Search Documents

By Charles Catlett

Probably no one has had occasion to examine an undeveloped coal property without hearing some hopeful or interested party insist that the bed will improve when opened some distance under cover. When the bed is already in good condition, the opinion is usually advanced that the same character may be expected, at least to the bounds of the hopeful individual's holdings. My attention has been called in this way to the extent to which a bed is affected by its outcrop at the surface ; and having had opportunity to examine a number of openings immediately at the surface, and also a short distance under cover, I submit some observations bearing on this question. Whatever may have been the original variations, we may assume that coal-basins presented in comparatively modern times approximately parallel beds interstratified with fire-clay, slate, sandstone, etc., as represented by Fig. 1. Under the effect of erosion, Fig. 2 would be formed. It is obvious that along the line A, B, C, in Fig. 1, the beds exist under conditions differing from those at A', B', C', or again at A", B", C", in Fig. 2, in their exposures to atmospheric agencies, pressure and erosion. The effect of the first is to decompose and soften many of the strata; of the second, when presented unequally, to cause the movement of such material as was at all plastic towards the point of least pressure ; and of the third, to remove the strata in whole or in part. It

Jan 1, 1901

By Clemens Jones

An interesting paper by J. E. Merion and Edward Hart, in Volume I., No. 2, of the Journal of Analytical Chemistry, on the Decomposition of Blast-Furnace Cinder by Acid, describes a plan of sampling the cinder by means of a previously-heated iron bar thrust into the cinder car or into the cinder at the notch, and then allowed to cool, thus chilling the cinder which adheres to the bar, and rendering it decomposable by hydrochloric acid, of 1.12 sp. gr. A short series of results is given, from which the deduction follows that blast-furnace cinder " is decomposed perfectly when chilled." Where many silica determinations are to be made, this method, if reliable, would effect notable economy of time and reagents. The conversion of insoluble silicates by fusion with an alkaline carbonate, together with the subsequent solution, evaporation, drying, etc., is destined to remain the standard method. But all fusionmethods are time-consuming and expensive. Chilling appears to render the supplementary method available for all practical purposes, in the determination of silica in cinder. But, with a view of securing more evidence on the subject, and in view of the fact that uniform results were not obtained by employing this method, it was decided to test the method in the laboratory of the Thomas Iron Company where a large number of silica determinations are made. The experience met with may not be devoid of value, both theoretical and practical. Mr. Iles's paper, in the Chemical News, Volume L., 1881, doubtless suggested to several chemists, connected with iron metallurgical

Jan 1, 1888

By David Segura

THE Huitzuco mercury deposits have been described by C. W. Vaupell,1 therefore the general information such as location, history, production, etc. will not be repeated here. The present owners acquired the property when the deep levels of the Cruz mine were flooded, and it was believed that a relatively large tonnage of low-grade ore and fills would be encountered in the flooded section, because f the early mining methods used in the Cruz mine. The mine was partly unwatered and about 187,000 tons of fills was pit-sampled in the San Cayetano stope. These fills average 2.4 kg. Hg per. ton. During the period of maximum production at Huitzuco, the ores were sorted in the mine and cobbed into 3-in. pieces, which were treated in Scott furnaces. Large pieces of raw ore are found in the sinter, and it is indicated that both recovery and, costs were not very satisfactory. Recent practice has been to treat the ores in closed retorts made of 10-in. pipes. Because f the presence of combined antimony in the mineral livingstonite (HgS.2Sb2S3) and considerable native sulphur, little or no metallic mercury is recovered in the condensers and a second retorting of the condenser muds is-necessary. This makes the treatment of the ores expensive and tends to low recoveries of mercury. The prin-cipal costs of retorting are, in their relative order: (1) fuel, (2) low recov-ery of mercury, (3) replacement of retort pipes, (4) labor.

