Dynamic buckling mechanism of pillar rockbursts induced by stress waves

Rockbursts are sudden and violent rock failures that can lead to huge production and equipment losses,injury or death of mining workers.Buckling has been regarded as one of the key mechanisms of rockbursts,which are often induced by dynamic loads from mining excavations,such as drilling and blasting in underground mining.The paper attempts to investigate the dynamic buckling mechanism of pillar rockbursts in underground mining,by considering rockbursts as a dynamic stability problem of underground rock structures.The results include:(1) A new explanation of the "sudden and violent" phenomenon of rockbursts,characterized by exponential growth of the amplitudes of transverse displacement responses,even in the presence of rock damping;(2) Identification of the critical role in inducing rockbursts of dynamic loads that bear frequencies approximately double the natural pillar frequency;(3) The greater influence on rockburst occurrence of the amplitude of dynamic component relative to the static component of loads;and(4) Quantification of the relative effects of stress waveform of dynamic loads on pillar rockbursts,which are in decreasing order if other parameters remain constant:rectangular,sinusoidal,and exponential waveforms.Application examples are provided and limitations of the approach are discussed.This research is motivated by the on-going and ubiquitous occurrence of rockbursts in underground excavations all around the world.In contrast to conventional methods that use rock specimens or rock materials to study rockbursts,this investigation emphasizes the structural effects on rockbursts,which has potential applications in hard rock mining engineering.     

Corrosion behavior of carbon composite brick in high alumina slags

The corrosion behavior of carbon composite brick used in blast furnace hearth by CaO-SiO₂-MgO-Al₂O₃-Cr₂O₃-based slag with and without B₂O₃ at different rotation speeds and temperatures was investigated in this work. The radius decrement of the brick increased with the increase of rotation speed, temperature and content of B₂O₃ in slag. Furthermore, the square of the radius decrement of brick changed linearly with the immersion time, indicating that the dissolution of the brick into slag may be controlled by the mass diffusion step. A slag penetration layer or product layer may be firstly formed during the corrosion process of carbon composite brick in slags, and then the components of brick dissolved into the molten slag by diffusing through this layer. The corrosion of the carbon composite brick by B₂O₃-containing slag is much severer than that by slag without B₂O₃ due to the lower viscosity and melting temperature of B₂O₃-containing slag.     

Multiferroic and magnetoelectric properties of Pb0.99[Zr0.45Ti0.47(Ni1/3Sb2/3)0.08]O3–CoFe2O4 multilayer composites fabricated by tape casting

A 2-2 type multiferroic composite device encompassing three CoFe₂O₄ (CFO) layers confined between four Pb_0.99[Zr_0.45Ti_0.47(Ni_1/3Sb_2/3)_0.08]O₃ (PZT) layers was fabricated by tape casting. X-ray diffraction data showed good chemical compatibility between the two phases, whereas Scanning Electron Microscopy imaging also revealed an intimate contact between CFO and PZT layers. Under an applied electric field of 65 kV/cm, this multilayer device shows a saturated polarisation of 7.5 μC/cm² and a strain of 0.12%, whereas under a magnetic field of 10 kOe it exhibits a typical ferromagnetic response and a magnetic moment of 33 emu/g. This device can be electrically poled, after which it exhibits magnetoelectric coupling.     

Synthesis of MgO thin films grown by SILAR technique

Different thickness MgO thin films were grown on the glass substrate by successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method as the first study in literature. X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements demonstrate the cubic MgO structures and samples have (002), and (220) peaks. All film has nanoball structures observed from the scanning electron microscope (SEM) images. The band gap and transmittance values of MgO thin films decrease with increasing thickness. The photoluminescence (PL) spectrum demonstrates that samples have three visible emissions changing with thickness at 381?nm violet emission, 457?nm blue emission and 535?nm green emission. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectrum present confirms the elemental signals from carbon (C), oxygen (O) and magnesium (Mg) atoms in the sample. Both Moss and Herve and Vandamme relations refractive index values n, ε₀, and ε_∞ values and amount of oxygen increase with raising thickness of MgO thin films.     

Numerical modelling of strength and energy release characteristics of pillar-scale coal mass

Coal burst is a manifestation of rapid energy release,which is considered as one of the most critical operational hazards in underground coal mines.This study numerically investigates the effects of discontinuities on the strength and energy release characteristics of coal mass samples under uniaxial compression.The universal distinct element code(UDEC) was used to model pillar-scale coal mass samples that were represented by an assembly of triangular deformable blocks,and pre-existing discontinuities such as bedding planes and cleats were also included in the models.It shows that cleat spacing can have a significant impact on compressive strength and energy release,with both strength and energy release(magnitude and rate) reducing as the number of cleats was increased.This work is one of the first attempts to numerically model and quantify the energy release which occurs during the failure of pillar-scale coal mass samples with varying cleat densities.The insights from the numerical modelling can help to understand the possible energy release mechanisms and associated coal burst potential in changing coal cleat conditions.     

