A thermal stress loading technique for large-sized hot dry rock mechanical tests

Testing of large-sized specimens is becoming increasingly important in deep underground rock mechanics and engineering.In traditional mechanical loading,stresses on large-sized specimens are achieved by large host frames and hydraulic pumps,which could lead to great investment.Low-cost testing machines clearly always have great appeal.In this study,a new approach is proposed using thermal expansion stress to load rock specimens,which may be particularly suitable for tests of deep hot dry rock with high temperatures.This is a different technical route from traditional mechanical loading through hydraulic pressure.For the rock mechanics test system of hot dry rock that already has an investment in heating systems,this technology may reduce the cost of the loading subsystem by fully utilizing the temperature changes.This paper presents the basic principle and a typical design of this technical solution.Preliminary feasibility analysis is then conducted based on numerical simulations.Although some technical details still need to be resolved,the feasibility of this loading approach has been preliminarily confirmed.

Using deep neural networks coupled with principal component analysis for ore production forecasting at open-pit mines

Ore production is usually affected by multiple influencing inputs at open-pit mines.Nevertheless,the complex nonlinear relationships between these inputs and ore production remain unclear.This becomes even more challenging when training data(e.g.truck haulage information and weather conditions)are massive.In machine learning(ML)algorithms,deep neural network(DNN)is a superior method for processing nonlinear and massive data by adjusting the amount of neurons and hidden layers.This study adopted DNN to forecast ore production using truck haulage information and weather conditions at open-pit mines as training data.Before the prediction models were built,principal component analysis(PCA)was employed to reduce the data dimensionality and eliminate the multicollinearity among highly correlated input variables.To verify the superiority of DNN,three ANNs containing only one hidden layer and six traditional ML models were established as benchmark models.The DNN model with multiple hidden layers performed better than the ANN models with a single hidden layer.The DNN model outperformed the extensively applied benchmark models in predicting ore production.This can provide engineers and researchers with an accurate method to forecast ore production,which helps make sound budgetary decisions and mine planning at open-pit mines.

Solution to the Horizontal Crossing Problem of Transportation System at Key Points in Open-Pit Mines

In order to reduce the horizontal crossing transportation problems between coal trucks and stripping trucks,large and small vehicles,and transport trucks and belt conveyors at key points of open pit mine in production,the separate transportation mode of underpass bridge and overpass steel trestle is proposed to optimize the open pit development transportation system,so as to solve the practical problems that the horizontal cross of transport vehicles causes vehicle blockage,affects production schedule and production safety.The results show that the horizontal crossing road can be changed into a separate type of overpass steel trestle,which can realize the classified transportation of large and small vehicles,reduce the traffic density,make vehicles with different functions go their own way,eliminate the hidden danger of traffic accidents,and improve the production efficiency.

Distribution and exploration direction of medium-and large-sized marine carbonate gas fields in Sichuan Basin, SW China

Based on the analysis of the basic characteristics of medium-and large-sized marine gas fields in Sichuan Basin, combined with the division of major reservoir forming geological units in the marine craton stage and their control on key hydrocarbon accumulation factors, the distribution law of medium-and large-sized marine carbonate gas fields in the basin was examined and the exploration direction was pointed out. Through the analysis of the periodic stretching-uplifting background, it is concluded that five large scale paleo-rifts, three large scale paleo-uplifts, five large scale paleo erosion surfaces were formed in the marine craton stage of Sichuan Basin, and these geological units control the key reservoir forming factors of medium and large sized gas fields:(1) Large-scale paleo-rifts control the distribution of high-quality hydrocarbon generation centers.(2) The margin of large-scale paleo-rifts, high position of paleo-uplifts and paleo erosion surfaces control the distribution of high-quality reservoirs.(3) Large-scale paleo-rifts, paleo-uplifts, paleo erosion surfaces and present tectonic setting jointly control the formation of many types of large and medium-sized traps.(4) Natural gas accumulation is controlled by the inheritance evolution of traps in large geological units. Based on the comparative analysis of the distribution characteristics of medium-and large-sized gas fields and large geological units, it is proposed that the superimposition relationship between single or multiple geological units and the present structure controls the distribution of medium-and large-sized gas fields, and the "three paleo" superimposed area is the most advantageous. According to the above rules, the main exploration fields and directions of medium-and large-sized marine carbonate gas fields in Sichuan Basin include periphery of Deyang-Anyue paleo-rift, eastern margin of Longmenshan paleo-rift, margins of Kaijiang-Liangping oceanic trough and Chengkou-western Hubei oceanic trough, the high part of the subaqueous paleo-uplifts around Central Sichuan, paleo erosion surfaces of the top boundary of Maokou Formation in eastern and southern Sichuan Basin, paleo erosion surfaces of the top boundary of the Leikoupo Formation in central and western Sichuan Basin.

