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Mining Contract: Real-Time Ground Movement Monitoring for Improved Safety Near Large Excavations Using Distributed Fiber Optic Sensing
Keywords: Ground monitoring systems
Contract #
75D30120C09233Start Date
9/1/2020Research Concept
The current state of ground movement monitoring in active underground mines cannot mostly provide real-time, distributed, continuous, and low-cost data acquisition over a large area within a rock mass. This problem can be addressed via advances in the application of distributed optical fiber sensing technology that has the ability to take real-time measurements; to collect data in an active mine environment and survive potential mining-related interference (blasting shock waves, vibration from mining activities, dust, water, corrosion); to measure ground movement across large and inaccessible areas without the need for multiple measurement sites; and to detect ground movement in scales that directly relate to the safety of mine personnel.Topic Areas
Ground Monitoring
Rock Falls
Contract Status & Impact
This contract is ongoing. For more information on this contract, send a request to mining@cdc.gov.
The main objective of this research is to enhance the safety of miners through real-time, distributed ground movement monitoring using a distributed optical fiber optic sensor with the goal to further the use of fiber optic-based ground movement monitoring for the mining industry, thus improving the safety of mine personnel.
Optical fiber sensors (OFS) have the ability to make continuous strain and temperature measurements in real time. OFS are immune to water damage, corrosion, and high temperatures; however, fiber optic-based ground movement monitoring remains novel to the mining industry. While there are many industrial uses for long-range distributed OFS, the relatively large spatial resolution of such systems (1m in the context of this work) limit their use as strain monitoring in situations where highly localized strains may be applied to the sensing cable. This limitation precludes the use of distributed OFS as a ground movement monitoring device in many mining scenarios, in which grouted boreholes are the likely installation method for coupling the optical fiber to the rock mass, resulting in highly localized strains along the fiber path when displacements along geologic discontinuities (faults, joints, bedding planes) are encountered.
In order to overcome this limitation, research has been conducted to modify existing fiber optic cable designs (consisting of the optical fiber, strength members, and jacket material), resulting in an innovative experimental fiber optic cable for strain monitoring in brittle installation media, such as cement/grout. Laboratory-scale displacement experiments detail the distinct advantage of the modified cable in measuring displacement magnitudes along prefabricated discontinuities in both shear and tension. In these experiments, calibration data for the novel sensor was collected such that discontinuity displacement magnitudes could be estimated from measured optical fiber signals. Optimization of the OFS prototype resulted in a sensor design that is easily installed by a small crew of miners using industry standard procedures.
A large-scale deployment of the OFS was conducted at an active underground room-and-pillar mine with an average depth of 275 m. A total of 1.1km of fiber optic cable was installed within 12 grouted boreholes (maximum depth of 27 m) located around a pillar removal stope (see Figure 1). Continuous ground movement monitoring was and is still being conducted through the removal of six large pillars in close proximity to the installed sensors. Promising strain measurements have been collected from the installed sensors: Firstly, strains associated with the curing of the cement directly after installation provided confidence in the sensors’ ability to monitor strain continuously; secondly, strain measurements from boreholes closest to the removed pillars indicated that minor ground movements have been detected.
Based on the above results, the research efforts are now focused on continuing the monitoring program at the active underground mine and interpreting the collected data in the broader geologic context of the mining area. The continuing data collection efforts are intended to increase the ability of the mine operator to assess the geomechanical stability of the stoping area and access points for ore removal. The collected data will be used to calibrate and validate a mine-scale numerical simulation of the site area, providing the mine operator with advanced excavation planning abilities for similar excavations in the future.

**Figure 1** Left: the room-and-pillar mining area with installed optical fiber sensors in grouted boreholes. Right: Closeup of measurement borehole collar with grouted optical fiber sensors.

See Also
Guide for the Construction of Driven-Rod Ground Beds
Page last reviewed: February 28, 2023
Page last updated: February 14, 2023
Content source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Mining Program
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