Estimating the rockburst hazard of hard rocks based on laboratory test results

The results of laboratory tests of samples are used to estimate rock proneness to dynamic fractures, in particular, by brittleness index. A common drawback of the approaches in use is that they do not expressly consider the main condition of dynamic rock fracture – rock mass ability to accumulate energy when loaded. The article discusses the results of studies of the nature of elastic energy accumulation during loading and deformation of samples of various rocks under uniaxial compression in order to assess the degree of their explosion. The approach is original as it studies the deformation curve of rocks at the pre-peak stage that may be obtained with any standard equipment without the use of special-purpose test (“rigid”) devices. Results of the studies conducted on standard test devices have allowed us to identify two different deformation patterns for the rock type tested with further establishment of criteria of rock classification by the degree of proneness to dynamic fractures. This approach is of practical value as it specifies the geomechanics zoning method of the rock mass and improves the assessment of rockburst hazard degree of specific areas at deposits being developed