Technical Note

New rock stress factor for the stability graph method

Hani S. Mitri
a,n
, Rory Hughes
a
, Yaohua Zhang
b
a
Department of Mining and Materials Engineering, McGill University, 3450 University Street, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 2A7
b
AMEC Americas Limited, Natural Resources/Oil Sands & Mining, 2020 Winston Park Drive, Suite 700, Oakville, Ontario, Canada L6H 6X7
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 16 October 2009
Received in revised form
1 September 2010
Accepted 10 September 2010
Available online 20 November 2010
1. Introduction
The stability graph method is widely used in Canadian under-
ground hard rock mines as a basis for open stope support design
andis frequently used inthe mine planning phase as a tool to assess
the viability of stope geometries and to determine maximum
permissible spans. This method is well accepted due to its
simplicity and suitability to a wide range of hard rock mining
methods, requiring the use of sub-levels to access and extract the
mining blocks. Based on the work of Mathews et al. [1], Potvin [2]
revised the stability graph method using case studies from
Canadian underground mines. Nickson [3] added further case
studies and extended the method to address cablebolt support
requirements in hard rock mining methods.
Whereas the stability graph method is reliable in situations
where the maximum induced tangential stress creates adequate
compressive stress keeping the face in a state of connement, the
method fails to reect the effect of low connement caused by
lower compressive stresses and instances where tensile stresses
are developed. These low compressive and tensile stresses in the
critical face are common along the hanging-wall and footwall of
relatively tall stopes created when mining using VRM, longhole
open-stoping, AVOCA, and other similar methods. This technical
note proposes a new rock stress factor, A, which will reect the
impact of low connement on critical face stability.
2. Stability graph method
This method uses the hydraulic radius of the critical face andthe
modied stability number, N
0
, proposed by Potvin [2], to estimate
the stability of unsupported andsupported underground openings;
see Figs. 1 and 2, respectively. The hydraulic radius, HR, can be
represented by the following equation:
HR
Length Width
2 Length2 Width
1
The modied stability number, N
0
, presentedby Potvin[2], is the
product of four factors
Nu Qu A B C 2
where Q
0
is an indication of rock mass quality, A incorporates the
effects of induced stress, B accounts for the weakness due to the
direction of the dominant joint system, and C takes into account
the orientation of the critical face and the impact of gravity upon it.
The value of Q
0
is based on the rock tunnelling index, Q, introduced
by Barton et al. [4] as
Qu
RQD
Jn
Jr
Ja
Jw
SRF
3
In the above equation, RQDis the rock quality designation, J
n
the
joint set number, J
r
the joint roughness number, J
a
the joint
alteration number, J
w
the joint water reduction factor, and SRF
the stress reduction factor. The modied rock tunnelling index, Q
0
,
sets the values of J
w
and SRF both equal to 1, which results in the
following equation provided by Potvin [2]:
Qu
RQD
JN
JR
J
A
4
In effect, the parameters J
w
and SRF representing the effects of
active stress on stability are replaced by the rock stress factor, A,
withinthe modiedstability number, N
0
. The rockstress factor, A, in
Eq. (2) has a value between 0.1 and 1 and is based on the ratio of the
uniaxial compressive strength of the intact rock to the maximum
induced tangential stress acting at the center of the critical face:
Ratio
UCS
s
1Max
5
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijrmms
International Journal of
Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences
1365-1609/$ - see front matter & 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijrmms.2010.09.015
n
Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 514 398 4890; fax: +1 514 398 7396.
E-mail addresses: hani.mitri@mcgill.ca (H.S. Mitri),
rory.hughes@mail.mcgill.ca (R. Hughes), benny.zhang@amec.com (Y. Zhang).
International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 48 (2011) 141145