A plastic bearing calculation method for a blasting-roof is proposed to solve the problem of determining the blasting-roof thickness in deep hole mining. A mechanical analysis model for the plastic bearing was built for the typical boundary conditions of blasting-roofs. The external and internal work of the blasting-roof are equal under the plastic limit state through calculation. The limit bearing formulae of blasting-roofs under various boundary conditions were derived based on the principle of virtual work. A Vertical Crater Retreat stope was taken as the object, and the safe blasting-roof thickness was determined to be 6 m using the derived formula (considering the safety coefficient). A numerical model of stope was constructed using the Surpac-Flac3D technique, while the blasting-roof stability was simulated under different thicknesses. Variations in the simulated indexes (stress and plastic zone volume) prove that the theoretical calculations are reliable. The plastic bearing calculation method can provide a new method to determine the blasting-roof thickness in deep hole mining.
Keywords: blasting-roof; deep hole mining; numerical simulation; plastic bearing; virtual work principle.