• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2023

In this study, the stability of the room-and-pillar underground method was investigated using numerical analysis method. In-situ geotechnical investigation was conducted, and a supporting pattern was selected based on the geotechnical investigation data. For the supporting pattern, Type-1, 2, 3 were selected for each ground condition. A 3D numerical analysis model was developed for effective simulation as the room-and-pillar underground method consist of a pillar and room. As a review of numerical analysis, it was confirmed that the crown settlement, convergence, shotcrete and rock bolt were all stable in all supporting patterns. As a result of the analysis by the construction stage, it was confirmed that excessive stress was generated in the room when the construction stage of forming pillar. So, precise construction is required during the actual construction stage of the pillar formation.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.675-683
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• 2015

The room-and-pillar construction method for underground space is adopted from the room-and-pillar mining method which is one of the most popular underground mining method in the world. Drainage system in the room-and-pillar underground construction method can be similar with the concept of single shell in tunnel because additional reinforcement except the TSL (thin spray-on liner) is not applied in the room-and-pillar construction method. That is, to decrease groundwater level and maintain safety in tunnel, the drainage pin hole inside lining (shotcrete) can be used. However, if total amount of outflow in the underground structure is relatively small or groundwater is not detected, such drainage system will not be useful and cause additional construction cost. In this study, outflow of conventional tunnels in South Korea was investigated and the criteria to determine whether the drainage pin hole is effective was suggested. And the guided drainage system was suggested when drainage pin hole was not applied in the room-and-pillar construction method.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.487-495
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• 2014

In this study, in order to suggest the design method for supports in the room-and-pillar underground structure, the case study was carried out. In the case study, shape of rock pillar and room was mainly considered. From the analysis, a displacement at the roof, the maximum principle stress and plastic state were examined. To optimize variables in the case study, cases from the Seoul metro station were analyzed, then a target depth of the underground structure and ground conditions were determined. And the height of rock pillar and room were chosen from the assumed purpose of underground space, i.e. living/office and warehouse. Total cases of analysis was 180 cases including 3 types of ground condition, 5 types of rock pillar and 6 types of roof span. It is expected that results from analysis can be used to determine the installation of support in room-and-pillar underground structure with stability, utilization efficiency of underground space and applicability of vehicles.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.585-597
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• 2013

In this study, in order to evaluate stability of the room-and-pillar underground structure, a series of preliminary numerical analyses were performed. Design concept and procedure of an underground structure for obtaining a space are proposed, which should be different from structural design for the room-and-pillar in mine. With assumed material properties, a series of numerical analyses were performed by varying size ratios of room and pillar and then the failure modes and location at yielding initiation were investigated. From the results, relationship between the ratio of pillar width to the roof span (w/s) and overburden pressure at failure initiation shows a relatively linear relation, and the effect of w/s on structural stability is much more critical than the ratio of pillar width and height (w/H) which is a crucial parameter in design of the room-and-pillar mining. It means that roof tensile failure and shear failure at shoulder and pillar are necessary to be considered together for confirming overall structural stability of the room-and-pillar structure, rather than considering the pillar stability only in mining. Failure modes and location at failure initiation were varied with respect to the ratio of room and pillar widths. Therefore, it is necessary to simultaneously consider stability of both roof span and pillar for design of underground structure by the room-and-pillar method.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.605-614
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• 2015

A room-and-pillar underground structure is characterized by its grid-type array of room and pillar. As a result, its construction and economical efficiency can be governed by excavation sequence. In this study, the construction period by the drill and blast method which can be treated as a main sequence for excavation was examined by considering the regulation for blasting and construction standard of estimation in Korea. To evaluate the construction period for the room-and-pillar underground structure constructed in 4 kinds of square-type area ($30{\times}30{\sim}57{\times}57m$), the concurrent excavation pattern which was suggested in the previous researches was used. From the suggested condition, the total construction period by drill-and-blast method can be estimated with the consideration of the construction area, number of jumbo drill and faces in operation.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.599-612
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• 2013

