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Rock Mechanics.pdf - Mining and Blasting

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Figure 4.8 Principle of closed-loop<br />

control (after Hudson et al., 1972b).<br />

Figure 4.9 Choice between force<br />

<strong>and</strong> displacement as the programmed<br />

control variable (after Hudson et al.,<br />

1972a).<br />

ROCK STRENGTH AND DEFORMABILITY<br />

The essential features of closed-loop servocontrol are illustrated in Figure 4.8.<br />

An experimental variable (a force, pressure, displacement or strain component) is<br />

programmed to vary in a predetermined manner, generally monotonically increasing<br />

with time. The measured <strong>and</strong> programmed values are compared electronically several<br />

thous<strong>and</strong>s of times a second, <strong>and</strong> a servo valve adjusts the pressure within the actuator<br />

to produce the desired equivalence.<br />

Modern servocontrolled testing systems are used to conduct a wide variety of tests<br />

in rock mechanics laboratories. The key to the successful use of these systems is the<br />

choice of the control variable. The basic choice is between a force (or pressure) <strong>and</strong> a<br />

displacement (or strain) component. Figure 4.9 shows why it is not feasible to obtain<br />

the complete uniaxial force–displacement curve for a strain-softening specimen by<br />

programming the axial force to increase monotonically with time. When the peak<br />

strength of the specimen is reached, the program will attempt to continue to increase<br />

the axial force, but the load-carrying capacity can only decrease with further axial<br />

displacement. However, the test can be successfully controlled by programming the<br />

axial displacement to increase monotonically with time.<br />

The post-peak portions of the force–displacement curves obtained in compression<br />

tests on some rocks may be steeper than, or not as smooth as, those shown in Figures<br />

4.7 <strong>and</strong> 4.9. In these cases, better control can be obtained by using the circumferential<br />

displacement rather than the axial displacement as the control variable. Figure 4.10<br />

shows the complete axial stress (a)–axial strain (εa) <strong>and</strong> circumferential (or radial)<br />

strain (εr)–axial strain curves obtained in such a test on a 50 mm diameter by 100 mm<br />

long specimen of an oolitic limestone (Portl<strong>and</strong> stone) in which a wrap-around transducer<br />

was used to monitor circumferential displacement. Although the possibility of<br />

extracting energy from the machine–specimen system offered by this technique is<br />

94

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