Jan 1, 1938

By J. W. Leonard

One of the more obvious phenomena which relate to coke formation is that soft coals of low volatile matter content tend to yield hard or high strength cokes while hard coals of high volatile matter content tend to yield soft or low strength cokes. This observation led researchers of the Coal Research Bureau of West Virginia Univ. to study the possibility of using Hardgrove grindability as a supplemental rank indicator for coking properties. Grindability has been used for many years as a means to measure the resistance of coal to comminution but it has rarely if ever been considered for evaluating coals for carbonization. The coal proper- ties which are measured by grindability are complex, but recent work with the difficult-to-correlate high volatile coals has demonstrated that a 93% correlation exists between grindability and the total petrographic rnicrinites, exinites, and resinites. This work demonstrated that inherent ash had no apparent effect on the grindability of high volatile coals, suggesting that the coal substance is apparently harder than the associated ash. These observations, together with the patented Burstlein process," indicate that the distribution of hard and soft components in the individual high volatile coals and blends of coals may be quantitatively interrelated to coke stability through selected ranges of coal volatile matter. The objective of this progress report is 1) to demonstrate the statistical relationships which exist between coal grindability and the numerous coal petrographic entities and 2) to present the results of initial studies concerning the correlation of the coke physical strength index of stability with coal volatile matter and grindability.

Jan 3, 1964

By David Reger

ONLY a few small pools of oil were found in West Virginia during 1924. The price of oil was so low that there was no incentive for active effort toward the discovery of new pools or the exploitation of reasonably certain productive areas. At present, several encouraging edge-pool developments are being held in reserve in the hope that a more favorable market is not far distant. In the old pools, wells are being carefully tended; there being little tendency toward abandonment. even in cases where production is temporarily unprofitable. In natural gas, however, the total value of which at the well mouth is now more than that of oil, the year has been busy and profitable. , The decline of old pools, together with the increasing demand, has caused the large operators who carry their gas to the consumer to make great efforts to preserve or increase the rate of production; while the small operators, who sell their product to the large companies at the well mouth, have been stimulated toward the same effort by more favorable prices. These conditions brought about the completion of a greater number .of gas wells in 1924 than in 1923. Few pools of gas have been discovered during the year, the principal production having been obtained in old areas and in the unusually large new territory that was revealed as potentially productive by the drilling of 1923. Some of these latter areas are still without pipelines but definite plans for getting most of this gas are now being executed.

Jan 3, 1925

By E. M. Wise

IT is known qualitatively that the recrystallization behavior of platinum is dependent upon the amount and particularly the nature of impurities present, the amount of prior cold-work and the annealing time and temperature, but published data are limited. A study of the effects of cold-work and annealing temperature on the hardness of a sample of very pure platinum was undertaken to supply part of this information. CONCLUSIONS 1. The platinum used in the experiments had a probable platinum content of 99.99+ per cent, and had the following mechanical properties in the completely softened condition: Vickers hardness number, 39.4; ultimate tensile strength, 19,340 lb. per sq. in.; proportional limit, very low; elongation, 37.5 per cent in 2 inches. 2. The effect of cold-rolling on the hardness is shown in Fig. 1. The hardness increases rapidly up to 10 to 15 per cent reduction and more slowly up to about 75 per cent reduction, beyond which it increases more rapidly. 3. The recrystallization temperatures for a 15-min. anneal, after cold-rolling 19, 39.5, 50.8, 66, 80.5 and 89.5 per cent reduction in thickness, are approximately 765°, 700°, 635°, 600°, 545° and 425°C., respectively. 4. The recrystallized grain size of this platinum is a function of the percentage of cold reduction, being larger the lower the percentage of cold-work. 5. Little or no grain growth resulted from subjecting recrystallized samples to higher temperatures or annealing for longer times.

Jan 1, 1940

By C. E. Wethered

THE Morning mine is operated through one main working adit, known as No. 6 or 800 tunnel level. At a distance of 10,000 ft. underground from the portal is the vertical four-compartment, main working shaft, which extends to the 3050 level, a distance of 2250 ft. below the collar, or 800 level. Shaft-stations are cut and levels opened every 200 ft. of depth and the ore is stoped to the next level above. The vein is nearly vertical and the ore is usually fairly massive and brittle. Both walls are soft and slabby and much difficulty is therefore experienced in holding them. Stopes are usually carried up in short sections, approximately 200 ft. in length, that are mined as rapidly as possible in order to avoid a too great replacement or repair of stope timbers. The four-compartment vertical shaft, 110 ft. in the footwall of the vein, is the sole medium of outlet for all ore mined below the adit level. Two compartments of this shaft are used exclusively for hoisting ore, except at the time of changing shifts, when one compartment is used to handle some of the men and timber. The third compartment is equipped for handling men, tim-ber and all general supplies and is operated by a Nord-berg 300-hp. electric hoist. This hoist has a lifting ca-pacity of 14,000 lb. with an average rope speed of 800 ft. per minute. The fourth compartment is used solely as a manway and pipeway.

