Semester

Fall

Date of Graduation

2003

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

College

Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

Department

Mining Engineering

Abstract

The design of a safe and efficient roof support system is essential for any underground coal mining operation. All underground coal mines in the United States install roof bolts with a roof bolter as the primary means of supporting the mine roof. Proper application of roof bolting is dependent upon knowledge of the mine roof geology.;Recently developed control and data acquisition technologies allow the drilling performance of these roof bolters to be monitored on a real-time basis. Drilling data collected from these machines can be used to determine geological features present in the mine roof. A J. H. Fletcher & Co. roof bolter was fitted with an automated control and data acquisition system. Laboratory and underground tests were conducted to collect drilling data from both simulated and actual in-situ geological conditions. The data analysis methodology was tested using data collected from these drill holes.

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