| Biography | |
|---|---|
 Prof. PINNADUWA H.S.W. KULATILAKE University of Arizona, USA |
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| Title: Prediction of Rock Mass Deformations in Three Dimensions for a Part of an Open Pit Mine and Comparison with Field Deformation Monitoring Data | |
| Abstract: The intact rock properties and discontinuity properties for both DRC and DP rock formations that exist in the selected open pit mine were determined from tests conducted on rock samples collected from the mine site. Special survey equipment which has a total station, laser scanner and a camera was used to perform remote fracture mapping in the research area selected at the mine site. From remote fracture mapping data, the fracture orientation, spacing and density were calculated in a much refined way in this study compared to what exist in the literature. Discontinuity orientation distributions obtained through remote fracture mapping agreed very well with the results of manual fracture mapping conducted by the mining company. GSI rock quality system and Hoek–Brown failure criteria were used to estimate the rock mass properties combining the fracture mapping results with laboratory test results of intact rock samples. Fault properties and the DRC–DP contact properties were estimated based on the laboratory discontinuity test results. A geological model was built in a 3DEC model including all the major faults, DRC–DP contact, and two stages of rock excavation. The built major discontinuity system of 44 faults in 3DEC with their real orientations, locations and three-dimensional extensions were validated successfully using the fault geometry data provided by the mining company using seven cross sections. Numerical modeling was conducted to study the effect of boundary conditions and lateral stress ratio on the stability of the considered rock slope. For the considered section of the rock slope, the displacements obtained through stress boundary conditions were seemed more realistic than that obtained through zero velocity boundary conditions (on all four lateral faces). Stable deformation distributions were obtained for k0 in the range of 0.4–0.7. Because the studied rock mass is quite stable, it seems that an appropriate range for k0 for this rock mass is between 0.4 and 0.7. The displacements occurred between July 2011 and July 2012 due to the nearby rock mass excavation that took place during the same period were compared between the field monitoring results available from the mining company and the predicted numerical modeling results; the best agreement was obtained for k0 = 0.4. Therefore, k0 = 0.4 can be decided as the most appropriate value for the studied mine site. In overall, the successful simulation of the rock excavation during a certain time period indicated the possibility of using the procedure developed in this study to investigate rock slope stability with respect to expected future rock excavations in mine planning.
Keywords: Open-pit mine, Rock slope stability, 3-D discontinuum stress analysis, Simulation of excavation, Validation | |
| Biography: Dr. Pinnaduwa H.S.W. Kulatilake is a Professor of Geotechnical Engineering and Director of Rock Mass Modeling and Computational Rock Mechanics Laboratories at the University of Arizona. He is a registered Professional Civil Engineer in California. He received his B.Sc. (in 1976) in Civil Engineering from the University of Sri Lanka, Peradeniya, MS (in 1978) in Soil Engineering from the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand and Ph.D. (in 1981) in Civil Engineering (with geotechnics emphasis) from the Ohio State University, USA.He has over 40 years of experience in rock mechanics & rock engineering associated with mining, civil and petroleum engineering, geotechnical engineering, and applications of probabilistic and numerical methods to geo-engineering. He has written over 240 papers and is a member of several technical committees. He has delivered over 30 keynote lectures and over 50 other invited lectures throughout the world on topics related to rock fracture network modeling, probabilistic geotechnics, mechanical and hydraulic properties of joints, rock slope stability and mechanical and hydraulic behavior of rock masses. He has been a research paper reviewer for over 25 technical Journals and an editorial board member for Int. Jour. of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences, Int. Jour. of Geotechnical and Geological Engineering, Int. Jour. of Advances in Geological and Geophysical Engineering, Coal Science and Technology and Journal of Mining & Science-Turkey. Currently he is serving as an Associate Editor for Arabian Journal of Geosciences. He has taught short courses on stochastic fracture network modeling, rock slope stability analysis, Block theory, and rock joint roughness and aperture in Sweden, Mexico, Austria, USA, Canada, Hong Kong, Poland, Finland, Australia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Iran, Chile, China, Italy, Peru and Tunisia. He has served over 20 years either as the primary or the sole examiner for the geological engineering professional exam conducted by the Arizona State Board of Technical Registration. He was a Visiting Professor at the Royal Institute of Technology and Lulea University of Technology in Sweden as part of his sabbatical leave. Also, he was a Visiting Research Fellow at the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, for another part of his sabbatical leave. Due to the contributions he made on teaching, research, consulting and service activities, he was elected to the Fellow Rank of the American Society of Civil Engineers at the relatively young age of 45. In 2002, he received Distinguished Alumnus Award from the College of Engineering, Ohio State University and Outstanding Asian American Faculty Award from the University of Arizona in recognition of his achievements and contributions made to the advancement of his profession. In December 2005, Eurasian National University, Kazakhstan conferred him “Honorary Professorship”. In August 2007, he organized and ran a successful International Conference on Soil & Rock Engineering in Sri Lanka. In January 2009, he organized and ran a high quality International Conference on Rock Joints and Jointed Rock Masses in Tucson, Arizona. He was the guest editor for two special issues published in the Jour. of Geotechnical and Geological Engineering. He received “Kwang-Hua Visiting Professorship” for 2009-2010 from the College of Engineering, Tongji University, China. He was a recipient of “Guest Professorship” from Wuhan University, China for 2010-2013. In 2018, he also received “Guest Professorship” from Taiyuan University of Technology. In 2013 and 2016, he received Peter Cundall awards. | |