Jan 7, 1927

By William G. Pariseau

A plasticity theory for anisotropic geologic media has been applied to the problem of quasi-static wedge penetration of rock under confining pressure. Numerical evaluation of the governing system of stress equations in the transversely isotropic and orthotropic cases using representative material properties shows that the consequences of initial anisotropy for the penetration process are by no means trivial. In the transversely isotropic case, a threefold increase in the vertical force required for penetration to a unit depth occurs as the inclination of the axes of anisotropy are rotated through 90° with respect to the penetration path. The horizontal force required varies from zero to a maximum at approximately 60° then back to zero as the axes of anisotropy are rotated. The maximum is of the order of magnitude of the force required in the isotropic case. Similar results are observed in the orthotropic case. Practical aspects of the post-elastic phenomena associated with anisotropic rock indentation within the context of drilling problems include: bit yaw, hole deviation and bending stresses in the drill rod, all of which vary with strata dip but which can be quantitatively evaluated given the bit geometry, interface friction and rock properties. In a broader context, the analysis reveals the necessity for well conceived experimental work and sound theoretical research concerning post-elastic behavior of geologic media as a function of confining pressure, the effects of induced anisotropy, and the variation of strength parameters with loading path changes in the post-elastic range.

Jan 1, 1971

By C. A. Heberlein

C. A. HEBERLEIN, New York, N. Y.-The results stated by Rey and Brevers are so startling that they are of great interest, as the concentration of a low percentage of cinnabar by differential flotation yields a high-grade concentrate in the presence of either arsenical or iron pyrite. The authors say: "Cyanide can thus be used to depress arsenopyrite and make a good cinnabar-arsenopyrite separation. A cinnabar-pyrite separation could probably be effected in the same way." Corrosive sublimate at the present price of mercury would be a very expensive reagent but the expense would be justifiable if a high rate of concentration could be obtained with a high extraction. On my request, special tests were made in the Punitaqui mill in Chile along the line suggested by the authors, without any improvement of either grade or extraction. As the recovery of the cinnabar in a complex sulphide of chalcopyrite and pyrite gave unsatisfactory results, I had tests made at the testing laboratory of the American Cyanamid Co. at Stamford, Conn. As these tests turned out to be highly satisfactory, not only at Stamford but later at the mine, they are presented here. [ ] The pulp had a density of 22 and a pH of 7.8. Total time of conditioning was one minute. The reagent added was Texas fuel oil, 0.116lb. of 33.7 Bé. gravity containing 0.9 per cent sulphur. Frother, 0.062 lb. of No. 5 pine oil. Rate of concentration of mercury was 25.7: 11. [ ]

Jan 1, 1941

By E. P. Mathewson

(Butte Meeting, August, 1913.) IN a discussion -of a paper on " The Basic Process as Applied to Copper Smelting," by Percy C. Gilchrist, read before the Society of Chemical Industry, London, Jan. 5, 1S91,1 Prof. W. C. Roberts Austen asked Mr. Gilchrist whether he thought that the substitution of a basic lining for acid lining in the Marshes process would afford anything like the service which it had been shown to render in the metallurgy, of iron. Claude Vautin stated that he had experimented for over two years with basic linings for Bessemer converters for copper mattes at Cobar, but had given up the attempt on the score of cost. Mr. Gilchrist in his reply stated that he did not believe in applying any system of Bessemerizing to copper. About the time of the presentation of the paper mentioned, Herman Keller, Superintendent of the Parrott smelter, in Butte, was experimenting on a large scale with converters lined with magnesite brick. He gave up the idea on account of the cost of linings and because no particular advantage was observed. My belief is that his tuyeres and converters were -too small. A short time; afterward similar experiments were tried at the Great Falls plant of the Boston & Montana Co., said at the Old Works of the Anaconda Copper Mining Co. in Anaconda. These were abandoned on the score of cost and the lack of advantages. The same cause of failure, in my opinion, holds here. The Anaconda Copper Mining Co., however, adopted the magnesite brick lining for its tilting casting machines.

