Computer aided design and strata control

Summary Research into strata control has been pursued at Cerchar for the last 20 years, and has led to the definition of rules for the siting of new mine workings. These rules are drawn up as a function of the volume of influence which is exerted by existing workings. To facilitate their application by the coal producer, a computer-aided design system for steep-seam faces has been developed on a minicomputer. The main features of the interactions which occur within the volume of influence of such faces are restated and the system which has been developed for design is described, with particular emphasis on the design stages which involved graphic systems and data base management.