The Group

ABOUT THE GROUP

The UBC Geomechanics Group, at the department of Mining & Mineral Process Engineering of the University of British Columbia, is an applied research group. The major research areas are rock mechanics and mine backfill: the design of mine structure is the major area of study. Over the past ten years, our group has developed many mine design tools (design curves). Most of the design curves were derived from extensive field practice data. The design curves are derived from the factors critical to the stability of the underground structures such as stopes or pillars.  These factors include excavation geometry, rock mass quality, prevailing structure, rate of excavation, stress levels, blasting influences, production constraints among others. Research projects undertaken to date include:

• Cable bolt support requirements for hanging walls of open stopes (S. Nickson)
• Pillar strengths and subsequent sizing thereof (P. Lunder)
• Definition stope wall stability employing modifications to existing hydraulic radius (D. Milne)
• Quantification of dilution employing the modified stability graph method (L. Clark)
• Development of fiberglass cable bolts (P.Mah)
• Span design for entry-type excavations (B.Lang)
• Sill mat design and loading (K. Marcinyshyn)
• Neural networks applied to geomechanics (L.Miller-Tait)

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