Volume 39 (2017): Edition 3 (September 2017)

The aim of this paper was to find an answer to the question about the possibility of using steel welded mesh in building the retaining walls of gabion baskets. In light of the currently used gabion structure solutions, among which double-woven mesh is much more popular, the focus was put on the possibility of using welded mesh. A numerical analysis was conducted to examine the behavior of welded and woven mesh subjected to various loads and the results obtained for both types of mesh were directly compared. The maximal displacement in mesh nodes was admitted as the measurement of the system behavior (in the case of both undamaged and damaged mesh).

Steel structures for a conveyance guiding system are subjected to prolonged, intense corrosion during their operation leading to a considerable loss of material and structure capacity reduction. Shaft guides are made of closed profiles welded from hot-rolled channel sections. These profiles are categorized as class 1 cross-sections according to Eurocode 3, which means that they are resistant to local instability upon bending [1]. With an increase in the corrosion loss of the guides, the inertia moment of the cross-section is reduced. The resistance of profiles to local buckling is also reduced. However, calculations for local stability in guides upon bending are not required by the local Polish regulations on the operation of conveyance in shafts [2]. The question is whether this constitutes a shortcoming and risk for safe operation. Calculations according to steel construction standards [1] supported by numerical simulation were used to evaluate shaft steelwork guides resistance to buckling and their sensitivity to corrosion loss. It was shown that the guides of corrosion loss of 52–63%, depending on profile size, are prone to local buckling.

Static load tests on foundation piles are generally carried out in order to determine load – the displacement characteristic of the pile head. For standard (basic) engineering practices this type of test usually provides enough information. However, the knowledge of force distribution along the pile core and its division into the friction along the shaft and the resistance under the base can be very useful. Such information can be obtained by strain gage pile instrumentation [1]. Significant investigations have been completed on this technology, proving its utility and correctness [8], [10], [12]. The results of static tests on instrumented piles are not easy to interpret. There are many factors and processes affecting the final outcome. In order to understand better the whole testing process and soil-structure behavior some investigations and numerical analyses were done. In the paper, real data from a field load test on instrumented piles is discussed and compared with numerical simulation of such a test in similar conditions. Differences and difficulties in the results interpretation with their possible reasons are discussed. Moreover, the authors used their own analytical solution for more reliable determination of force distribution along the pile. The work was presented at the XVII French-Polish Colloquium of Soil and Rock Mechanics, Łódź, 28–30 November 2016.

The paper presents the characteristics of seismic tremors and rockbursts that occurred between 2001 and 2015. The characteristics are based on a general description of the geological structure of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin (USCB). The level of seismic activity in the analysed period changed a number of times and depended on the intensity of mining works and diverse mining and geological conditions in each of the five regions where tremors occurred (Bytom Trough, Main Saddle, Main Trough, Kazimierz Trough, and Jejkowice and Chwałowice Troughs) and which belong to various structural units of the Upper Silesia. It was found out that in the case of rockbursts the phenomena were recorded in three regions. These are: Main Saddle, Bytom Trough, and Jejkowice and Chwałowice Troughs. The so called Regional Rockburst Indicator (RWT) was estimated for each of the regions where the rockbursts had been recorded. The obtained values of RWT are presented against the Probability of RockBurst (PT) in a given area.

The effect of magnetic field dependent (MFD) viscosity on thermal convection in a horizontal ferromagnetic fluid layer has been investigated numerically. A correction is applied to Sunil et al. [24] which is very important in order to predict the correct behavior of MFD viscosity. Linear stability analysis has been carried out for stationary convection. The MFD viscosity parameter δ as well as the measure of nonlinearity of magnetization M₃, both have a stabilizing effect on the system. Numerical results are also obtained for large values of magnetic parameter M₁ and predicted graphically.

