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Assessment of Subsidence Hazard in Abandoned Mine Area Using Strength Reduction Method

  • Case-Based Learning, Prediction, and Prevention of Geohazards
  • Published:
KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering Aims and scope

Abstract

Mine development leads to inevitable environmental consequences resulting in so called ‘mine hazard’, which occur extensively over a long period of time across a large area. The mine subsidence is considered as one of the most serious mine hazards, while the proper method is required to evaluate the mine subsidence risk. In this study, a new assessment technique to evaluate the subsidence risk in mining areas was developed using numerical and statistical analysis. Numerical simulations using FLAC2D and strength reduction method were performed to evaluate the effect of geometrical features of cavities and rock mass conditions on the ground subsidence. Based on the numerical results, the relationship between the influencing factors and the factor of safety was quantitatively obtained. It was found that the rock mass condition, height and thickness of a mined cavity has a negative effect on the subsidence while the depth and inclination of the cavity has a positive effect. The prediction model for subsidence hazard level (SHL) was proposed from the statistical regression analysis. The proposed assessment technique considered two additional important factors which were the influence area of subsidence at surface and the interaction of multiple cavities. Finally, the developed assessment technique was applied to an actual mine site to validate its accuracy. The result showed that predicted subsidence hazard map had a good agreement with the subsidence traces observed in the mine site.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National Strategic Project—Carbon Upcycling of the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSITT), the Ministry of Environment (ME), and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) (NRF—2017M3D8A2085654). The Institute of Engineering Research at Seoul National University (SNU) provided research facilities for this work. The authors are grateful for the supports.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Ecoinfra, SK ecoplant, Seoul, 03143, Korea

    Byungkyu Jeon

  2. Dept. of Energy Resources Engineering, Pukyong National University, Busan, 48513, Korea

    Hoyoung Jeong

  3. Disposal Safety Evaluation Research Division, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon, 34057, Korea

    Seungbeom Choi

  4. Dept. of Energy Systems Engineering & Research Institute of Energy and Resources, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Korea

    Seokwon Jeon

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  1. Byungkyu Jeon
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  2. Hoyoung Jeong
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  3. Seungbeom Choi
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  4. Seokwon Jeon
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Correspondence to Seokwon Jeon.

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Jeon, B., Jeong, H., Choi, S. et al. Assessment of Subsidence Hazard in Abandoned Mine Area Using Strength Reduction Method. KSCE J Civ Eng 26, 4338–4358 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-022-2408-z

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