Jan 6, 1913

By Malcolm J. McPherson

INTRODUCTION The use of computers to assist the mine ventilation engineer began to grow in the early 1950s when electrical analogue devices were developed for the analysis of mine airflow systems in Europe and the United States (l,2,3). The need for quantitative planning of airflows in mines had become pressing and analogue computers fulfilled a useful purpose for over a decade. From about 1964 onwards, digital computer programs for mine ventilation network analysis became available (4,5) and, superseding the analogues, spread rapidly throughout the major mining countries. The successful implementations of such programs resulted in further research being directed towards the development of simulation programs to model the quality as well as the quantity of air flowing through underground workings. It is no understatement that digital computers have revolutionised environmental planning techniques in modern mining industries. This paper discusses the complex interaction of natural and mining factors which governs environmental hazards in underground mines and further indicates some of the simulation techniques which have entered practical usage or are at an advanced stage of development. THE PROBLEM OF ANALYSING THE MINE ENVIRONMENT The traditional methods of approaching environmental problems underground were based largely on empirical or intuitive techniques. The reason for this lay in the intricate relationships which exist between the many variables that influence the mine environment - and which limit the use of purely analytical methods to the simplest of cases. In order to illustrate the need for simulation techniques, Table 1 shows the three most widespread mine environmental hazards

Jan 1, 1977

By E. Teghtsoonian, K. G. Davis

Cobalt crystals of commercial purity have been tested in tension. Their resolved shear stress-shear strain curves are very similar in form to those for zinc, magnesium, and cadmium. There is an initial linear region for shear strains up to around 150 pct, the ratio of work hardening slope to shear modulus at room temperature being about 2 X x This is followed by an upturn, which is, PLASTIC deformation in metal single crystals with close-packed structures has been found strongly dependent on stacking-fault energy. The high stacking-fault energy hexagonal metals magnesium, zinc, and cadmium have been quite extensively tested, but up to now no data have been available for a comparable hexagonal metal with low stacking-fau1t energy' An however, smaller in magnitude for cobalt than for the other metals. Values for the critical resolved shear stress rise from 97 kg per sq cm at room temperature to approximately 170 kg per sq cm at -196 °C. The Cottrell-Stokes ratio is not constant either for variations in the strain rate or for temperature changes, its value decreasing with strain. investigation into the plastic deformation of cobalt, which has a very low stacking-fault energy, has therefore been undertaken. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES Cobalt crystals in the form of rods 0.3 cm in diam were grown in an electron-beam floating-zone refiner at a rate of zone travel of 25 cm per hr. Details of the growing procedure are given in Ref. 1. The zoned cobalt rods had the following analysis:

Jan 1, 1963

By P. F. Richardson, J. L. Perisho, W. J. Roe

Handling and transport of coal during the winter months can be a severe problem. The inability to unload frozen coal from rail cars produces serious economic and logistic problems due to transportation delays, rail car shortages, and demurrage on the rail cars. One method of dealing with the problem of unloading frozen coal has been to spray freeze conditioning agents onto the coal before it is loaded into rail cars. Both water soluble and oil based formulations have been used as freeze conditioning agents. The water soluble treatments generally contain a polyhydroxy alcohol, such as ethylene glycol, or salts of alkaline earth metals, such as magnesium chloride and calcium chloride, as freeze point depressants. The oil based treatments consist principally of hydrocarbons, such as No. 2 oil or diesel fuel. The authors' tests have shown significant differences in the effectiveness of these freeze conditioning agents, depending on the particular coal substrate being treated. These differences correlate with the coal porosity and inherent moisture of the substrate. In general, the greater the porosity of the coal, the smaller the effect of the freeze conditioning agents. Coal porosity has a greater impact on water soluble freeze conditioning agents than oil based products. The authors investigated the pore structure of a variety of coals using mercury intrusion. Findings were related to the effectiveness of different freeze conditioning agents as measured by unconfined compression strength tests. In general, coals with a large number of very small pores (between 0.05 µm and 0.03 µm) do not respond as well to freeze conditioning chemicals.