This study aims to investigate an economical efficiency of two excavation methods with respect to the room-and-pillar method for the underground space and conventional excavation method, i.e. 2-arch tunnelling method. For feasibility study, an excavation cost for both room-and-pillar method and 2-arch tunnelling method was estimated when the same space in operation was required. It was assumed that properties of reinforcements and rock were adopted from literatures. However, an excavation shape of the room-and-pillar method was assumed not to be the rectangular shape which is a general type in the room-and-pillar method but to be an arch shape in order to compare with the conventional excavation method (2-arch tunnelling) and to achieve the maximum bearing capacity of the structure during excavation. Consequently, the wider space in use or required and the better condition of rock we assumed, the more economical advantage we have in the room-and-pillar method than the 2-arch tunnelling method.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.497-506
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• 2014

In this study, analysis results described in the companion paper was used to determine shapes of room-and-pillar underground structure. To select optimized shapes, structural stability, space applicability and vehicle applicability were considered. In the structural stability step, ratio between strength and stress of the pillar and the critical strain at the roof span were adopted. The space applicability was used to retain the sufficient space of underground structure as its purpose is for human activity. The vehicle applicability was used to consider a radius for rotation of construction equipments in the room-and-pillar underground structure. From the given procedure in this study, proper shapes of rock pillar and room can be selected to design supports at the pillar and roof.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.499-511
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• 2015

A room-and-pillar underground structure is characterized by its grid-type array of galleries. As a result, its construction and economical efficiency can be governed by excavation sequence of galleries. Therefore, this study aims to study the optimum excavation scheme of a room-and-pillar underground structure by considering its various design factors such as ground conditions and excavation sequences. Drill-and-blast method is assumed as a excavation method for a room-and-pillar underground structure. In addition, two kinds of excavation patterns corresponding to a concurrent and a sequential excavation patterns are considered in this study. For the assumed conditions, the structural stability and the construction efficiency based on the number of faces and the travel distance of a jumbo drilling machine are analyzed for the two excavation patterns. Even though the two kinds of excavation patterns show almost the same structural stability as each other, the concurrent excavation pattern is relatively preferable to the sequential excavation pattern in terms of the number of faces in operation and travel distance of a drilling jumbo.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.472-482
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• 2023

The grid-type or room-and-pillar method is applied for the purpose of mining horizontally buried minerals. In this study, design and pilot test were performed to apply the room-and-pillar method which uses natural rock as a rock pillar to the construction of underground space. The area where the pilot test was conducted was in stone mine and had good rock conditions with an appropriate depth (about 30 m) to apply the pilot test. The pilot test site was selected by reviewing accessibility and ground conditions and then site construction was performed through detailed ground investigation and design. The pilot test was designed with a column shape of 8×8 m and a cross-section of 8×12 m. The blasting pattern was determined through test blasting at the site, and blasting of 3 m excavation with 89 holes was performed. Through field observations, the average width of 12.5 m and the average height of 8.3 m were measured. Therefore, it is possible to proceed similar to the cross-sectional shape considered in the design.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.335-343
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• 2014

Room-and-pillar mining method is one of the most popular underground mining method in the world. If the room-and-pillar mining method is able to be adopted in civil works, it would be highly probable to reduce underground construction costs and to expand a underground structure in use. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the design procedure of unsupported rock pillars which are indispensable to ensure the stability of a room-and-pillar underground structure. Parametric studies on their key design parameters are also carried out for 125 different kinds of design conditions. From the study, the width of a rock pillar is found to show a linear relationship with its corresponding safety factor. The safety factor of a unsupported rock pillar decreased drastically like a negative exponential function as the ratio of room width to pillar width increases in the same rock strength condition. Based on the parametric studies, a design chart to simply evaluate the geometric design parameters of a unsupported rock pillar satisfying a design safety factor is also proposed in this study.