Reliability-Based Design in Soil and Rock Engineering: Enhancing Partial Factor Design Approaches, Low Bak Kong

Highlighting the importance of sound level in determining rock properties, the book focuses on the indirect method with emphasis on the development of numerical models in rock engineering design.

• Discusses determining rock property using sound levels produced during drilling
• Explores the benefits of effective rock design applications
• Helps students to develop an interest in using sound level as a tool in rock design applications

The book provides a general introduction to noise, its effect, and standards. It discusses the application of noise monitoring for mining equipment, the application of acoustic emission techniques in geotechnical fields, the equipment for drilling, measurement of sound, and the physico-mechanical properties of rocks. It also explores the process involved in the measurement of rock properties and sound level. This book summarizes in tables and figures the statistical values of the rock properties and sound level produced during the drilling of different rocks. It explains developed regression models, procedure, and the results of developed artificial neural network models. Rock Engineering Design: Properties and Applications of Sound Level includes a case study, and offers a summary and suggestions for further work.

• Covers the design and operation of sublevel open stoping, including variants such as bench stoping
• Discusses increases in sublevel spacing due to advances in the drilling of longer and accurate production holes, as well as advances in explosive types, charges, and initiation systems
• Considers improvements in slot rising through vertical crater retreat, inverse drop rise, and raise boring
• Devotes a chapter to rock mass characterization, since increases in sublevel spacing have meant that larger, unsupported stope walls must stand without collapsing
• Describes methodologies to design optimum open spans and pillars, rock reinforcement of development access and stope walls, and fill masses to support the resulting stope voids
• Reviews the sequencing of stoping blocks to minimize in situ stress concentrations
• Examines dilution control action plans and techniques to back-analyze and optimize stope wall performance

Featuring numerous case studies from the world-renowned Mount Isa Mines and examples from underground mines in Western Australia, Geotechnical Design for Sublevel Open Stoping is both a practical reference for industry and a specialized textbook for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate mining studies.