In this quarter, the field, theoretical and programming works have been performed toward achieving the research goals set in the proposal. The main accomplishments in this quarter included: (1) laboratory tests have been conducted, (2) with the added trendline analysis method, the accuracy of the data interpretation methodology will be improved and the interfaces and voids can be more reliably detected, (3) method to use torque to thrust ratio as indicator of rock relative hardness has also been explored, and (4) about 80% of the development work for the roof geology mapping program, MRGIS, has completed.

Roof bolting is the most popular method for underground openings in the mining industry, especially in the bedded deposits such as coal, potash, salt etc. In fact, all U.S. underground coal mine entries are roof-bolted as required by law. However, roof falls still occur frequently in the roof bolted entries. The two possible reasons are: the lack of knowledge of and technology to detect the roof geological conditions in advance of mining, and lack of roof bolting design criteria for modern roof bolting systems. This research is to develop a method for predicting the roof geology and stability condition in real time during roof bolting operation. Based on such information, roof bolting design criteria for modern roof bolting systems will be developed for implementation in real time. Additional field tests have been performed. It is found that the drilling power can be used as a supplementary method for detecting voids/fractures and rock interfaces.

In this quarter, the field, theoretical and programming works have been performed toward achieving the research goals set in the proposal. The main accomplishments in this quarter included: (1) one more field test has been conducted in an underground coal mine, (2) optimization studies of the control parameters have been conducted, (3) method to use torque to thrust ratio as indicator of rock relative hardness has also been explored, and (4) about 98% of the development work for the roof geology mapping program, MRGIS, has completed, (5) A real time roof geology mapping system for roof bolters in limestone mine, including a special version of the geology mapping program and hardware, has already been verified to perform very well in underground production condition.

Roof bolting is the most popular method for underground openings in the mining industry, especially in the bedded deposits such as coal, potash, salt etc. In fact, all U.S. underground coal mine entries are roof-bolted as required by law. However, roof falls still occur frequently in the roof bolted entries. The two possible reasons are: the lack of knowledge of and technology to detect the roof geological conditions in advance of mining, and lack of roof bolting design criteria for modern roof bolting systems. This research is to develop a method for predicting the roof geology and stability condition in real time during roof bolting operation. Based on such information, roof bolting design criteria for modern roof bolting systems will be developed for implementation in real time. A new mechanical approach to estimate rock strengths using the acquired drilling parameters has been proposed. This approach takes a number of important factors, that have never been studied in the previous researches, into the considerations. Good results have been shown using the new approach on the testing data.