I.

Shotcrete in Mining : Shotcrete Fundamentals and Steel versus Synthetic Fibers

• Shotcrete is a mortar or concrete pneumatically projected at high velocity onto rock

surfaces requiring area support (ACI, 1990)

• Shotcrete typically consits primarily of Portland cement and an aggregate, with various
admixtures and additives to maintain certain performance characteristics.

• In use in Canadian mines since the 1970s, shotcrete acts to prevent minimize rock
displacement by filling large open joints and fractures, transferring the rock load to
adjacent stable rock, and sealing the rock face to prevent raveling and sloughing
(Vandewalle and Bekaert, 1992).

• Figure below shows comparison between FRS and wire mesh:

• How does shotcrete work:

1. Shotcrete terminated above floor
Typically mining situation
Walls must be stable
Fibercrete must be bolted at terminal point
2. Shotcrete floor to floor
Thickness 100mm+
Must connect to floor to allow load transfer
• The function of cement in concrete:
1. To bind the mix components together via the hydration process.
2. Absorbs water during hydration.
3. Gains compressive strength with age.

• There are two types of shotcrete in use, which are referred to as a dry-mix or a wet-mix.
The main difference between the two systems is the stage at which water is applied to
the dry ingredients: at the nozzle for dry-mix and during mix for wet-mix.

• Dry-mix shotcrete results in a dense composition with relatively low permeability and
high durability.

• Wet-mix shotcrete requires more water than is needed for cement hydration to provide
sufficient plasticity for pumping through the delivery hose. As such, wet-mix shotcrete
is subject to more shrinkage and is more permeable than dry-mix shotcrete.

• Of these two types, dry mix represent about 95% of the shotcrete used underground
with 85% of operations relying on a manual nozzle operator rather than a remote
spraying system (Ono, 1996).

• As can be seen in figure below, wet-mix shotcrete offers cost savings due to reduced
rebound and labor costs and significant productivity advantages.

• Table below is a compilation of current shotcrete practices, combining all of these

empirical rules and adding in practical experiences. The reader is warned that this table
can only be used as an approximate guide when deciding upon the type and thickness of
shotcrete to be applied in a specific application. Modification will almost certainly be
required to deal with local variations in rock conditions and shotcrete quality
(Rocscience Inc. – Shotcrete Support, 11 – 13).
• The principal types of fibre available for the control of ground using shotcrete are steel
fibres, macro-synthetic and micro-synthetic fibres.

• Steel fibres are most suitable when tight crack control is required, or when ground
conditions are relatively stable and no corrosive ground water is present. This is likely
to be the situation in ground that has already become stable after a period of relaxation,
for example permanent works in civil tunnels and mining cavern.
 • Macro-synthetic fibres are more suited to applications on which degree of movement is
expected to occur in the ground and where corrosive water is likely to be present. Very
long macro-synthetic fibres are also suited to highly unstable ground where it may be
necessary to use such fibres together with an overlay of steel mesh. Such conditions
describe the majority of mining environment.

• Micro-synthetic fibres are used to control the wet properties of shotcrete and enhance
performance with respect to spraying, rebound and cohesion. They should not be relied
upon to support loads on their own. Micro-synthetic fibres are also required in
situations where a shotcrete lining may become exposed to fire.

II. Ground Support Submitted to Dynamic Loading

• Whilst many tried and tested ground support design procedures are suitable for
application in non-seismically active conditions (static loading), there is an increasing
need to consider dynamic loading due to mining induced seismicity and rockbursting in
Western Australia underground mines.

• Kaiser et al. (1995) identified three rockburst damage mechanisms, as seen in figure
below.
• The phenomenon of rock bulking due to fracturing is observed when the stresses near
an excavation suddenly exceed the rockmass strength and a zone of fractured rock
occurs, resulting in an increase in volume (bulking), and usually occurs in newly
formed opening.

• Rock ejection form seismic energy transfer occurs when rock blocks are violently
ejected from the periphery of an excavation due to the transfer of seismic energy to the
blocks from an incoming seismic wave. This form of rocksburst is more likely if the
rockmass is well jointed and loose or already substantially fractured. A fractured zone
frequently surrounds an excavation if high stresses are present, increasing the likelihood
of ejection.

