A Coal Mine Dump Stability Analysis—A Case Study

Ashutosh Kainthola, Dhananjai Verma, S. S. Gupte, T. N. Singh

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DOI: 10.4236/gm.2011.11001                

Abstract

The present paper mainly deals with a case study of failed dump slope in western coalfield limited, Nagpur, India. A huge mass of debris flow had happened during the routine the activity of mining. The failed dump had a height of 75 m with 43? slope angle which had slipped forward by 18m. Representative loose dump material samples were collected from the site and tested to determine the physico-mechanical properties of dump material. The dump material consisted of loose fragments and lumps of friable sandstone, shale, clay and carbonaceous shale. To evaluate the condition of failure, a well known, shear strength reduction tech-nique has been applied to achieve the desired factor of safety using two dimensional finite element code. Fi-nally, a economical, sustainable and stable dump angle and height has been suggested for smooth and safe disposal of the dump.

Keywords

Dump Stability, Factor of Safety, Shear Strength Reduction, Wardha Valley

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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