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By C. Y. Liu

This paper principally deals with the application of caisson foundation in the Chinese bridge building industry, the different types of caisson foundation adopted, and their spheres of application. Caisson foundation has been used and speedily developed for bridge works in New China, and a number of new innovations have been made in its design. Especially in deep water foundation, the Nanjing Bridge over Changjiang has attained one of the deepest bridge foundations in the world. There are six types of deep caisson foundation being now in use in China, namely:

Jan 1, 2010

By Xiangxi Wu

Longwall and continuous mining are prevalent methods employed by Chinese underground coal operations. The main ground control challenges include roof skin deformation, roof collapse, and outbursts of coal, gas, and water. Microseismic monitoring provides valuable information on rockmass behavior and fracture propagation caused by stress redistribution, active geological structures, or gas build up within the coal strata and the surrounding rockmass. Collecting and assessing seismic data has proven to be an instructive tool for engineers to better assess ground conditions and mitigate seismic hazards associated with mining. The development of intrinsically safe and explosion proof certified seismic monitoring equipment has revolutionized China?s underground coal mines. The use of this technology allows for the optimization of gas drainage at an increased rate of two at a 50% higher purity without any increase in drilling costs. Microseismic monitoring can also be used in identifying seismically active faults and shear zones. This information can be used to assess and revise mining strategies to improve safety and ground stability.

Jan 1, 2012

By M R. Stevens

An approach of geological mapping and descriptive criteria has been used to identify hydrothermal eruption breccias, named the Onemana Breccia. These in part mantle a gold bearing fossil hydrothermal system located on the eastern side of the Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand. Whilst eruption breccias are documented from active and recent geothermal centres within the Taupo Volcanic Zone and in Northland their recognition at Onemana is the first confirmed discovery for this lithotype within ancient hydrothermal systems of the Coromandel Volcanic Zone. At Onemana the widespread occurrence of silicification, sinters, volcanic lake sediments, eruption breccias and advanced argillic alteration allows classic hot spring epithermal modelling. The geological setting, distribution, lithological characteristics, hydrothermal alteration and trace element geochemistry of the Onemana eruption breccias are described. These breccias are closely comparable with hydrothermal eruption deposits elsewhere, particularly those in active ore forming hydrothermal systems. Consideration is given specifically to the role of the Onemana Breccia in an exploration strategy for discovering epithermal gold-silver deposits.

Jan 1, 1991

Jan 1, 1965

Energy Dissipation in Long-Distance Slurry Pipelines

Sep 13, 2010

This Bureau of Mines report concerns two subjects important in the application of electric power in mining systems. Electrical transients and their suppression are discussed, and several considerations are explored with regard to the use of explosionproof or other electrical enclosures.

Jan 1, 1979

By H Bibby

Initial analysis of Long Offset Time Domain Electromagnetic (LOTEM) data has traditionally been made in terms of early and late time apparent resistivities. By using more than one grounded bipole as a source, a tensor analysis technique analogous to the method used to analyse DC resistivity multiple-source bipole-dipole surveying may be formulated. We define the æinstantaneous apparent resistivity tensorÆ as the tensor that relates the total electric field vectors at each instant to the steady state (DC) uniform half space current density vectors due to each source. Instantaneous apparent resistivity tensors calculated for a 3D resistivity model suggest that profiles of LOTEM measurements across simple 3D structures can be used to create an image that reproduces the main features of the subsurface resistivity. Where measurements are distributed over an area, maps of the tensor invariants or the tensor ellipses at different times can be made into a sequence of images which provide a way of ætime slicingÆ down through the target structure.

Jan 1, 1996

By A-A. Bogno, Ch. -A. Gandin, A. Maitre, H. Henein

Most metallic materials are produced from their liquid state. In order to control the properties of industrial products, it is very important to understand their solidification path and the resulting microstructures which can be significantly affected by melt undercooling. High undercooling results in rapid solidification and a refined microstructure with minimal microsegregation. This paper reports on the analysis of rapidly solidified Al-Cu droplets obtained by a single fluid atomization process, Impulse Atomization. A quantitative analysis by Rietveld refinement method of the Neutrons Diffraction data was carried out to determine the fraction of the intermetallic Al2Cu. Knowing the fraction of Al2Cu, the eutectic fractions and corresponding dendritic and eutectic undercoolings were estimated using the metastable extensions of solidus and liquidus lines of the Al-Cu system calculated by Thermo-Calc. In addition to this work, a model of microsegregation coupled with ThermoCalc software via TQ (application programming interface of ThermoCalc) and the Wang-Beckerman model for dendritic growth velocities has been developed for binary alloys. This has led to the development of a phenomenological relationship between primary phase undercooling and initial growth velocity. A comparison of estimated primary undercoolings using a coarsening model with the adiabatic undercoolings for each alloy composition has confirmed that solidification occurs under adiabatic conditions during recalescence.