Modeling and simulation of 3D thermal stresses of large-sized castings in solidification processes

When heavy machines and large scaled receiver system of communication equipment are manufactured, it always needs to produce large-sized steel castings, aluminum castings and etc. Some defects of hot cracking by thermal stress often appear during solidification process as these castings are produced, which results in failure of castings. Therefore predicting the effects of technological parameters for production of castings on the thermal stress during solidification process becomes an important means. In this paper, the mathematical models have been established and numerical calculation of temperature fields by using finite difference method (FDM) and then thermal stress fields by using finite element method (FEM) during solidification process of castings have been carried out. The technological parameters of production have been optimized by the results of calculation and the defects of hot cracking have been eliminated. Modeling and simulation of 3D thermal stress during solidification processes of large-sized castings provided a scientific basis, which promoted further development of advanced manufacturing technique.

Rolling Fatigue Test of Large-Sized UHPC Member for Cable Stayed Bridge

Recently, research strives to apply Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC) to large-sized structures owing to its remarkable mechanical performance and durability compared to normal concrete. The Korea Institute of Construction Technology proposed SuperBridge800, an edge girder type UHPC cable stayed bridge with central span of 800 m, through its detailed design. The bridge is designed to be erected through the connection of precast UHPC segments. The precast UHPC segment is monolithically composed of one ribbed deck slab and edge girders at each side. The connection between the precast segments is achieved by steel bars at the edge girders and by UHPC cast-in-place wet joint at the slab. Despite of the outstanding mechanical performance of UHPC, the fabrication of large-sized members is a difficult task since UHPC hardens faster than normal concrete and requires a special curing process. Therefore, the constructability of large-sized UHPC segment should be secured to achieve SuperBridge800. Besides, the performance of the connection between segments should also be guaranteed, especially in terms of the fatigue performance of the UHPC cast-in-place joint, which constitutes a weak point. To that goal, two half-scaled UHPC segments are manufactured and the constructability is examined by fabricating a large-sized UHPC member connected with respect to the design conditions. This study conducts rolling fatigue test on the so-fabricated large-sized UHPC member. Rolling fatigue test is carried out up to 2 million cycles considering actual vehicle load at each center and quarter points of the member. The test results confirm that the service limit state is satisfied.

Experimental investigation and numerical simulation of large-sized aluminum tube extrusion forming

Large-sized aluminum tube has big section effect, aspect ratio and thin thickness, so that the extrusion technology is complex and the large specific pressure is generated in extrusion cavity. The temperature variation and velocity effect is difficult to control. The extrusion forming of large-sized aluminum tube was researched and simulated. Three-dimensional thermo-mechanical coupled finite element model was constructed and appropriate boundary conditions were given out. The results show that large-sized aluminum tube can be formed by isothermal extrusion through controlling the extrusion velocity and founding the relationship between extrusion velocity and extrusion temperature.

A method of manufacturing process modeling based on activity network for large-sized and complex products

Simulation technique is an efficient approach to realize the planning and scheduling of manufacturing process of products. An appropriate and efficient manufacturing process model is the basis and key of manufacturing process simulation. By analyzing the features of large-sized and complex products, a method of manufacturing process modeling based on activity network is presented and a mapping algorithm of translating BOM/BOP into the manufacturing process model is designed in detail.

Study on the Application of Real-Time Drone Monitoring in Ordos Open-Pit Coal Mine

In the process of intelligent mine construction in open-pit mine, in order to improve the safety monitoring ability of mine transportation system, solve the problems of large human interference and blind Angle detection by existing conventional monitoring methods, this paper establishes an open-pit mine monitoring data set, and proposes a real-time intelligent monitoring model based on UAV. The reasoning component with strong computing power and low power consumption is selected, and the lightweight object detection model is selected for the experiment. A quantitative standard of dynamic energy consumption detection by evaluation algorithm is proposed. Through experimental comparison, it is found that YOLOv4-tiny has the highest comprehensive grade in detection accuracy, speed, energy consumption and other aspects, which is suitable for application in the above model.