• Gravity is the dominant force acting on a rock once seismic shaking has triggered a
rockfall. In this case, an incoming seismic wave accelerates a volume of rock that was
previously stable and the energy causing most of the damage is primarily derived from
gravity, not from the energy transmitted from the distant seismic event.
• To adequately contain the dynamic loads generated during a rockburst, as well as static
loads caused by loose material, a suitable method of ground support must be
implemented. The three primary roles of ground support are:
1. Reinforce the rockmass
2. Retain broken rock
3. Securely hold or tie back the retaining elements
• Kaiser et al. (1995) defined the various levels of severity of rockburst damage in terms
of a thickness of fractured or loose rock annulus as shown figure below.

• Minor damage would commonly be described as spitting, spalling, shallow slabbing and
minor rockfall, including moderate bagging of mesh and possibility a few broken wires.
This generally the worst level of damage encountered in civil engineering applications.

• For moderate damage severity, mesh may be bagged to its capacity and will often be
torn or pulled over rockbolt plates. Shotcrete would be heavily fractured and many
holding elements will have failed, although the excavation should still be accessible.

• In the event of major damage to an excavation, it would be unpassable due to

substantial amount of displaced rock. Most ground support components would be
broken or damaged. Shotcrete or other retaining elements would have lost their
functionality, permitting unraveling of broken rock between holding elements.
• Whilst strong and stiff holding and reinforcing element are usually suitable for large
static loads, a system of ground support with sufficient capacity to yield (a higher
capacity) is required for the large energy requirements necessary to support dynamic
loading.

• The load displacement behavior of various holding and reinforcing elements can be
used to determine their suitability in rockbursting conditions. In particular, cone bolts
and split sets are amongst the most appropriate support elements, capable of
withstanding large deformation and having large areas under their load displacement
curves as shown in figure below.
 • Kaiser et al.(1995) discussed a method for the design of ground support by energy
methods, using a traditional factor of safety approach:

(Load Capacity × Displacement Capacity)Support Elements

Factor of Safety =
1 2
mve + qmgd
2
where:
m = the mass of the ejected block (kg);
ve = the ejection velocity of the block (m/s);
g = acceleration due to gravity (m/s2);
d = distance the ejected block has traveled (m); and
q = 1,0 or -1 for ejection from the backs, wall or floor respectively.

III. Ground Support Corrosion

• Corrosion of the rock reinforcement element can be a problem in long-term

reinforcement depending on the corrosivity of the environment.

• The corrosion process of a rock bolt is very complex and its mechanism and rate are
affected by many factors, which also change during the corrosion process. The main
factors are (Sudholm & Forsén, 1993):
1. Oxygen
2. Other gases (carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and sulfur trioxide)
3. Salts dissolved in water
4. pH value
5. Organic compounds
6. Rate of water inflow and velocity of the flow
7. Humidity conditions
8. Temperature
9. Pressure
10.Joints in the rock mass
11.Consistency of the water
12.Conductivity of the rock types
13.Purpose of the use of excavation (water tunnel and storage, waste water tunnels, gas
storage, traffic tunnels).

• Wide varieties of corrosivity classifications are available in publications; however most

are specific to certain environments and conditions. They are:
1. Soil Corrosion Classification
- The use of soil corrosivity classification for the underground hard rock
environment is not recommended because of the obvious different environments
in which the corrosion takes place.
2. Atmospheric Corrosion Classification – ISO
- The ISO 92230:1992 standard classifies the corrosivity of an atmosphere based
on measurement of time of wetness (TOW), and pollution categories, sulphur
dioxide (SO2) and airborne chlorides.
- This standard is widely used to classify atmospheric corrosion potential in many
different environments; however, it often needs to be modified and calibrated to
that specific environment.