Jan 1, 2014

By G Ma, L Qi, J G. Shellnutt

"An EXTENDED ABSTRACT is available for download. A full-length paper was not prepared for this presentation. The Emeishan large igneous province (ELIP) of SW China is host to magmatic Ni–Cu–(PGE) sulfide and Fe–Ti–V oxide deposits which contain economic to subeconomic concentrations of precious and base metals. The formation of a given deposit-type (ie sulfide versus oxide) is thought to be related to the type of parental magma (ie high-Ti versus low-Ti) and the subsequent processes (ie fractional crystallisation and sulfide segregation), which allowed for metal enrichment.We examined the PGE of Baima and Taihe oxide-bearing layered mafic intrusions from the ELIP (Shellnutt, Ma and Qi, in press), and compared them with the nearby Xinjie and Hongge intrusions as well as with the Emeishan flood basalts. The PGE results for the two intrusions are contrasting. The Baima gabbroic rocks are almost PGE-barren (SPGE < 4 ppb) whereas the Taihe gabbroic rocks are variable, but generally much higher in PGE concentrations (SPGE < 2 to ~300 ppb), although the gabbros from both intrusions are enriched in platinum-subgroup PGE (PPGE = Rh, Pt and Pd) relative to iridium-subgroup PGE (IPGE = Os, Ir and Ru). Cu/Zr, Ni/Ir, Y/Pt, Cu/Pd and Ni/Ir systematics suggest that the Baima rocks were derived from a relatively evolved, mafic, S-undersaturated parental magma that was affected by earlier sulfide segregation. In contrast, the Taihe rocks record evidence of both S-saturated and S-undersaturated conditions and that the parental magma was likely emplaced very close to S-saturation. Through comparison of the PGE contents in the Emeishan flood basalts and the Emeishan oxide-bearing intrusions, we provide a self-consistent model for ELIP that the PGE budget in a magma is not strictly controlled by magma series (high-Ti versus low-Ti), but very much by crustal contamination.CITATION:Ma, G, Shellnutt, J G and Qi, L, 2015. Platinum group elements in the Baima and Taihe Fe-Ti oxide-bearing gabbroic intrusions of emeishan large igneous province and problems on propensity of magma series for sulfide- versus oxide-dominated deposit types, in Proceedings PACRIM 2015 Congress, pp 303–310 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Mar 18, 2015

By Andreas Prucker

The Greater Vancouver Water District (GVWD) is currently constructing the largest water treatment plant in Canada. As part of this treatment scheme twin water transfer tunnels are being constructed. Work commenced with the 11 m diameter, 185 m deep Seymour Shaft which was excavated by drill and blast using a mobile crane for hoisting. The Seymour Shaft is the first large diameter shaft that has been sunk in Western Canada in recent years. The operational aspects associated with the hoisting, the drill-blast-support cycle and water control in the shaft are the focus of this paper.