Optimization model of GNSS/pseudolites structure design for open-pit mine positioning

A new pseudolites （PLs） structure optimization model of global navigation satellite system （GNSS）/PLs integration positioning system used in deep open-pit mine was presented. Position dilution of precision （Pdop） and reliability were selected as the optimization indicators to build a multi-objective optimization model to decide the optimum PLs location. A scheme was designed by establishing a four-dimensional model taking azimuth （a）, elevation angle （e） and epoch （t） of satellites as the input independent variables and Pdop as the dependent variable to calculate the optimum PLs location zone considering the real circumstances. And then the ultimate PLs location can be fixed by testing the curves of Pdop along time. A field collected Trimble R8 GPS data set in China University of Mining and Technology （CUMT） campus was used for the model test to show the effectiveness, and the proposed PLs optimum design scheme was used at the west open-pit mine of Fushun mining group Co., Ltd., in China, better Pdop and reliability have been achieved for the integration system. Both experiments show that the proposed scheme is excellent in designing GNSS/PLs system which is helpful for improving the performance of the positioning system and reducing the cost.

Modified algorithm of combined GPS/GLONASS precise point positioning for applications in open-pit mines

A modified algorithm of combined GPS/GLONASS precise point positioning （GG-PPP） was developed by decreasing the number of unknowns to be estimated so that accurate position solutions can be achieved in the case of less number of visible satellites. The system time difference between GPS and GLONASS （STDGG） and zenith tropospheric delay （ZTD） values were firstly estimated in an open sky condition using the traditional GG-PPP algorithm. Then, they were used as a priori known values in the modified algorithm instead of estimating them as unknowns. The proposed algorithm was tested using observations collected at BJFS station in a simulated open-pit mine environment. The results show that the position filter converges much faster to a stable value in all three coordinate components using the modified algorithm than using the traditional algorithm. The modified algorithm achieves higher positioning accuracy as well. The accuracy improvement in the horizontal direction and vertical direction reaches 69% and 95% at a satellite elevation mask angle of 50°, respectively.

Failure characteristics and its influencing factors of talus-derived rock mass during open-pit mining

The failure characteristic of talus-derived rock mass continues to challenge quantitative hazard assessments in open-pit mining. Physical model test was used to assess the failure modes and mechanisms on talus-derived rock mass. The different types of failure modes of the talus-derived rock mass were introduced and a possible failure mechanism relation between the failure zone and the structure of the talus-derived rock mass was also shown. The physical model test results indicate that the rainfall has significant influence on the stability and failure modes of talus-derived rock mass during open-pit mining. The development of the seepage area caused by rainfall initiates the localized failure in that particular area, and the initiation of localized instability is mainly induced by stress changes concentrated in the seepage area.

Slope stability of reclaimed coal mines through a new water filling index

A common reclamation practice for closed coal surface mines is filling them with water to form pit lakes.The creation and sustainability of these lakes are significantly affected by the stability of the corresponding slopes.The present study provides a general framework for analyzing the water filling’s effect on slope stability based on a new water filling index,which can indirectly consider the factors affecting the process and efficiently quantify the filling speed’s influence.The assumptions of the proposed approach are thoroughly discussed,and the range of the water filling index is identified.Furthermore,the safety factor is calculated using the finite element method with the shear strength reduction technique during the filling process for various conditions(soil properties,slope geometry,hydraulic conditions,and water filling speed).Results are presented as normalized stability charts for practical use.During the water filling,the stability gradually decreases until the reservoir reaches a critical level of 10%e40%of the total height;it then increases to even more stable conditions than the initial one.Overall,the present analysis allows for the preliminary stability evaluation of a coal mine during the formation of a pit lake and the appropriate quantification of the water filling’s effect.

Comprehensive analysis of multiple machine learning techniques for rock slope failure prediction

In this study,twelve machine learning(ML)techniques are used to accurately estimate the safety factor of rock slopes(SFRS).The dataset used for developing these models consists of 344 rock slopes from various open-pit mines around Iran,evenly distributed between the training(80%)and testing(20%)datasets.The models are evaluated for accuracy using Janbu's limit equilibrium method(LEM)and commercial tool GeoStudio methods.Statistical assessment metrics show that the random forest model is the most accurate in estimating the SFRS(MSE=0.0182,R2=0.8319)and shows high agreement with the results from the LEM method.The results from the long-short-term memory(LSTM)model are the least accurate(MSE=0.037,R2=0.6618)of all the models tested.However,only the null space support vector regression(NuSVR)model performs accurately compared to the practice mode by altering the value of one parameter while maintaining the other parameters constant.It is suggested that this model would be the best one to use to calculate the SFRS.A graphical user interface for the proposed models is developed to further assist in the calculation of the SFRS for engineering difficulties.In this study,we attempt to bridge the gap between modern slope stability evaluation techniques and more conventional analysis methods.

