Fast, non-destructive measurement of roof-bolt loads

This paper discusses the pull-out laboratory tests and the monitoring of expansion-shell bolts with a length of 1.82 m. The bolts comprised the KE-3W expansion shell, a rod with a diameter of 0.0183 m and a profiled, circular plate with a diameter of 0.14 m, and a gauge of 0.006 m. The bolts were installed in a concrete block with a compressive strength of 75 MPa. The tests were conducted on a state-of-the-art test stand owned by the Department of Underground Mining of the AGH University of Science and Technology. The test stand can be used to test roof bolts on a geometric scale of 1:1 under static and rapidly varying loads. Also, the stand is suitable for testing rods measuring 5.5 m in length. The stand has a special feature of providing the ongoing monitoring of bolt load, displacement and deformation. The primary aim of the study was to compare the results recorded by two different measurement systems with the innovative Self-Excited Acoustic System (SAS) for measuring stress variations in roof bolts. In order to use the SAS, a special handle equipped with an accelerometer and exciter mounted to the nut or the upset end of the rod was designed at the Faculties of Mining and Geoengineering and Mechanical Engineering and Robotics of the AGH University of Science and Technology. The SAS can be used for nondestructive evaluation of performance of bolts around mining workings and in tunnels. Through laboratory calibration tests, roof bolt loads can be assessed using the in-situ non-destructive method