ISSN: 1945-7545
CODEN: GTJODJ
Published Online: 1 June 2007
Page Count: 8

A Laboratory Model to Study Arching within a Hydraulic Fill Stope

Pirapakaran, Kandiah
Ph.D. student and Associate Professor and Head, Civil & Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland

Sivakugan, Nagaratnam
Ph.D. student and Associate Professor and Head, Civil & Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland

(Received 26 May 2006; accepted 5 April 2007)

Abstract

A simple laboratory apparatus, to study the effects of arching within a hydraulic fill mine stope, was developed. Four different model stopes, two circular and two square, made from Perspex, were used in the study. A dry hydraulic fill obtained from a local mine was used in the study. The model was filled in 100-mm layers, and the fractions of the fill weight, carried by the bottom and the wall of the stope, were separately measured. From these measurements, the variation of average vertical stress with depth could be computed. These experimental values were compared against those obtained from numerical modeling using FLAC and FLAC^3D, and the agreement was excellent, thus validating the numerical model.

Keywords:
arching, stopes, backfill, axisymmetric, mining, overburden

Paper ID: GTJ100653
DOI: 10.1520/GTJ100653
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