The Warm Blanket of Geotechnical Databases and the Reality of Rock Mechanics

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-104-3_11How to use a DOI?

Abstract

The limited success of simplified slope stability assessment tools and concerns related to slope performance resulted in a review of an open pit mine located in South Western United States. 3D numerical was used to assess the LOM design which led to improved slope stability, while maintaining key safety and production targets.

An advanced inelastic strain-softening constitutive model (IUCM) was used with FLAC3D (finite difference) and SlopeX software to assess slope stability of the LOM design. The weak nature of the rock mass necessitated that time-dependent behaviour was accounted for, which typically cannot be considered by simplified slope stability assessment approaches.

The limited availability of a well-developed geotechnical database required that model inputs (material properties) were primarily derived through rigorous back analysis of slope behaviour, as recorded by slope monitoring equipment. Significantly, subsequent slope performance of the LOM compares favourably with original forecast results derived from the advanced numerical software and IUCM.

This paper demonstrates that the derivation of material properties along with the simulation of complex rock mass behaviour can be successfully achieved despite a limited geotechnical database. This underlines the importance of applying the correct assessment tools and rock mass constitutive models in order to produce safe, reliable open pit mine designs.

Copyright

© 2023 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Julian Watson
AU  - Antonio Verduzco Mendez
AU  - Patricia Robertson
PY  - 2023
DA  - 2023/03/01
TI  - The Warm Blanket of Geotechnical Databases and the Reality of Rock Mechanics
BT  - Proceedings of the TMIC 2022 Slope Stability Conference (TMIC 2022)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 103
EP  - 117
SN  - 2589-4943
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-104-3_11
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-104-3_11
ID  - Watson2023
ER  -