Numerical simulation of the open pit stability based on probabilistic approach

What is it about?

It has been proved that pit walls retain their stability (the stability factor (SF) is not less than 1.27) while mining the steeply inclined ore body with the transverse panels from top to bottom within each newly cut layer, despite the increasing depth of mining. It is shown that modeling of the real geological structure of a three-dimensional rock mass area factors into the decrease in (by 7%) the safety factor in comparison with the results of the homogeneous model. A probabilistic-statistical approach has been proposed to consider the heterogeneity of the rock mass and avoid unreasonably optimistic forecasts of the pit wall stability. It is shown that 3D modeling gives SF, which differs by 8% from the values obtained in the 2D model. This allows substantiating the correction coefficient to improve the 2D modeling results.

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