3. Groundwater Corrosion Classification – DIN

- The German DIN classification assesses the corrosive potential based on the flow
(if the location is submerged), the chloride (Cl ) and sulphate content, acidity,
calcium ion (Ca2+) content and pH.
- The indications are that the DIN classification sustem does not distinguish
between widely different mine waters, especially for the high total dissolved
solids (TDS) groundwater generally found in Australia.
4. Underground Hard Rock Corrosion Classification – Li & Linblad (1999)
- Li & Linblad (1999) have proposed two corrosivity classifications for the
underground environment with relation to the corrosion of steel rock bolts.
- The first classification is work wet rock condition and the corrosion-related
parameters used are pH, dissolved oxygen, resistivity, ambient temperature, rock
mass quality and precipitation of calcium carbonates.
- The second classification system is for dry rock conditions using the following
parameters; deposition rate of sulphur, nitrogen oxides and chloride, as well as
relative humidity and ambient temperature.
- This classification has been developed for European groundwater and appears
place too much emphasis on factors that are not relevant to Australian
groundwaters.
5. Saturation Indices
- Water saturation indices relate to solubility of dissolved ions to their tendency
precipitate.
- One of the most notable is the Langelier Saturation Index (LSI) which is an
indicator of the degree of saturation of water with respect to calcium carbonate.
- The LSI is defined as the difference between the measured pH nad the pHs as
saturation in calcite or calcium carbonate.
- However, the general consensus is that these types of indices are indicators of the
formation of scale and not of corrosivity and they do not include other important
 corrosivity parameters such as dissolved oxygen, temperature, dissolved ions and
water velocity.

• The nature of the corrosion process will depend on the interaction between the material
and its environment. When specific conditions in the materials and the environment
occur, characteristic forms of corrosion result.

• Recent data collection at several Australian underground mines have identified three
main forms of corrosion, which are supported by the work reported by Ranasooriya et
al. (1995) and Gamboa & Atrens (2003). They are:

1. Uniform or general corrosion attack

- Uniform or general corrosion occurs when the anodic and cathodic areas on the
metal surface change position continuously.
- As a result, the corrosion that occurs at the anodic areas is spread evenly over the
surface of the metal.
2. Localized pitting corrosion
- Pitting corrosion is the highly selective attack of passive metals at the defects in
the passive oxide layer.
- Pitting usually occurs in solutions containing chlorides, and become autocatalytic
(i.e. it stimulates itself once initiated).
- This occurs when a charge imbalance occurs as the anodic reaction becomes
localized within the pit, and as cations liberated into the pit solution.
- Pitting is the most common form of corrosion of steel in concrete and work by
Ranasooriya et al. (1995) identified pitting corrosion as the most common of all
type of corrosion on collected samples of friction bolt stabilizers.
3. Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC)
- SCC is used to describe service failures in materials that occur by slow
environmentally induced crack propagation (Jones & Ricker, 1990).
- Recent experimental by results from Gamboa & Atrens, 2003) on SCC of rock
bolts indicates that SCC begins when sheared by moving rock strata and that the
critical crack length can be of the order only a few millimeters for rock bolts.
IV. Preseverance Mine Case Study

• The Preseverence Mine is an Australian nickel producting mine that uses two mining
methods, sub-level caving and long hole stoping. It is located 15 km north of Leinster
and 370 km north of Kalgoorlie and is wholly owned by BHP-Billiton Nickel West
since 2005.

• Ground conditions deteriorated at 420m below surface, with high rates of floor heave
and drive closure occurring in the centre of the “inflection zone”, a weak and sheared
rock mass.

• According to observation that were done during 2004 – 2005 throughout a series of
rehabilitation jobs in SLC area, the pulverized and bulged rock mass deformed that
squeezed in the tunnel was found. This demonstrated that the pillar between the cross
cut in squeezing ground was in fact fractured but not yielded, for tunnels that had
squeezed from a nominal width 5m to one of 2.5m in about 18 months.

• Prior to 1995 the ground support in the SLC ore cross cuts consisted of Split Sets and
mesh installed routinely several cuts behind the developing face. However, some falls
of ground prompted the decision to install the mesh and split sets in-cycle to the face. In
early 1995, it was recognized that cable bolts would be required in intersection and spot
bolting of badly sheared hanging wall contacts area where required.