The project-oriented organization and its contribution to innovation

This paper presents a new conceptualization of the project-oriented organization. The project-oriented organization is conceptualized as an entrepreneurial, future- and stakeholder-oriented innovating organization, which uses projects as temporary, task-focused organizations, to define, develop, and implement its strategies, to transform its structure, culture and behavior, and to define and develop new products, services, and business models. The concept of the project-oriented organization consists of the three segments (1) values, (2) structures, and (3) people. For each segment three important areas are described, which characterize a project-oriented organization. The model is theoretically based on a wide spectrum of management disciplines: (1) The orientations in the value segment have been developed in entrepreneurship, strategic management and technology and innovation management; (2) The foundations for the design of the socio-technical artefacts in the structure segment of derived from organizational design, planning and controlling, and ICT systems theory; (3) The foundations for the elements of the human side come from organizational behavior, human resource management, and knowledge management theories. Our model shows a clear linkage to these theories, references key articles, and gives special consideration to empirical studies in the realm of projects, programs, project portfolios, and project-based or project-oriented organizations. Thus, our assumption that the elements of our model are supposed to increase project success, innovation success, and business success is based on empirical evidence.     

Effect of geogrid-reinforcement in granular bases under repeated loading

The thickness of the base plays a crucial role in the stability of pavements and the lack of availability of good quality aggregates is a major concern in India and other countries. Loading on top of the base plays a crucial role in the design of pavements. Usually, the design of the pavement is done for standard axle load, however, in the field, in some of the cases, the vehicles are overloaded which results in a higher wheel load on the pavements. The current paper examines the performance of geogrid reinforced unpaved sections at higher stresses with the primary objective of reducing the thickness of base layer required in the field. Experimental studies were carried out using repeated plate load tests to obtain the optimum depth of placing the geogrid in granular base layer to achieve maximum reduction in rutting of pavement. Resilient deformation behavior of both reinforced and unreinforced sections are obtained and these values are utilized to predict the resilient modulus of the base sections. The paper also discusses the reduction in permanent deformation by the introduction of geogrid. Rut depth reduction studies were carried out in order to compare the performance of reinforced and unreinforced sections. The role played by the reinforcement in reducing the strains on top of the subgrade is studied in detail. A comparison is also carried out to understand the pressure distribution along the base layer and role played by the geogrids in reducing the pressure on the subgrade. Further, values of stress distribution angles were obtained for reinforced and unreinforced sections. It is evident from the studies that geogrids contributed to improved performance as well as reduction in thickness of the aggregate layer.     

The effect of slip casting and spark plasma sintering (SPS) temperature on the transparency of MgAl2O4 spinel

MgAl₂O₄ bulk samples were fabricated by two different approaches to investigate the effect of slip casting and sintering temperature on their transparency. Three MgAl₂O₄ samples containing 1 wt% LiF, as the sintering aid, were prepared by the spark plasma sintering process (SPS) at 1400 °C and 1500 °C, under 100 MPa, for 15 min. Also, another MgAl₂O₄ sample was prepared by slip casting followed by SPS under similar conditions. It was observed that utilizing slip casting led to more transparency (10% in the visible region and 20% in the IR region) due to the more homogeneous structure. It was also observed that by reducing the SPS temperature from 1500 °C to 1400 °C, the transparency increased (20% in the IR region) because of the lower grain growth rate at the lower temperature.     

Low-temperature sintering of Ti1−xCux/3Nb2x/3O2 (x = 0.23) microwave dielectric ceramics with CuO and B2O3 addition

The influence of CuO and B₂O₃ addition on the sintering behavior, microstructure and microwave dielectric properties of Ti_1?xCu_x/3Nb_2x/3O₂ (TCN, x = 0.23) ceramic have been investigated. It was found that the addition of CuO and B₂O₃ successfully reduced the sintering temperature of TCN ceramics from 950 to 875 °C. X-ray diffraction studies showed that addition of CuO-B₂O₃ has no effect on the phase composition. The TCN ceramics with 0.5 wt% CuO-B₂O₃ addition showed a high dielectric constant of 95.63, τ_f value of + 329 ppm/°C and a good Q × f value of 8700 GHz after sintered at 875 °C for 5 h, cofirable with silver electrode.     

Synthesis of MFe2O4 (M=Mg2+, Zn2+, Mn2+) spinel ferrites and their structural,elastic and electron magnetic resonance properties

Structural, elastic and electron magnetic resonance investigations of spinel ferrites with the formula MFe₂O₄ (M = Mg²⁺, Zn²⁺, Mn²⁺) synthesized by the sol-gel auto-combustion method are reported here. XRD patterns revealed the co-existence of secondary phases along with the ferrite phase. The lattice parameter (8.301?Å, 8.366?Å and 8.434?Å) was found to be varying according to the ionic radii of cations. As determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), ZnFe₂O₄ has a comparatively narrow distribution of grain sizes (1.3–3.8?µm) compared to those in MnFe₂O₄ (0.8–4.3?µm) and MgFe₂O₄ (0.3–4.8?µm). The estimated values of average crystallite sizes (17.5?nm, 21.3?nm and 23.3?nm) determined from the X-ray diffraction peaks are considerably less than the average grain sizes (1.3?µm, 1.6?µm and 2.7?µm) estimated from the SEM histograms. The vibrational frequencies in FTIR spectra are in the conformity with the cubic spinel structure and their variation supports the variation of lattice parameter. Equal values of Poission's ratio (0.35) were obtained for the three systems which represent the isotropic behaviour of spinel ferrite systems. The exceptional low value of Lande's g-parameter for ZnFe₂O₄ indicates the dominance of Fe³⁺–O–Fe³⁺ superexchange interaction. Though cation redistribution is possible in the present ferrite systems, the secondary phases existed in these ferrite systems are predominantly influencing the structural, elastic and electron magnetic resonance properties.