Jan 1, 2008

By H. T. Kennedy, J. E. Little

An empirical equation for the prediction of the viscosity of several pure paraffin hydrocarbons and nitrogen is presented. It involves temperature, pressure and six constants of the material, and it applies reliably to both liquids and gases. The equation is similar in form to van der Waal's equation of state. For the paraffin hydrocarbons methane through r-hexane and nitrogen, an average absolute deviation of 1.9 percent was obtained on 1,006 data points described in the literature by 14 authors. When this equation is extended to complex, liquid hydrocarbon mixtures, a correlation was obtained with an average absolute deviation of 9.9 percent. INTRODUCTION Equations describing the flow of gas and liquid through porous media contain the viscosity coefficient of the fluid. If other pertinent variables remain constant, the volume rate of flow is inversely proportional to this coefficient. In dealing with condensate fluids and volatile oils, however, the compositional effects resulting from changing pressure materially affect the viscosity. The effect of compositional changes also may be significant in certain secondary recovery or pressure maintenance processes, notably miscible displacement or gas injection. Early attempts to describe the performance of reservoirs utilized a volumetric material balance method wherein gas and liquid in the reservoir were identified as produced gas and liquid at the surface. This method of analysis proved adequate for reservoirs at moderate temperature and pressure that contained gas with moderately low amounts of condensable materials. The volumetric material balance procedures for "black oil" reservoirs leave much to be desired when applied to condensate and volatile oil reservoirs because phase behavior and compositional changes are relatively more important in these cases. The alternative is a compositional material balance, which in turn, requires a correlation of properties of the reservoir fluid with composition. This paper supplies this correlation in regard to viscosity, for reservoir crude oils. REVIEW OF LITERATURE The literature contains many empirical equations describing the effects of composition, temperature and pressure on the viscosities of pure liquids and binary liquid mixtures. However, the applicability of a majority of these equations is limited to very low pressures and to a small number of systems. Most of them, when applied to complex hydrocarbon systems, are of little value. The lack of utility of the majority of equations results from the fact that they were developed to show the separate effect of temperature, pressure or composition on viscosity, but not to predict the viscosity as a function of all three variables. And with the few exceptions noted below, they were developed to apply to much simpler systems than hydrocarbon mixtures. Eakin1 developed an equation for the viscosity of pure light hydrocarbons applicable in the gas, liquid and dense fluid regions, and in its most general form is written as µ - µo =A(ebP - e-cpk) The pure component viscosity at atmospheric pressure and temperature T, µo, was calculated using the Sutherland equation: µo = BT3/2/T + S The constants in Eakin's equation permitted the term e-CPk to become quite small at high densities (above 0.215 gm/cc), and the general equation would simplify to

Jan 1, 1969

By Jian Zhang

From the standpoint of quality, surface cracks normally pose more of a problem than internal cracks. Hypo-peritectic (HP) steel grades are well known for their proneness to surface longitudinal cracking (SLC) during continuous casting. This study analyzed the influences of chemical composition, technique parameter and secondary cooling on the surface longitudinal cracks. Based on the optimized the first and secondary cooling zone water distribution in the process of continuous casting, low cooling water distribution at solidification initial stages and uniform cooling at secondary cooling zone were suggested, which can be used to effectively control the surface longitudinal cracks.

Jan 1, 2010

By John G. Payne

The Pebble deposit contains three contiguous zones. In the Pebble West zone, granodiorite stocks intrude gently warped volcanosedimentary rocks that had been intruded by diorite sills and two felsic intrusion breccias. In the Central zone, volcanosedimentary rocks are cut by diorite and granodiorite sills; the latter are genetically associated with the granodiorite stocks. In these zones, widespread potassic alteration consists of brown biotite and K-feldspar, with abundant quartz-carbonate-sulphide vein stockworks. Chalcopyrite/pyrite ratios range from 2/1 to 1/20. Diorite hosts the highest-grade mineralization, with much of it being disseminated. Patchy, later phyllic alteration is moderate and commonly depleted in copper. The Pebble East zone occupies a granodiorite stock and intruded host rocks below an eastwardly thickening wedge of barren Tertiary volcanic and sedimentary rocks up to 600 m thick. Brown biotite alteration and copper mineralization are strong, with chalcopyrite/pyrite ratios commonly over 1/1. The zone extends to a depth of at least 1200 m below surface; some drill holes bottomed in strong mineralization. Later, weak to moderate sericitic alteration removed some chalcopyrite and locally remobilized gold. The Pebble deposit has a Measured/Indicated resource of 3 billion tonnes grading 0.28% Cu, 0.32 g/t Au and 0.015% Mo (= 0.5% copper-equivalent) and an Inferred resource of 1.13 billion tonnes grading 0.30 g/t Au, 0.27% Cu and 0.015% Mo (0.55% copper-equivalent). The Pebble East zone has an Inferred resource of 2.13 billion tonnes grading 0.55% Cu, 0.34 g/t Au, and 0.037% Mo (0.97% copper-equivalent). The Pebble East zone is open to the east and to a lesser extent to the north, south, and to depth.

