• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.151-157
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• 2018

The constrained conditions of roof and floor for the coal pillar affect the strength of coal pillar very seriously. To analyze the influence of rock mass for the roof and floor on the stability of coal pillar comprehensively, one method based on the mechanical method for the composite rock mass was proposed. In this method, the three rock layers of roof, floor and coal pillar are taken as the bedded composite rock mass. And the influence of rock mass for the roof and floor on the elastic core of coal pillar has been analyzed. This method can obtain not only the derived stress by the cohesive constraining forces for the coal pillar, but also the derived stress for the rock mass of the roof and floor. Moreover, the effect of different mechanical parameters for the roof and floor on the stability of coal pillar have been analyzed systematically. This method can not only analyze the stability of strip coal pillar, but also analyze the stability of other mining pillars whose stress distribution is similar with that of the strip coal pillar.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.344-353
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• 2014

In this study, the behavior of rock pillar in the diverging area of road tunnel was assessed by using a three dimensional numerical analysis. Based on parameters affecting the behavior of rock pillar, different safety factors according to pillar width, depth and rock conditions were evaluated. It turned out that as the pillar width increases, the change curve of safety factors in accordance with depth and rock conditions shows more of the nonlinear behavior. By the assessment of the minimum safety factor, a safety factor chart on the behavior of rock pillar in the diverging area of road tunnel was suggested.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.443-453
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• 2013

This study aims to evaluate the mechanical behaviors of unsupported rock pillars in a room-and-pillar underground structure by a series of numerical analyses. In addition, rock pillar strengths estimated by a few empirical equations proposed for underground mines are compared with those from numerical analyses. Based on the results from the numerical analysis, the ratio of pillar strength to rock mass strength increases as the ratio of the width of a pillar to its height becomes bigger. It means that higher ratio of pillar width to its height is much more favorable for stabilizing a room-and-pillar underground structure. Especially, unsupported pillar strengths estimated from numerical analyses are higher than rock mass strength when the ratio of pillar width to height is approximately over 1.5. It is also found that the choice of an empirical equation appropriate for a given geometric condition of a pillar is important for its feasible application to the stability analysis of a pillar in the room-and-pillar method.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.81-88
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• 2015

This study assessed the behavior of rock pillar in tunnel diverging area by using a three dimensional numerical analysis. Based on parameters affecting the behavior of rock pillar, this study evaluated different safety factors according to pillar width, depth and rock conditions. It turned out that as the rock pillar width increases, the change curve of safety factors in accordance with depth and rock conditions shows more of the nonlinear behavior. By the assessment of the minimum safety factor, a safety factor chart on the behavior of rock pillar in tunnel diverging area was suggested.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.387-401
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• 2007

Recently, because of the restriction of land for construction and interference of adjacent structure, parallel tunnels with small clearance have been planned and constructed in many sites. In this case, the stability of pillar at center part is very important factor to satisfy the stability of tunnel structure under the construction. In this paper, numerical analyses for the asymmetry parallel tunnels with a narrow width of pillar have been carried out to search for the optimum reinforcement measure for rock pillar and verify the stability of tunnel. Rock pillar between each single tunnel is supposed to be under heavy load by rock mass. The analysis of stress state at rock pillar at various cases for construction conditions is required to investigate the structural behaviour of tunnels and stability of the pillar. Strength-stress ratio is calculated based on the failure theory of rock and the safety factor of tunnel is computed with strength reduction technique. Through these numerical results, reasonable reinforcement measures for rock pillar at parallel tunnel were established and recommended.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.123-131
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• 2009

Large scale model tests and numerical analyses were performed in order to investigate the stress distribution on the base of pillar during two-arch tunnel excavation in the regularly jointed rocks. It was observed that the stress was irregularly distributed on pillar and the angle of discontinuities seriously influenced on the stress distribution on the pillar base in the discontinuous rock mass. In the numerical analyses results, It was shown that the stress level of pillar was greatly changed depending on the excavation sequences of two-arch tunnel. It was also observed that stress distributed eccentrically at the pillar as well as at the base of pillar. It is necessary to consider this point for the design of two-arch tunnel.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.17-23
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• 2016

This study assessed the behavior of rock pillar in tunnel asymmetric diverging area by using a three dimensional numerical analysis. The stability of pillar is very important for the ensure the stability of the tunnel asymmetric diverging area. Based on parameters affecting the behavior of rock pillar, this study evaluated different safety factors according to pillar width, depth and rock conditions. It turned out that as the rock pillar width increases, the change curve of safety factors in accordance with depth and rock conditions shows more of the nonlinear behavior. By the assessment of the minimum safety factor, a safety factor chart on the behavior of rock pillar in tunnel asymmetric diverging area was suggested.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.463-475
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• 2022

In the mine exploitation stage; one of the critical issues is the stability assessment of post-pillars. The instability of post-pillars leads to serious safety hazards in mining operations. The focus of this study is to assess the stability of post-pillars in the 130# stope in the central ore body at Trepça hard rock mine by employing both conventional (i.e., critical span curve) and numerical methods (i.e., FLAC3D). Moreover, a new numerical based index (i.e., Pillar Yield Ratio-PYR) was proposed. The aim of PYR index is to determine a border line between stable, potentially unstable, and failure state of post-pillars at a specific mine site. The critical value of pillar width to height ratio is 2.5 for deep production stopes (e.g., > 800 m). Results showed that pillar size, mining height and mining depth significantly have affected the post-pillar stability. The reliability of numerical based index (i.e., PYR) is verified based on empirical underground pillar stability graph developed by Lunder, 1994. The proposed pillar yield ratio index and pillar stability graph can be used as a design tool in new mining areas at Trepça hard rock mine and for other situations with similar geotechnical conditions.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.335-343
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• 2014

Room-and-pillar mining method is one of the most popular underground mining method in the world. If the room-and-pillar mining method is able to be adopted in civil works, it would be highly probable to reduce underground construction costs and to expand a underground structure in use. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the design procedure of unsupported rock pillars which are indispensable to ensure the stability of a room-and-pillar underground structure. Parametric studies on their key design parameters are also carried out for 125 different kinds of design conditions. From the study, the width of a rock pillar is found to show a linear relationship with its corresponding safety factor. The safety factor of a unsupported rock pillar decreased drastically like a negative exponential function as the ratio of room width to pillar width increases in the same rock strength condition. Based on the parametric studies, a design chart to simply evaluate the geometric design parameters of a unsupported rock pillar satisfying a design safety factor is also proposed in this study.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.60-68
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• 2012

Focusing on the load tunnel, this study assessed the behavior of rock pillars with less than 0.5D of the minimized distance between the two horizontal tunnels by using a three dimensional numerical analysis. Based on a parameter affecting the behavior of rock pillars, this study evaluated different safety factors according to pillar width, depth and rock conditions. It turned out that as the pillar width increases, the current curve of safety factors in accordance with depth and rock conditions shows more of the nonlinear behavior. Judging from the minimum safety factor, the study suggested a design chart, working on the minimized distance between the two horizontal tunnels.