• Post 1995, shotcrete was introduced for rehabilitation work and shortly after for
development purposes. Birdgace cable bolts were changed to plain strand cable bolts.
Friction bolts were post grouted. However, these changes made no significant impact on
continuing ground deformations to accommodate the mining schedule.

• By mid 1997, de-bonded gewi bolts (20 mm rebars) were introduced to the bolting
pattern on a 1.25 m ring spacing on backs and walls. A second layer of shotcrete was
introduced in the system to generate a composite mesh-shotcrete layer of 125mm
thickness.

• Several attempts to drop the second shotcrete layer were done between 1997 – 2002, all
attempts were unsuccessful and rehabilitation of these tunnels was required.

• In 2003, the tunnel profile was changed from square backs in the shear zone to arch
back profile. Trial were performed on synthetic fibres to obtain a high toughness
fibrecrete for ground control in highly deformable ground. The trials lasted 18 months,
 with limited success, and the fibrecrete mix was changed back to steel fibre and dual
layer.

• In 2004, procedures for development bolting have change to in-cycle bolting for gewi
bars as opposed to campaign installation 20 m from the face. Back profiles were
changes from flat to slight arch profile for ore drives. Fully bonded gewi bars were
introduced for back support as opposed to debonded gewi bars. Also in 2004 was the
introduction of the reinforced shotcrete arches in derforming ground, mostly through
rehabilitation of drives.

• Perseverance Mines uses a variety of support packages depending on the expected level
of stress in the mining area, the rock strength and quality. All ground support standards
use shotcrete as a first pass. Headings are typically 5.0 m high and 5.5 m wide, with
varying profiles. All support system (table below) are used 6 gage (4.1 mm) flat
galvanized screen panels of 2.4 x 3.0 m size. All flat mesh squares are of 100 mm.
Tendon plates are 150 mm square domed and of 6 mm thickness for rebars and thin
plates for friction bolts. GS01, GS02 and GS03 use two shotcrete sprays to create a
composite mesh shotcrete material of an overall 125 mm thickness.
• Intersections and excavations of large spans (>7 m) are cable bolted on a 1.8 m square
patterns. Cables in intersections are always installed before the intersection leg is cut.

• Spilling or fore-poling is used for tunnelling in soft ground such as the shear zone.
Perseverance mine currently use 4 m long black friction bolts for that task and drill half
tunneling rounds. Backs are sprayed with fibrecrete as soon as possible to avoid
 unraveling. Faces are meshed at every cut for all ground support standards. Induced
stress fractures parallel to the face generate slabs and ground control hazards that are
best contained using mesh panels and friction bolts.

V. An Update on Thin Spray-On Liners (TSLs)

• TSLs is polymer based material which can be sprayed onto the rock to a thickness of 3
to 5 mm and is normally part of support system and seals between rock and mine
environment. It is made from isocyanides (polyurethanes, polyureas), methacrylates and
acrylates; and normally require physical combination of two liquid chemicals or a liquid
and a powder phase to form liner material.

• This system was introduced for covering some disadvantages of traditional Surface
Support System (Mesh, Straps, Cable Lacing and Shotcrete) that are:
Application of mesh is expensive and time consuming.
The required shotcrete thicknesses result in logistical problems due to large
material volume which need to be supplied.

• TSLs is claimed has the potential to reduce accident levels and to increase productivity
by minimizing interference on the mining activities due to remote and rapid spraying
techniques.

• Advantages of TSLs (Teflex’s version):

Tough – Ability to stretch, excellent tensile characteristics, and fibre reinforcing
assure coating integrity even after strata deformation.
Simple mixing – Convenient mixing of 2.5:1 liquid to powder components
minimizes mixing errors. No water additional additives required.
Excellent Adhesion – Special formulation enables superb adhesion to the rock,
assuring a long-lasting coating.
Non-Flammable – No unusual storage or ventilation requirements, equipment
clean-up procedures, or waste disposal.
• Some Support Mechanism of TSLs:
1. Promotion of Block Interlock
2. Air Tightness
3. Structural Arch