May 1, 2006

By G. Azimi, K. K. Varanasi1, A. T. Paxson, R. Dhiman, H. -M. Kwon

Hydrophobic materials that are robust to harsh environments are needed in a broad range of applications. Although durable materials such as metals and ceramics, which are generally hydrophilic, can be rendered hydrophobic by polymeric modifiers, these materials deteriorate in harsh environments. Here it is shown that a class of ceramics comprising the entire lanthanide oxide series, ranging from ceria to lutecia, is intrinsically hydrophobic. Their hydrophobicity is attributed to their unique electronic structure, which inhibits hydrogen bonding with interfacial water molecules. In addition, this work demonstrates that these ceramics sustain hydrophobicity even after exposure to high-temperature environment (1000 °C for 2 h in air). It is envisioned that this class of robust hydrophobic materials will have far-reaching technological potential in various industrial applications, where water repellency and dropwise condensation are desirable.

Jan 1, 2014

By Jon Hurt

INTRODUCTION The entire scope of new facilities for Lake Mead Intake No. 3 includes a sub-merged intake structure, a deep tunnel beneath Lake Mead, a tunnel access shaft, Intake Pumping Station No. 3, and connections to an existing intake and water treat-ment facility, as shown in Figure 1. In March 2008 Vegas Tunnel Constructors (VTC), a joint venture of Impregilo SpA and SA Healy were awarded a $447m Design-Build contract by SNWA for a section of this work (Contract 070F 01 C1), including the 185 m deep tunnel access shaft, the 4.7 km long, 6.1 m diameter tunnel and the submerged intake. Arup, supported by Brierley Associates, is the Design Engineer for VTC. The scope of the work is shown in Figure 2. This paper will describe the design and construction on this contract, with a focus on the access shaft which is the most complete section of the work. The shaft is being sunk using drill-and-blast methods with the finallining placed as excavation proceeds. The shaft passes through a major fault zone, and extensive pre-excavation grouting for water control is required for much of the depth of the shaft.

By M. E. Poad, J. K. Whyatt, T. J. Williams

Researchers at the U.S. Bureau of Mimes monitored rock mass response to mining of an experimental underhand longwall stope in Hecla Mining Co.'s Lucky Friday Mine, Mullan, ID. This stope design, the Lucky Friday underhand longwall (LFUL), was proposed as a means of controlling rock bursting while also allowing increased mechanization of mining operations. Instruments were specifically manufactured to monitor three geomechanical factors (backfill performance, ramp stability, and rock mass response) that directly affect the success of stope design. Despite considerable difficulties with instrument installation and survival in the harsh mine environment, especially within the stope fill, sufficient information was collected to suggest that the LFUL method was successful in achieving project goals. This conclusion, in addition to favorable economic and operational evidence, led the mine to adopt the method throughout the mine. Indeed, this study and mining experience suggest that underhand longwall mining could be considered a feasible mining method for rock-burst-prone ground throughout the Coeur d'Alene District. Further Reports of Investigations (RI) in this series present in-depth analyses of the effects of backfill on rock bursting and calibration of a stope numerical model.

Jan 1, 1992

By F. Dai

Granitic rocks usually exhibit strongly anisotropy due to pre-existing microcracks induced by geologic loadings. The understanding of the rock anisotropy in mechanical properties such as tensile strength is critical to quarrying and stabilization of underground structures. In this paper, Brazilian tests are conducted in combination with MTS material testing machine and split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) system to measure both static and dynamic tensile strength of anisotropic Barre granite. Samples are cored and labeled using the three principle anisotropic directions of Barre granite (BG). These directions are also chosen as the loading directions for the Brazilian discs. For dynamic tests, pulse shaping technique is used to achieve dynamic equilibrium in the samples during the test. Finite Element Method is implemented to formulate equations that relate the failure load to the material tensile strength employing a orthotropic model for Barre granite. For samples in the same orientation group, the tensile strength shows clear loading rate sensitivity. The tensile strengths exhibit clear anisotropy under static loading; while less anisotropy under dynamic loading. The tensile strength anisotropy of Barre granite is interpreted as interactions of the pre-existing microcracks.