In the underground mines of the Legnica–Głogów Copper District (LGOM) the main way to protect the room excavation is the use of a rock bolt support. For many years, it has proven to be an efficient security measure in excavations which met all safety standards and requirements. The article presents the consumption of the rock bolt support in the Mining Department “Polkowice–Sieroszowice” in the years 2010–2015 as well as the number of bolt supports that were used to secure the excavations. In addition, it shows the percentage of bolt supports that were used to conduct rebuilding work and cover the surface of exposed roofs. One of the factors contributing to the loss of the functionality of bolt supports is corrosion whose occurrence may lead directly to a reduction in the diameter of rock bolt support parts, in particular rods, bearing plates and nuts. The phenomenon of the corrosion of the bolt support and its elements in underground mining is an extremely common phenomenon due to the favorable conditions for its development in mines, namely high temperature and humidity, as well as the presence of highly aggressive water. This involves primarily a decrease in the capacity of bolt support construction, which entails the need for its strengthening, and often the need to perform the reconstruction of the excavation.

The article presents an alternative for steel bearing plates, namely plates made using the spatial 3D printing technology. Prototype bearing plates were printed on a 3D printer Formiga P100 using the “Precymit” material. The used printing technology was SLS (Selective Laser Sintering), which is one of the most widely used technologies among all the methods of 3D printing for the short series production of the technical parts of the final product.

The article presents the stress–strain characteristic of the long expansion connected rock bolt support OB25 with a length of 3.65 m. A rock bolt support longer than 2.6 m is an additional bolt support in excavations, and it is increasingly frequently used to reinforce roofs and in rebuilding the underground mines of KGHM Polish Copper S.A. In order to conduct the laboratory tests that are most suitable for the mine conditions, and yet are carried out on a laboratory test facility, the Authors used a steel cylinder with an external diameter of 102 mm and a length of 600 mm, which was filled with a core of rock (dolomite) from the roofs of the mine workings.

In addition the maximum load that took over the bolt support made of rods and connected with sleeves was determined. For the initial tension, the elastic and plastic range of the maximal displacements, which were measured by the rope encoder, were determined. The statical tests of the expansion rock bolt support were carried out at the laboratory of the Department of Underground Mining in simulated mine conditions. The test facility enables the study of the long bolt rods on a geometric scale of 1:1 for the different ways of fixing. The aim of the laboratory research was to obtain the stress–strain characteristics, of the long expansion rock bolt support with a steel bearing plate and a plate printed on a 3D printer.

The paper presents the identification methodology of anisotropic criteria based on triaxial test results. The considered material is varved clay – a sedimentary soil occurring in central Poland which is characterized by the so-called “layered microstructure”. The strength examination outcomes were identified by standard triaxial tests. The results include the estimated peak strength obtained for a wide range of orientations and confining pressures. Two models were chosen as potentially adequate for the description of the tested material, namely Pariseau and its conjunction with the Jaeger weakness plane. Material constants were obtained by fitting the model to the experimental results. The identification procedure is based on the least squares method. The optimal values of parameters are searched for between specified bounds by sequentially decreasing the distance between points and reducing the length of the searched range. For both considered models the optimal parameters have been obtained. The comparison of theoretical and experimental results as well as the assessment of the suitability of selected criteria for the specified range of confining pressures are presented.

In the case of a two-phase medium – such as the soil, which consists of an elastic skeleton and is filled with pore fluids – stress and strain within the medium are dependent on both phases. Similarly, in the case of heat transfer, heat is conducted through the two phases at different rates, with an additional heat transfer between the phases. In the classical approach to modelling a porous medium, it is assumed that the fluid filling the pore space is water, which is incompressible. In the case of gas, the volume of which is strongly dependent on temperature and pressure, one should take this behavior into account in the constitutive relations for the medium. This work defines the physical relations of a two-phase medium and provides heat transfer equations, constructed for a porous, elastic skeleton with fluid-filled pores, which may be: liquid, gas, or mixture of liquid and a gas in non-isothermal conditions. The paper will present constitutive relations derived from the laws of irreversible thermodynamics, assuming that pores are filled with either a liquid or a gas. These relations, in the opinion of the authors, may be used as the basis for the construction of a model of the medium filled partly with a liquid and partly with a gas. It includes the possibility of independent heat transfer through any given two-phase medium phase, with the transfer of heat between the phases.