Rock Mass Condition Analysis

JCHX & FOCON CONSORTIUM
MINING CONTRACTOR & SERVICES

DPM
PT DAIRI PRIMA MINERAL

ROCK MASS CONDITION ANALYSIS

MINING CONTRACTOR AND SERVICES 1
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CONTENT
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
ROCK MASS CONDITION AT THE PORTAL ....................................................................................3
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................18

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INTRODUCTION
During underground excavation it is very important to have a close visual observation of the rock
surface in the whole tunnel periphery before the rock is covered by sprayed concrete. In addition
to the visual observation, hammering with a scaling rod or a hammer will give important
observation of deterioration of unstable rock giving particular sounds. Also small cracks, invisible
from the invert, will be observed with a closer look. Altered rock may show the same geological
structures as the original fresh and unweathered rock, and may not be noticed when observed at
distance. In order to have a close observation it is of outmost importance to have access to the
face and crown by use of lifting equipment especially designed for this purpose. Rock mass
stability is influenced by several parameters, but the following three factors are the most
important:
1) Degree of jointing (block size)

2) Joint frictions
3) Stress
Determined of rock mass using the rock mass quality by Q-system (Barton, lien and lunde. 1974).
The rock mass quality Q method has been used for this study for the estimation of rock mass
properties relative to stope and development stability and support.
The Q-value gives a description of the rock mass stability of an underground opening in jointed
rock masses. High Q-values indicates good stability and low values means poor stability. Based
on 6 parameters the Q-value is calculated using the following equation:
𝑅𝑄𝐷 𝐽𝑟 𝐽𝑤
𝑄= × ×
𝐽𝑛 𝐽𝑎 𝑆𝑅𝐹
The six parameters are:
RQD : Degree of jointing (Rock Quality Designation)
Jn : Joint set number
Jr : Joint roughness number
Ja : Joint alteration number
Jw : Joint water reduction factor
SRF : Stress Reduction Factor
ROCK MASS CONDITION AT THE PORTAL
Rock mass properties have been obtained from observation visual and field measurement.
Figure 1 and 2 will describe about rock mass condition at the portal.

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Figure 1. Rock mass condition on face
Figure 2. Illustrating of rock mass condition

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INTACT ROCK STRENGTH
For determined field estimates uniaxial compressive strength on intact rock properties, will using
rock hammer to estimates the strength based on figure 3. Some sample of rock was taken to the
test.
Figure 3 Field estimates of the uniaxial compressive strength of intact rock pieces
Table 1 Geological hammer test
Item Description Grade Term

Specimen can be fractured with a single blow from geological
Sample 1 R3 Medium Strong
hammer
Specimen requires more than one blow of geological hammer to

Sample 2 R4 Strong
fracture it
Sample 3 Specimen requires many blows of geological hammer to fracture it R5 Very Strong

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(a) (b)
(c)
Figure 4 (a) Medium strong R3 (b) Very Strong R5 (c) Strong R4
ROCK QUALITY DESIGNATION (RQD)

RQD will therefore be a percentage between 0 and 100. If 0 is used in the Q-formula, it will give
a Q-value of 0 and therefore all RQD-values between 0 and 10 are increased to 10 when
calculating the Q-value. For determined RQD value is estimnated from the number of joints per
m3. The following formula may be used (Palmstorm, 2005) :
RQD = 110 – 2.5 Jv
Where Jv is the number of joints per m3

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Table 2 Estimates RQD Value by number of joints

Rock Zone Jv RQD Quality
Medium Strong - Strong Rock Zone 15 72.5 Fair
Very Strong Rock Zone 5 97.5 Excellent
Based on the formula, the number of joints per m3 for each RQD-class is shown in Table 2.
JOINT SET NUMBER (Jn)