May 1, 2009

By H W. Wu

The objective of this paper is to examine some modern forms of auxiliary ventilation fabric ducting with streamline design fittings and the efficiency of construction practices. The most dynamic form of auxiliary ventilation is a moveable fan and ducting, which is easy to install and uses light weight fabric. The porous nature of some ducting construction results in leakage and loss of efficiency. Flexible fabric ducting is primarily associated with metalliferous mining and industrial material quarrying. Some applications are found in coal in stone/rock development and with use of dust scrubbers.Forcing auxiliary ventilation systems employing circular fabric ducting have been examined. Leakage of air from ducting is affected by ducting material and construction methodology (such as welded or sewn), quality of installation, number of joints, total length, pressure differences between the inside and outside and diameter. The best ducting system with welded construction can have up to four times less leakage as compared with some systems with sewn construction. It is also evident that the sewn type ducting will deliver less air to working faces and require more fan power, hence higher operating costs to run when connected to the same fan.A case study has also been undertaken to compare predicted operating costs of auxiliary ventilation systems connecting various types of ventilation duct fittings. The study also assesses the technical importance of streamline design with low aerodynamic resistance to reduce the shock losses of the duct fittings. It was found that the system connected with streamline designed fittings is able to provide some power cost savings and deliver more air compared with the system fitted with conventional fitting pieces.Using a ventilation ducting system with a lower leakage and frictional characteristic represents a sound solution to new challenges faced by the industry for increasing demand for better quantities and quality of air delivered to working faces; this is due to higher production schedules and stricter mine health and safety regulations within the Australian mining industry.CITATION:Wu, H W and Gillies, A D S, 2017. A comparison of auxiliary ventilation systems and their predicted operational performances, in Proceedings Australian Mine Vent Conference 2017, pp 207–214 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Aug 28, 2017

By Christopher J. Bise

INTRODUCTION Perhaps no other area reflects the art as well as the science of mining-engineering design quite as obviously as strata control. This is due to the fact that the design of mining structures is difficult because rock rarely behaves as a homogeneous medium. Further, the original state of stress and the mechanical proper- ties of the in situ rock are somewhat difficult to deter- mine. However, those aspects that are hard to treat mathematically can and have been successfully approached by model studies and in situ measurements. This chapter will review the fundamentals of strata- control design and will provide examples of applications to typical problems. STRESSES AROUND MINE OPENINGS A close examination of Fig. 1 reveals that, prior to mining, stresses exerted in the overburden can be in both the horizontal and vertical directions. In the example problems of Chapter 1, it was shown that the maximum compressive stress (uv) at any depth (D) below the surface can be approximated as follows: [ ] Further, the lateral stress (oh) is related to the maxi- mum compressive stress by utilizing Poisson's ratio (µ): [ ] As soon as a heading is driven, such as the one in the coal seam shown in Fig. 2, the stresses shift to the sides, or abutments, of the opening. Clearly, these compressive stresses around the opening exceed the pre-mining conditions. The problem of designing an underground opening, therefore, is to determine the maximum stresses and to note if they exceed the ultimate strength of the rock. Table 1 lists several rocks with their corresponding strengths. Figs. 3 to 5 depict the boundary stress concentrations around circular, ovaloidal, and rectangular openings. M is the ratio of the horizontal stress to the vertical stress, or as defined above, p/(l-p). This text will concentrate on the state of stress represented by M = 0.33, which corresponds to the condition of no lateral deformation in a rock having a Poisson's ratio of 0.25. For an ovaloid with an opening width-to-height ratio of 2.0 (Fig. 4), the boundary stress concentrations are at their maximum values at the comers of the opening, with values in excess of 3.0. If the depth of overburden is 500 ft, then the maximum boundary tangential stress ([ ] ) of the ovaloid is: [ ]

Jan 1, 1986

By C. O. Karacan

Underground longwall mining of coal causes large scale disturbance of the surrounding rock mass. The disturbance can increase the rock mass permeability through a reduction on the stress as well as formation of new fractures in the rock. Methane gas contained in the disturbed rock mass can migrate towards the low pressure mine workings and present an explosion hazard. This paper describes the application of a finite difference program to develop a geomechanical model that predicts permeability changes within the rock mass. The calculated permeabilities are used as input to a reservoir simulator that models methane desorption from the coal matrix, methane release from the rock layers and flow towards the mine excavations. The model also considers the basic characteristics of the mine ventilation network. The geomechanical model uses empirical relationships between fracture permeability and stress to calculate permeability changes around a longwall face. The extent of rock failure is determined using a strain softening model that considers both rock matrix and bedding plane failure. The cave rock (gob) is modeled as a compressible, granulated material. The calculated horizontal and vertical permeabilities around the longwall face are averaged and used as one of the inputs to the reservoir model. The reservoir model was developed and calibrated against records of methane flow at a study mine in southwestern Pennsylvania. Good correlation between actual gas production and model outputs has been achieved. The modeling approach provides a basis for estimating methane inflow and optimizing control measures.