, a progress of excavation faces by conventional blasting pattern has been examined in field for investigating over-break and stereo-photogrammetry method has been applied to this field measurement for improvement of accuracy. Also this result has been reflected instantly to composite blasting pattern by feedback, for minimizing overbreak. Field tests showed the relevant results that $3.5m^2$ in over-break out of $70m^2$ in total excavation face has been decreased, that is 5% of reduction rate in maximum.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.118-129
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• 1998

A three dimensional boundary element method-BEAP3D was applied to the stability analysis of the mine openings not only to improve the stability during mining operations but also to serve the evaluation of the mine openings for further utilization. Stability analysis on the stability of the room-and-pillar stopes underneath of the old mine openings and the openings to be created by the newly proposed sublevel stoping method at the Nowhado Pyrophyllite Mine, showed that rock mass around the old and new stopes would be stable. Six stopes of a sublevel stoping designed for the Choongmu Limestone Quarry would be stable, too. A sublevel stoping method consisting of six stopes was similarly suggested for the Keumpyung Quartzite Mine. The stability can be guaranteed through out six stopes. Since mining starts from the bottom 1st sublevel to the uppermost sublevel, the safety of the stopes will improve together with the mining process. It would highly be recommended to investigate in-situ rock properties and the rock stresses for future studies. Even though the rock around the uppermost part and bottom of all the stopes have a very high factor of safety, spot reinforcements such as rock bolting would be recommended to mitigate the intermediate and minor principal stresses acting in a tensile mode.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.95-107
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• 2023

In this study, the effect of repeated traffic vibration on the long-term stability of mine openings is analyzed for re-utilization of abandoned mine galleries. The research mine in this study is an underground limestone mine which is developed by room-and-pillar mining method, and a dynamic numerical analysis is performed assuming that the research mine will be utilized as a logistics warehouse. The actual traffic vibration generated by the mining vehicles is measured directly, and its waveform is used as input data for dynamic numerical analysis, As a results of dynamic numerical analysis, after 20,000 repetitions of traffic vibration, the mine openings is analyzed to be stable, but an increase in the maximum principal stress and an additional area of plastic zone are observed in the analysis section. As shown in the changes of displacement, volumetric strain, and maximum principal stress which are measured at the mine opening walls. It is confirmed that if the repeated traffic vibration is continuously applied, the instability of the mine openings can be increased. Authors expect that the results of this study can be used as a reference for basic study on utilization of abandoned mine.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.463-472
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• 2009

Many old domestic mines were excavated with the room and pillar method or the sublevel caving method and they involve the great possibility of surface subsidence, especially in the shallow depth mines. In most of these cases, the mine roadways and openings are very irregular in shape and the information about the local geology is uncertain. Consequently it is not simple to standardize the estimation method for the possibility of subsidence, especially the sinkhole subsidence. In this study, the fuzzy reasoning method has been applied for development of estimating the possibility of subsidence occurrence in abandoned mine area. This method has the advantage in producing the reliable estimation results with a simple performance procedure even when the precise information on the local geology and mining conditions is rare. For the verification of applicability of this method, the developed method has been applied to Kumho mine in Bonghwa, Kyungbook province and the Choong-ju mine in Iryu, Choongbook province where the surface subsidence occurred already.