Large-Scale Failure Mechanism of a Footwall with Steeply Inclined Discontinuities in a Sublevel Caving Mine
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 24, Issue 8
Abstract
In a metal mine adopting a sublevel caving (SLC) method, life-of-mine and temporary mine infrastructures are preferred to be positioned on the footwall side of the ore body. Therefore, the footwall stability, especially well developed with steeply inclined discontinuities, is a major concern in an SLC mine. In response to this issue, a comprehensive investigation of the large-scale footwall failure mechanism has been conducted. The load-bearing structure responsible for footwall large-scale failure has been recognized. Subsequently, by adopting limit equilibrium theory, an improved mechanical model of overlapping cantilever beams is proposed for evaluating the footwall stability and determining its failure scope. In this model, a relationship between footwall movement and lateral force acting on the caved zone side of the footwall is built, considering the footwall movement and its compression effect on the caved zone. A validation study of this improved mechanical model is conducted and the calculation results are compared with the in situ monitoring data. It is shown that this improved model offers a more realistic simulation of lateral force acting on the caved zone side of the footwall. The proposed improved model can be utilized for other practical applications involving footwall large-scale failure under similar geotechnical conditions.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and codes generated or used during the study appear in the published article.
Acknowledgments
Financial support for this work was provided by the Science and Technology Project of Henan Province (Grant No. 242102321177), the General Program of the Hubei Provincial Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 2023AFB631), the Young Scholar Fund of National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 42002292), the Youth Innovation Promotion Association CAS (Grant No. 2023346) and Outstanding Youth Science Foundation of Henan Province (Grant No. 242300421072). The authors are sincerely grateful for the Foundation’s continuous support and also to our colleagues for their valuable help with this research.
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Published In
International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 24 • Issue 8 • August 2024
Copyright
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 28, 2023
Accepted: Mar 27, 2024
Published online: Jun 10, 2024
Published in print: Aug 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Nov 10, 2024
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Analysis (by type)
- Continuum mechanics
- Discontinuities
- Dynamics (solid mechanics)
- Engineering fundamentals
- Engineering materials (by type)
- Engineering mechanics
- Failure analysis
- Forces (type)
- Forensic engineering
- Infrastructure
- Lateral forces
- Materials engineering
- Mathematical functions
- Mathematics
- Metals (material)
- Solid mechanics
- Structural engineering
- Structural failures
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