4. Basket Mechanism
5. Slab Enhancement

6. Extended ‘faceplate’
7. Durability Enhancement

8. Mechanical Protection
 • Support Technique Considerations (after Mercer, 1992 and Espley, 1999)

Plain Reinforced Bolts Polymer

Consideration
Shotcrete Shotcrete -and-Screen Lining
Cost ($Cdn) $14.00 - $32.00 $24.00 - $51.00 $7.00 - $13.00 $21.00 - $42.00
Application Rate (m2/min) 0.14 - 0.33 0.12 - 0.20 0.11 - 0.15 1.77 - 2.32
Labour Requirement 2.8 persons 2.8 persons 1.8 persons 2 persons
Rebound (%) 10 - 30 10 - 30 N/A <<1
Rock Visibility Poor Poor Good Fair-Good
Set Time Days Days N/A Minutes
Health Issue (Before Use) Transportation Transportation Transportation Transportation
Health Issue (During Use) Dust Inhalation Dust Inhalation Ground Falls Respiration
Health Issue (After Use) None None None None
 • Comparison of Tekflex, Shotcrete and Mesh (Tekflex Proceeding):

100mm Shotcrete 9 ga. Welded

4mm Tekflex
/Fibre Wire Mesh
Tensile Strength <0.25 MPa 1.0 to 2.56 MPa 0.3 MPa
Adhesive Strength 0.70 MPa 0.16 to 0.65 MPa N/A
Adhesive Capacity 2.1 kN/m3 3.25 kN/m3 Est. 0.32 kN/m3
Load Bearing Capacity 30 tons 57 tons 1.4 tons
90% Cure Time 28 days 4 hrs N/A

• But based on trial at South Deep Mines, South Africa, (using Tekflex, TunnelGuard,
Exermine, MBT, Masterseal, Rockhold, Ardex and TMO20) some limitation in TSLs
application has been identified (2nd International Seminar on Surface Support Liners:
TSLs, Shotcrete, Mesh, 2002) :
1. Rock surface preparation is extremely important and often difficult to carry out
effectively, resulting in poor bond strength. This may limit their application to
freshly broken rock surfaces.
2. The mixing process can be complex, requiring specialized crews to operate the
equipment.
3. Some of the equipment is heavy limiting application in stopes.
4. Most of products have poor tear strength, requiring continuous application over the
fractured, rock surface area overlapping on to more solid rock surfaces with no gaps,
to prevent the tearing mechanism.
5. Highly fractured rock requires a thick application which can be very costly.

VI. Fundamentals of Engineered Cementious Composites (ECC) & Mining Application

• ECC are a special class of fibre reinforced cementious composites (FRCC) that
combine short polymer fibres with a cement matrix to produce a material, which
undergoes strain-induced hardening and is ultra-ductile when loaded in tension.

• ECC is a relatively a new material emerging from laboratory to precast plants and
construction sites. The material continuous to evolve and new material characteristics
continue to be uncovered.

• ECC technology has been used already on projects in Japan, Korea,

Switzerland, Australia and Houston, Texas.
• Macroscopically, the most significant characteristic of ECC is its tensile strain-
hardening behavior with strain capacity in the range of 3-8%, yet the fibre content is
typically less than 2% by volume.

• One sample mix proportions of ECC are given in table below (Ying-zi, Lepech and Li,
2005):

Unit Weight
Materials
Kg/m3

• Figure below shows the ductile behavior of ECC under flexural load indicates it has
excellent flexural, tensile and compressive strength.
• The unique mechanical properties of an ECC in particularly its ability to distribute
particularly in the method of distributing strain over a wide number of micro-cracks
which do not loose their elastic properties has proved to be far superior to highly
polymer modified concretes. Additionally, polymer added to concrete to create the
plastic effect typically reduces the material ultimate compressive and tensile strength
proportionally.

• ECC’s low permeability, even after cracking, and its self healing characteristics make
it ideally suited to ventilation and ground stabilization work.

• General Characteristics of ECC Structural Behavior:

1. Reduction or elimination of shear reinforcement.
2. Sustaining large imposed deformation.
3. Compatible deformation between ECC and reinforcement.
4. Protecting FRP (Fiber Reinforced Plastic) reinforcement.
5. High damage tolerance and reduction.
6. Tight crack width.