Jan 1, 1986

By R. G. Garlick, M. Garfinkle

It was observed for several bcc metal crystals that the Knoop hardness anisotropy was dependent essentially on the direction of the lung axis of the indentor alone and not on the plane of indentation. The generality of this observation was tested for an fcc md an hcp metal and an ionic crystal. For cubic crystals, this observation was valid; for the hcp structure, however, the planes of indentation did have an effect on the hardness anisotropy, although this was not nearly as significant as the direction of indentation. Because the direction of indentation is the only significant crystal-lographic parameter necessary to describe the hardness anisotropy, it is possible to represent the anisotropy of single crystals on the standard stereographic triangle. THE commonly observed1, 2 periodic variation of indentation hardness with crystallographic direction on the high-symmetry planes of various single crystals has been inadequately related to the physical or mechanical properties of the crystals examined. In fact, the hardness anisotropy curves for the various planes of a particular metal crystal, as is illustrated in Fig. 1, are uncorrelated and appear in the literature3, 4 as unrelated observations. Attempts to correlate hardness anisotropy curves with specific physical properties can be generally divided into either mechanistic or nonmechanistic approaches. A nonmechanistic approach would be to devise a mathematical expression that could describe the various hardness anisotropy curves. Such a relation could then be compared with the known anisotropy of various physical properties to determine which contribute to the observed hardness anisotropy. No such mathematical expression has been found in the literature.

Jan 1, 1969

By W. C. Winegard, C. J. Simpson

BNINGESSNER et al.1 have shown that the solidification substructure in dilute cadmium alloys persisted after repeated deformation, recrystallization, and annealing treatments. On the basis of this and similar evidence, Whelan has suggested in a recent publication' that the solidification structure might affect the mobility of grain boundaries even after primary re-crystallization. This suggestion is important, since the technique used by previous investigators3-5 to fabricate grain growth specimens consisted only of casting, deforming, and recrystallizing prior to the grain growth anneal. Usually no attempt was made to homogenize samples with prolonged annealing. Experiments. To test the Whelan hypothesis, grain growth experiments were performed with samples in which the degree of solute segregation was altered by controlling the solidification rate of the alloys. The initial experiments were performed on the Pb-Ag system. Alloys containing 0.01 at. pct Ag were produced from 99.9999 pct Pb and 99.999 pct Ag. Cylindrical samples, 40 cm long and 12 mm in diam, were solidified in graphite-coated Vycor tubes by lowering them through a vertical furnace at varying rates with the furnace power settings constant. Six-centimeter sections were discarded from each end, and the 28-cm section from the center was cut into sections 25 mm long for grain growth experiments. These samples were deformed with the aid of a drophammer to a uniform thickness of 5.7 mm. After almost instantaneous recrystallization, the samples were given a grain growth anneal for various times at 260°C in a salt bath. Experimental results are shown

Jan 1, 1970

Sulfuric Acid and Phosphate Industries at Anaconda Reduction Works. BY E L LARISON (Contribution 70-Preprint 4400 words) In 1915 a 135-ton chamber sulfuric acid plant was built at the Anaconda Reduction Works to supply acid for leaching sand tailing Sulfur dioxide was obtained by roasting copper table concentrate Soon after, the flotation process, using acid as a reagent, together with development of a leaching and electrolytic process for zinc recovery, necessitated building a second acid unit of 50 tons' per day capacity, completed in 1917 Within a few months the zinc process was so improved as to consume no added acid Mean¬while research work was in progress on production of phosphate fertilizers using sulfuric acid and Idaho phosphate rock In 1920 a pilot plant was put into operation which treated 50 tons per day of phosphate rock to produce treble superphosphate containing 45 per cent available P205 In 1922 the original plant and process for leaching of sand tailing were abandoned in favor of a combination leaching and flota¬tion process In 1923 the sand leaching plant was remodeled into a treble super¬phosphate plant designed to treat 160 tons per day of phosphate rock. In 1924 the copper flotation process was put on alkaline circuit and acid, has not since been used as a reagent Practically all the acid produced is now used for making phos¬phate products In 1931 the use of copper concentrate as a source of sulfur dioxide was abandoned and an iron concentrate, floated from the copper concentrator tail¬ing, substituted

Jan 1, 1935

By Charles J. Haas

The resistance which rock bolts offer to shear movements along fracture planes and bedding planes near a mine opening has been suggested as one of the mechanisms by which bolts contribute to the support of weak rock in the roof or sidewall. That such displacements do occur is a fact fairly well known. Inspections of drill holes that have been drilled for some time often reveal that the holes have been offset at one or more points some time after drilling. Resin grouted bolts are often cited as being better able to resist shear movement in the roof because the annulus around the steel bar is filled with grout, whereas the sides of a conventional bolt will not contact the rock until a rather large shear displacement has occurred. When this project began, there were no experimental data to support or refute the above arguments. A laboratory shear test program was, therefore, devised to evaluate the effectiveness of various types of bolts in resisting shear under various conditions which exist in situ. Research reported earlier (Haas, 1976) included a theoretical analysis of a conventional bolt intersecting a shear surface, and experimental data on the shear resistance of smooth (lapped) shear surfaces, intersected at various angles by conventional and resin grouted bolts. The present paper extends the previous analysis to consider the effect of the initial roughness of the shear surface. Joint roughness is a particularly significant factor since undulations of the shear surface cause dilatation of the joint, which in turn, causes high tensile loading of a bolt intersecting the joint.

