Numerical modelling of staged stope extraction in a tabular steeply dipping deposit

Stope stability is a key factor for the success of a mining operation. To optimise ore productivity while maintaining stope stability, the mining block/stope must be extracted in stages. Ore dilution will occur if the stope is not properly excavated/blasted. This study examines stope stability during mining in three stages, where the height of each stage stope is 10 m. The paper also presents simulation analysis of a typical steeply dipping tabular orebody at 1200 m depth below the surface, which is common in many Canadian underground hard rock mines. Numerical modelling analysis was conducted using the finite element program, RS^2D, where the non-linear elasto-plastic Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion was adopted. The rock reinforcement system (i.e. cable bolts) was modelled/installed in the stope footwall after each mining stage to strengthen access drifts and stabilise the rock mass around the stope that was disturbed by mining activity. Results are discussed in terms of depth of failure zones, total deformation and axial forces in cable bolts with respect to mining stage.     

Reliability assessment of water structures subject to data scarcity using the SCS-CN model

ABSTRACT

When discharge measurements are not available, design of water structures relies on using frequency analysis of rainfall data and applying a rainfall–runoff model to estimate a hydrograph. The Soil Conservation Service (SCS) method estimates the design hydrograph first through a rainfall–runoff transformation and next by propagating runoff to the basin outlet via the SCS unit hydrograph (UH) method. The method uses two parameters, the Curve Number (CN) and the time of concentration (T_c). However, in data-scarce areas, the calibration of CN and T_c from nearby gauged watersheds is limited and subject to high uncertainties. Therefore, the inherent uncertainty/variability of the SCS parameters may have considerable ramifications on the safety of design. In this research, a reliability approach is used to evaluate the impact of incorporating the uncertainty of CN and T_c in flood design. The sensitivity of the probabilistic outcome against the uncertainty of input parameters is calculated using the First Order Reliability Method (FORM). The results of FORM are compared with the conventional SCS results, taking solely the uncertainty of the rainfall event. The relative importance of the uncertainty of the SCS parameters is also estimated. It is found that the conventional approach, used by many practitioners, might grossly underestimate the risk of failure of water structures, due to neglecting the probabilistic nature of the SCS parameters and especially the Curve Number. The most predominant factors against which the SCS-CN method is highly uncertain are when the average rainfall value is low (less than 20 mm) or its coefficient of variation is not significant (less than 0.5), i.e. when the resulting rainfall at the design return period is low. A case study is presented for Egypt using rainfall data and CN values driven from satellite information, to determine the regions of acceptance of the SCS-CN method.

EDITOR D. Koutsoyiannis; ASSOCIATE EDITOR A. Efstratiadis     

Linear and stratified sampling-based deep learning models for improving the river streamflow forecasting to mitigate flooding disaster

Natural Hazards - Due to the need to reduce the flooding disaster, river streamflow prediction is required to be enhanced by the aid of deep learning algorithms. To achieve accurate model of...     

Relating discrete element method parameters to rock properties using classical and micropolar elasticity theories

Micro–macro relations for discrete element method (DEM) media are derived using both classical and micropolar elasticity theories. The DEM media are classified into two main categories: dense packing, and loose packing. For both categories, relations for Young modulus (E), Poisson's ratio (ν) to represent static behaviors, and wave velocities (P‐wave and S‐wave) to represent dynamic behaviors are derived using the internal DEM parameters (k_n, k_s) and compared with values obtained from static and dynamic numerical tests. Whereas the dynamic behaviors for the two categories and the static behaviors for the dense packing match the analytical relations, the static behavior for the loose packing does not. Micropolar elasticity theory is also used to study the behaviors of the DEM media, where it is shown that if element rotation is included, DEM media behave according to linear elasticity theory. However, if element rotation is constrained, asymmetrical stresses arise in the DEM media, and a new expression is derived for the S‐wave, which allows it, under certain conditions, to travel faster than the P‐wave. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Discrete Element Modeling of Stress and Strain Evolution Within and Outside a Depleting Reservoir

Stress changes within and around a depleting petroleum reservoir can lead to reservoir compaction and surface subsidence, affect drilling and productivity of oil wells, and influence seismic waves used for monitoring of reservoir performance. Currently modeling efforts are split into more or less coupled geomechanical (normally linearly elastic), fluid flow, and geophysical simulations. There is evidence (from e.g. induced seismicity) that faults may be triggered or generated as a result of reservoir depletion. The numerical technique that most adequately incorporates fracture formation is the DEM (Discrete Element Method). This paper demonstrates the feasibility of the DEM (here PFC; Particle Flow Code) to handle this problem. Using an element size of 20 m, 2-D and 3-D simulations have been performed of stress and strain evolution within and around a depleting reservoir. Within limits of elasticity, the simulations largely reproduce analytical predictions; the accuracy is however limited by the element size. When the elastic limit is exceeded, faulting is predicted, particularly near the edge of the reservoir. Simulations have also been performed to study the activation of a pre-existing fault near a depleting reservoir.     

Relating 4D seismics to reservoir geomechanical changes using a discrete element approach

A modified discrete element method is briefly introduced and used for modelling reservoir geomechanical response during fluid injection and depletion. The modified approach works as a continuum method until some local failure is initiated, after which it behaves like a discrete element method on a polygonal lattice. The method is advantageous for modelling fracture developments in rocks. It is applied here to synthetic models of two reservoirs taken from the North Sea (Gullfaks and Elgin‐Franklin). For Gullfaks, two cases of water injection were modelled, one with low horizontal effective stress and the other with low vertical effective stress. Vertical fractures are developed in the first case, whereas horizontal fractures are developed in the second case. This would not have been seen using traditional methods. Based on 4D seismics data for the Gullfaks field, one may envision that horizontal fractures could have been formed. The Elgin‐Franklin synthetic model is used to study various scenarios of changing stress field around the depleting reservoir. Based on 4D seismics data from this field, one may see changes that could be interpreted in terms of possible fault reactivation.     

Deformed dike swarms as an implication of transpression deformation in Western Arabian shield,Wadi Fatima,Saudi Arabia

Utilization of satellite images and field observations of dike swarms in pre-Fatima basement show that these dikes are older than the overlaying Fatima Formation. Dikes digitization and orientation analysis on satellite images show that the prevailing trend of the dikes is ENE-WSW. The granitic rocks of pre-Fatima basement and its hosted dikes expose evidences of completely a different deformation regime from the overlaying Fatima Formation. These evidences include shearing, dextral shear indicators, isoclinal folds, deflection and rotation of crystals, mineral elongation, and mylonitic and gneissose textures. Strain analysis results of using Fry method on quartz and feldspar grains support the presence of deformation in these ENE-WSW dikes. These results gave a strain ratio of 2.1:1.3:1, which suggest an amount of 40% stretching in the ENE-WSW direction parallel to the dike walls, and an amount of 30% shortening in the NNW-SSE direction. Mesoscopic and microscopic scale structures confirm the existence of dextral ductile-brittle shearing followed the emplacement of the dikes and before the pure shear deformation that caused the thrusting and folding of Fatima Formation. This ductile-brittle deformation is correlated with the dextral transpression that formed the Fatima Shear Zone (FSZ).