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A New Rock Mass Cuttability Classification for Roadheaders Used in Coal Mining

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Abstract

Roadheaders are commonly used in coal mines for roadway excavations. The prediction of roadheader performance is necessary for the planning of roadway projects and the estimation of costs. Recently, a new rock mass cuttability classification (RMCC) system has been introduced for roadheaders used in coal mines. In this study, the validity of the RMCC system was investigated for different types of roadheaders and different coal mines. Four different coal mines were visited, and the performance measurements of different axial and transverse roadheaders were carried out during the excavation of roadways. Uniaxial compressive strength, volumetric joint count, the strike and dip of joints, joint aperture, the Cerchar abrasivity index, and water ingress were determined in field and laboratory studies to calculate the RMCC index. The analysis of the data demonstrated that the correlation coefficients between the net cutting rates and the RMCC indices were higher than 0.94, suggesting that the RMCC system was valid. It was concluded that the RMCC system could be reliably used for the evaluation of roadheader performance in coal mines.

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Acknowledgements

This study is a part of PhD thesis of Behnaz Hallaji Dibavar. The authors thank TUBITAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) for supporting the project (Project No. 217M740). The authors also thank Park Termik Elektrik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş., Hattat Enerji ve Maden Ticaret A.Ş., Polyak Eynez Enerji Üretim Madencilik San. ve Tic. A.Ş., İmbat Madencilik Enerji Turizm San. Tic..A.Ş., Demir Export A.Ş., YS Madencilik San. ve Tic. Ltd. Ş. and Kömür İşletmeleri A.Ş. for allowing the field studies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey

    Behnaz Dibavar & Masoud Rostami

  2. Mining Engineering Department, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey

    Sair Kahraman

  3. Geological Engineering Department, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey

    Mustafa Fener

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  1. Behnaz Dibavar
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  2. Sair Kahraman
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  3. Masoud Rostami
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  4. Mustafa Fener
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Correspondence to Sair Kahraman.

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Dibavar, B., Kahraman, S., Rostami, M. et al. A New Rock Mass Cuttability Classification for Roadheaders Used in Coal Mining. Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration 40, 1141–1152 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42461-023-00788-0

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