Shape and size of the blocks in a rock mass depend on the joint geometry. Joints within a joint
set will be nearly parallel to one another and will display a characteristic joint spacing. Joints that
do not occur systematically or that have a spacing of several meters are called random joints.
However, the effect of spacing strongly depends on the span or height of the underground
opening. If more than one joint belonging to a joint set appears in the underground opening, it has
an effect on the stability and should be regarded as a joint set. The number of Jn is not the same
as the number of joint sets. Jn value describe on figure 5
Figure 5 Jn value according to number of joint set
Table 3 Joint set number from observation face

Set Number Description Strike Dip
1 Fault Joints 30° - 50° 75° - 85°
2 Laminated Joints 55° 5°
According figure one Jn value is 4 because there is two tipe of joint set.

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JOINT ROUGHNESS NUMBER (Jr)

Joint friction depends on the nature of the joint wall surfaces, if they are undulating, planar, rough
or smooth. The joint roughness number describes these conditions and is estimated from figure
6 and 7.
All joint sets at a location must be evaluated with regards to Jr. When calculating the Q-value, the
Jr-value for the most unfavourable joint set concerning stability of the excavation must be used,
i.e., use Jr of the joint set where shear is most likely to occur.
Figure 6 Joint roughness number

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Figure 7 Example joint wall surface

According to figure 8 for medium strong rock type there is laminated joint with joint surface
Smooth planar (Jr = 1) and very strong rock is slickensided planar (Jr = 0.5)
(a) (b)
Figure 8 (a) Medium strong rock (b) Very strong rock

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JOINT ALTERATION NUMBER (Ja)

In addition to the joint roughness the joint infill is significant for joint friction. When considering
joint infill, two factors are important; thickness and strength. These factors depend on the mineral
composition. In the determination of a joint alteration number, the joint infill is divided into three
categories (“a”, “b” and “c”) based on thickness and degree of rock wall contact when sheared
along the joint plane, please see Figure 9 and 10 for illustration and detailed description.
Figure 9 Joint alteration number Ja

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Figure 10 Joint with and without rock wall contact
For medium strong and very strong rock the type of joint is rock wall contact and there is sandy
clay coating in the joints, describe at figure 11. According this condition joint alteration number is
Ja = 3.
Figure 11 Clay coating in the joints for every rock

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JOINT WATER REDUCTION FACTOR (JW)

Joint water may soften or wash out the mineral infill and thereby reduce the friction on the joint
planes. Water pressure may reduce the normal stress on the joint walls and cause the blocks to
shear more easily.
A determination of the joint water reduction factor is based on inflow and water pressure observed
in an underground opening, see Table 5. The lowest Jw-values (Jw< 0.2) represent large stability
problems.
Figure 12 Joint water reduction factor

There is medium flow water come out from joint in the floor, very strong rock type exposed by the
water flow, it is describe at figure 12. According this condition Joint water reduction factor
Jw = 0.66.
Figure 12 Joint water reduction factor

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STRESS REDUCTION FACTOR (SRF)

In general, SRF describes the relation between stress and rock strength around an underground
opening. The effects of stresses can usually be observed in an underground opening as spalling,
slabbing, deformation, squeezing, dilatancy and block release. However, some time may pass
before the stress phenomena are visible.
Both stresses in and strength of the rock mass can be measured, and SRF can then be calculated
from the relation between the rock uniaxial compressive strength (σc) and the major principal
stress (σ1) or the relation between the maximum tangential stress σθ and σc in massive rock.
During the planning phase of an underground excavation, SRF can be stipulated from the
overburden and topographic features or general experiences from the same geological and
geographical region.
Whereas intensive spalling and rock burst may occur immediately after excavation, slower
deformations like growth of new joints or plastic deformation of weak rock masses may take
several days, weeks or months after excavation to form. In such cases an SRF-value determined
from mapping the underground opening immediately after excavation may be incorrect. In order
to determine SRF, the category must be determined first before the parameter value can be
determined from the description given in Figure 13.
Table 4 Strength reduction factor value calculation

Unit Weight
Rock Zone Depth (m) σ1 (MPa) σc (MPa) σc / σ1
(Kg/m3)
Medium Strong - Strong Rock
2800 50 1.372 75 55
Zone
Very Strong Rock Zone 2800 50 1.372 175 128
According table 4, SRF value of medium strong and very strong rock is SRF 1.