Jan 1, 1982

By H. M. Fisher, R. E. Snow, S. C. Sun

RAPID colorimetric estimation of the amount of transparent minerals has been applied success- fully to instream mill products at the cryolite flotation plant of the Pennsylvania Salt Mfg. Co., Natrona, Pa. Apparatus used was a Bausch & Lomb monochromatic colorimeter. The optical assembly of the colorimeter, shown in Fig. 1, passes light from a 6-v, 32-cp, prefocus incandescent lamp through two condensing lenses, a heat-absorbing filter, an aperture-control diaphragm, an interference filter, and a sample container. The light finally strikes a barrier-layer photocell and the output current of the photocell is measured by a galvanometer. The engraved index line of the collective lens, located between the lamp and the galvanometer, is imaged upon the transmission scale of the colorimeter by the galvanometer mirror. Reflected light from the galvanometer mirror, the position of which is determined by the output current of the photocell, enables reading of percent transmission throughout the mineral sample being tested. The colorimeter, Fig. 1, was standardized as follows: 1-The colorimeter was connected to a Sola constant voltage transformer, A, of 6-v output operated from a 110-v ac supply. 2-Turning the toggle switch, C, illuminated the transmission scale, B, and the control knob, D, was adjusted with a blank in the optical system until the hairline on the scale read zero. 3-A No. 430 interference filter, E, was inserted into the filter channel, F. &--A test tube, G, containing 7 cc of distilled water was pressed into the sample space, H, and the fine adjustment knob,

Jan 9, 1954

By William Fink

THE investigation of aluminum alloy systems prior to 1923 was severely handicapped by the low purity of the best aluminum available. However, by that time, the electrolytic purification of aluminum had been developed by the Aluminum Company of America,(1)? and in May, 1923, there was initiated, under the direction of E. H. Dix, Jr.,(2) a program for the investigation of the aluminum-alloy systems using the purest electrolytically refined aluminum. Up to the present time 15 papers (a) have been published, most of which are on the binary aluminum systems. Work is now in progress on the ternary systems, and it seems probable that most of the future work will be on ternary systems. Therefore this survey of the binary aluminum systems investigated up to the present time (the sixteenth paper of the series) concludes the first phase of this program. Certain qualitative relations between corresponding portions of the various binary diagrams as well as between different parts of the same diagram were noted some time ago by R. S. Archer.(4) In the present . paper these relations and others are considered quantitatively by the application of well-known thermodynamic equations or by newly discovered empirical relations No attempt will be made here to present the history of the develop-ment of the thermodynamic equations defining equilibrium or their application to metallic systems, although a list of references is given at the end of this paper for those who are interested in this phase of the

Jan 1, 1934

By W. C. McClain

In the design of underground excavations, rock mechanics considerations are nearly always based on an elastic behavior of rock. Most rocks do exhibit a certain amount of elasticity, and the application of principles and concepts of elasticity to rock mechanics problems has been largely responsible for progress in the field over the past 10 or 15 years. NO doubt the theory of elasticity will remain the most useful analytical tool available for both the design of underground openings and the interpretation of phenomenological data. Dr. Cook's analysis of rock behavior based on energy considerations represents a significant new approach to mining rock mechanics problems. Although the foundations of this analysis are somewhat broader and more general than elastic analysis, the development and applications are grounded almost entirely in the theory of elasticity. It has long been known1,2 that all rocks, even granites and dense limestones, exhibit nonlinear time-dependent strain properties to a greater or lesser degree. Creep strain (that is, deformation under constant stress) in salt, potash, and trona can be several orders of magnitude greater than instantaneous elastic strain. Design of underground workings in these materials must incorporate provisions for these strains and must therefore go considerably beyond elastic analysis. Some of the principles of underground design in highly plastic materials will be discussed in this paper. Since all rocks, especially when highly fractured, exhibit a certain amount of creep-type strain, these concepts should be at least recognized in any rock mechanics problem. The discussion will be illustrated largely, but not entirely, by examples drawn from

Jan 1, 1967