High precision slope deformation monitoring model based on the GPS/Pseudolites technology in open-pit mine

As the number and geometric intensity of visual satellites are susceptible to large slopes in open-pit mines, we propose integration of GPS/Pseudolites (PLs) positioning technology which can increase the number of visible satellites, strengthen the geometric intensity of satellites and provide a precision solution for slope deformation monitoring. However, the un-modeled systematic errors are still the main limiting factors for high precision baseline solution. In order to eliminate the un-modeled systematic error, the Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) theory is employed. The multi-scale decomposition and reconstruction architecture are defined here on the basis of the EMD theory and the systematic error mitigation model is demonstrated as well. A standard of the scale selection for the systematic error elimination is given in terms of the mean of the accumulated standardized modes. Thereafter, the scheme of the GPS/PLs baseline solution based on the EMD is suggested. The simulation and experiment results show that the precision factors (DOP) are reduced greatly when PLs is located suitably. The proposed scheme dramatically improves the reliability of ambiguity resolution and the precision of baseline vector after systematic error being eliminated, and provides an effective model for high precision slope deformation monitoring in open-pit mine.

Dynamic phase-mining optimization in open-pit metal mines

Three important aspects of phase-mining must be optimized:the number of phases,the geometry and location of each phase-pit(including the ultimate pit),and the ore and waste quantities to be mined in each phase.A model is presented,in which a sequence of geologically optimum pits is first generated and then dynamically evaluated to simultaneously optimize the above three aspects,with the objective of maximizing the overall net present value.In this model,the dynamic nature of the problem is fully taken into account with respect to both time and space,and is robust in accommodating different pit wall slopes and different bench heights.The model is applied to a large deposit consisting of 2044 224 blocks and proved to be both efficient and practical.

Effect of Temperature and Ram Speed on Isothermal Extrusion for Large-size Tube with Piece-wing

Heat energy change during the extrusion of 7075 aluminium alloy large-size tube with piece-wing in a container was analyzed. Extrusion load vs ram displacement diagrams and exit temperature vs ram displacement diagrams at various speeds were obtained by 3D FEM simulation. Results show that the exit temperature becomes higher as the ram speed and displacement increase. For large-size tube with piece-wing, there is certainly a curve of ram speed decreasing with increasing ram displacement, which enables isothermal extrusion to be achieved. Therefore,an attempt was made to divide the working stroke into five different zones. Each of them has a preset speed that decreases from the ram displacement beginning to the ending. And then, new exit temperature vs ram displacement diagram was obtained by 3D FEM simulation for the five different speeds. It is shown that the variation of exit temperature is very small. Through the above research, a basic method for realizing isothermal extrusion of 7075 large-size tube with piece-wing was obtained, that is, the working stroke was divided into several different zones with a decreasing speed during extrusion, each zonest speed was real-time adjusted on the feedback signal of exit temperature by proportional hydraulic valve through closed-loop control. The engineering experiment verification was carried out on 100 MN aluminium extrusion press with oil-driven double action. The experimental results of the exit temperature agrees with the simulation ones. The achievements of this study may serve as a significant guide to the practice of the relevant processes, particularly for isothermal extrusion. The verified method has been used in the design and manufacture of 125 MN aluminium extrusion press with oil-driven double action.

Application of open-pit and underground mining technology for residual coal of end slopes

Given the conditions of residual coal from the boundary of a flat dipping open-pit mine,which uses strip areas mining and inner dumping with slope-covering,we propose an open-pit and underground integrated mining technology for residual coal of end slopes.In the proposal a conveyance road and ventilation conveyance near the slope are built,corresponding to the pit mining area and the surface coal mine dump,as well as an interval haulage tunnel and air-inlet tunnel.The outcome shows that such mining method may reduce the effect to slope stability from underground mining,it does not affect the dumping advance and has a high recovery rate of residual coal resources.The working face is timbered by single hydraulic props,transported by a scraper conveyor and supported by coal walls.This method of mining is one of layered top coal caving,with high resource recovery,low production cost where positive economic benefit can be realized.