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Figure 13 Stress Reduction Factor Value (SRF)

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Table 5 Q-value of rock mass condition on portal

Rock Zone RQD Jn Jr Ja Jw SRF Q- Value
Medium Strong - Strong
72.5 4 1 3 0.66 1 4.0
Rock Zone
Very Strong Rock Zone 97.5 4 0.5 3 0.66 1 2.7
According Figure 15, rock mass condition on face is Poor – Fair.
Figure 14 Rock Mass Quality Graph Q System

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Figure 15 Permanent support recommendations based on Q values and Height / ESR
In addition to the rock mass quality (the Q-value) two other factors are decisive for the support
design in underground openings and caverns. These factors are the safety requirements and the
dimensions, i.e., the span or height of the underground opening. Generally there will be an increasing
need for support with increasing span and increasing wall height. Safety requirements will depend on
the use (purpose) of the excavation. A road tunnel or an underground power house will need a higher
level of safety than a water tunnel or a temporary excavation in a mine. To express safety
requirements, a factor called ESR (Excavation Support Ratio) is used.
A low ESR value indicates the need for a high level of safety while higher ESR values indicate that a
lower level of safety will be acceptable. Requirements and building traditions in each country may lead
to other ESR-values than those given in Table 7. It is recommended to use ESR = 1.0 when Q ≤0.1
for the types of excavation B, C and D. The reason for that is that the stability problems may be severe
with such low Q-values, perhaps with risk for cave-in. In addition to the span (or wall height) ESR gives
the “Equivalent dimension” in the following way :
𝑆𝑝𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟

𝐸𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑑𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 =
𝐸𝑆𝑅
4.9 𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟
=
1.6
= 3.06

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Figure 16 Type of excavation / ESR value

The Q-value and the Equivalent dimension will be decisive for the permanent support design. In
the support chart shown in Figure 15, the Q-values are plotted along the horizontal axis and the
Equivalent dimension along the vertical axis on the left hand side.
The support chart gives an average of the empirical data from examined cases. In some cases
the rock support represents a conservative magnitude of support, while in other cases cave in
occurred during construction or years later, when the underground excavations were in service.
For a given combination of Q-value and Equivalent dimension, a given type of support has been
used and the support chart has been divided into areas according to type of support.
The support chart indicates what type of support is used in terms of the centre to centre spacing
for rock bolts and the thickness of sprayed concrete. It also indicates the energy absorption of the
fibre reinforced sprayed concrete, as well as the bolt length and design of reinforced ribs of
sprayed concrete. Support recommendations given in the chart are general and in certain
especially difficult cases, an increase in the amount or type of support may be relevant.
According figure 15 recommendation support for portal is Fibre reinforced sprayed concrete with
energy absorbtion in shotcrete is 700 Joule install Rock bolting with length 2.4 meter with spacing
1.6 meter.

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CONCLUSION
1. The rock strength of all rock is type R3 – R5 (Medium strong – Very Strong), due to not
recommended to excavate portal with small excavator, will require to much effort and not
efficient.
2. Rock mass condition of portal is Poor until Fair, although strength of rock is very strong, this
condition due to there is structure (Joint and laminated), filling clay material and water flow.
3. Recommendation support for portal is Fibre reinforced sprayed concrete with energy
absorbtion is 700 Joule thickness 9 -12 cm and install Rock bolting with length 2.4 meter with
spacing 1.6 meter.


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JCHX & FOCON CONSORTIUM

MINING CONTRACTOR & SERVICES

JCHX & FOCON CONSORTIUM