JOURNAL OF ROCK MECHANICS

JOURNAL OF ROCK MECHANICS

Predicting pillar stability using gene expression programming algorithm in underground stope and pillar mines

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Masoud Khalifegholi
Lohrasb Faramarzi
Mohammad Hossein Kadkhodaei
Raheb Bagherpour
Department of Mining Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran.
10.22034/irsrm.2023.210697
Abstract
Partial extraction methods are one of the types of underground mining methods in which foundations are used to ensure the safety of the working environment. Foundation stability assessment is one of the most important issues in the design of underground mines, as foundation instability will lead to human and financial losses in mining operations. Therefore, foundation stability prediction is of great importance. Stability analysis in the research background includes analytical, numerical, and experimental methods that have limitations and are not highly accurate. Using genetic algorithms is a useful tool for evaluating foundation stability. In this study, the correlation between foundation stability with geometric parameters (width and height) and foundation stress has been investigated using the Gene Expression Programming (GEP) method. The proposed model has been implemented in a database derived from previous studies. The performance of the model was evaluated by four statistical indices: accuracy, sensitivity, non-discrepancy, and Meteo correlation coefficient, whose values ​​were obtained as 0.82, 0.79, 0.86, and 0.65, respectively. The results showed that the developed model has good accuracy and is capable of predicting foundation stability.
Keywords
Underground mining
Pillar stability index
Gene expression programming
Partial extraction
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JOURNAL OF ROCK MECHANICS
Volume 7, Issue 1
Spring 2023
Pages 107-121