Skip directly to search Skip directly to A to Z list Skip directly to navigation Skip directly to page options Skip directly to site content

Mining Publication: Evaluation of the Strength of Slender Pillars

NOTE: This page is archived for historical purposes and is no longer being maintained or updated.

Original creation date: March 2006

Image of publication Evaluation of the Strength of Slender Pillars

Pillars with width-to-height ratios of less than 1.0 are frequently created in underground hard-rock mines. The strength of slender pillars can be estimated using empirically developed equations. However, the equations can provide variable results when the width-to-height ratios approach 0.5. This paper investigates some of the issues affecting pillar strength at low width-to-height ratios in hard, brittle rock. The investigation includes an evaluation of empirical pillar strength data presented in the literature and observations of pillar performance in underground limestone mines in the Eastern United States, supplemented by numerical modeling in which failure processes and sensitivity of slender pillars to variations in rock mass properties are evaluated. The results showed that the strength of slender pillars is more variable than that of wider pillars. The numerical model results demonstrated the increasing role of brittle rock failure in slender pillar strength. The absence of confinement in slender pillars can result in a fully brittle failure process, while wider pillars fail in a combined brittle and shearing mode. The onset of spalling in slender pillars occurs at or near the ultimate strength, while this is not the case for wider pillars. Slender pillars are shown to be more sensitive to the presence of discontinuities than wider pillars, which can partly explain the increased variability of slender pillar strength. Two examples are presented that illustrate failure initiation by brittle spalling and the sensitivity of slender pillars to the presence of discontinuities.

Authors: GS Esterhuizen

Peer Reviewed Journal Article - January 2007

NIOSHTIC2 Number: 20032623

Trans Soc Min Metall Explor 2007 Jan; 320:69-76

Conference Paper - March 2006

NIOSHTIC2 Number: 20029904

2006 SME Annual Meeting and Exhibit, March 27-29, St. Louis, Missouri, preprint 06-003. Littleton, CO: Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc., 2006 Mar; :1-7


TOP