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Slide 5.0Features
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Support

For wedges that require support in order to achieve an acceptable safety factor, three different methods of modeling support are available in Unwedge: bolts, shotcrete and pressure.

  • Bolts - either pattern or spot bolts can be applied, and several commonly
         used bolt types are explicitly modeled (e.g. anchored, grouted dowel, cable
         bolt etc). Multiple bolt patterns can be applied on the perimeter.
  • Shotcrete - one or more layers of shotcrete can be applied anywhere on the
         excavation boundary. The shotcrete layers have user defined thickness and
         strength.
  • Pressure - support can also be modeled as a uniform pressure, applied
         anywhere on the boundary. The pressure option can be used to simulate
         the equivalent applied load of any type of support system.

    Any or all of these support types can be applied to a given model, in any combination.

    Pattern bolts applied to perimeter of cavern.



    Support: 2D Design Views

    Support can be applied to the Perimeter of the excavation and / or to the Ends. To simplify the modeling procedure, the application of Perimeter Support and End Support is done separately, in two different views:
  • Perimeter support can only be added in the Perimeter Support Design View.
  • End support can only be added in the End Support Design View.
    The support design views are 2-dimensional views that display the opening cross-section of your excavation and 2-dimensional projections of the wedges and support. When you select a view, the applicable options for defining the support will be available from the Sidebar or the Support menu.

    Although support is always initially added in the 2-dimensional views, it can be viewed and edited in the 3-dimensional views.

    Perimeter Support Design View only perimeter wedges are visible.



    End Support Design View only end wedges are visible.



    Support: Pattern Bolting

    A regular pattern of bolts can be applied to the excavation with just a few mouse clicks. Patterns can be applied to the Perimeter or Ends of the Excavation. The bolt length, pattern spacing, position, and method of installation (e.g. normal to boundary, radial or at a specified angle) can all be user defined.

    Dialog for specifying pattern bolt parameters (on perimeter).



    Radial pattern of bolts applied to roof wedge.



    Bolt pattern for roof wedge Perspective view.



    Normal bolt pattern applied to end wedge.



    Bolt pattern for end wedge Perspective view.



    Support: Shotcrete

    Shotcrete support can be easily added to the excavation. Shotcrete can be added to the Perimeter or the Ends of the excavation. Multiple layers can be added and each layer can have different properties (thickness, shear strength and unit weight).

    Dialog for assigning shotcrete property type to shotcrete layer.



    Two layers of shotcrete added to support roof wedge.



    Dialog for defining shotcrete properties.



    Support: Pressure

    The Pressure option can be used to model the equivalent support pressure of any type of support system. It could also be used to model any type of general loading, which could be represented as a pressure on the excavation boundary.

  • The pressure can be applied anywhere on the excavation boundary, and the
         force is always applied normal to the boundary.
  • The method of Force Application may be specified as either Active or
         Passive. Passive force application increases the resisting force in the safety
         factor calculation. Active force application decreases the driving force in the
         safety factor calculation.

    Dialog for defining support pressure.



    Pressure is represented by the display of green arrows on the excavation boundary, as shown in the following figure.

    Pressure support applied to roof wedge.


    Support: Spot Bolting

    Individual bolts can be defined with the Spot Bolting option. A spot bolt must initially be added to the model using the 2D support design views. After adding a spot bolt, the position and orientation of the spot bolt can be edited in the 3-dimensional views. Spot bolts can be placed at any orientation and do not have to be aligned with the plane of the opening section.

    Editing the position and orientation of a spot bolt in the Perspective view.



    Support: Editing

    Support can easily be edited, if necessary, after it has been added to the model. Right-click options make this particularly convenient. For example, if you right-click the mouse on a support element (e.g. bolts), you will see a popup context menu which presents various editing and display options.

    In the following figure, the right-click option has been used to select a bolt pattern in the 3D perspective view. The popup menu allows you to select various options; for example, you could change the bolt length or the pattern spacing by selecting the Edit Perimeter Bolt Pattern option.

    Editing a bolt pattern.



    Support: Bolt Models

    A variety of different bolt types can be modeled in Unwedge, including:

  • Mechanically anchored
  • Grouted Dowel
  • Cable bolts
  • Swellex
  • Split Sets
  • User Defined

    Bolt Properties dialog.



    A Bolt Orientation Efficiency Factor can be applied to the tensile capacity, to account for the fact that a bolt may not be mobilized in pure tension, but also in shear. In addition, the bolt Shear Strength can be explicitly accounted for with the Shear Strength option.

    Any number of different bolt property types can be created by selecting the Add button in the Bolt Properties dialog. This allows you to define and use multiple bolt types with different properties within the same Unwedge model.

    For complete details about the implementation of bolt properties in Unwedge, see the Theory section in the Unwedge Help system.

    Grouted dowel bolt model.



     
      Support: Bolt Force Diagrams

    A bolt force diagram indicates the potential failure mode of a bolt at any point along its length and the magnitude of the support force which is available. The force diagrams are derived from the bolt properties and are used to compute the support force which a bolt applies to a wedge.

    The bolt force diagrams determined by Unwedge can be displayed directly on the bolts, as shown in the figure below. Each failure mode along the bolt length is displayed using a different colour on the force diagram (for example: pullout = green, tensile = red, stripping = blue).

    Display of support force diagrams on bolts.




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