Abstract

STACEY, T.R.. Spider webs and rockburst support — Have rock engineers something to learn from spiders?. J. S. Afr. Inst. Min. Metall. [online]. 2019, vol.119, n.12, pp.1013-1018. ISSN 2411-9717.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2411-9717/725/2020.

Spider webs must be able to absorb the energy of impacting insects, and similarly, rock support must absorb the energy of ejected rock in rockbursts. A consideration of the properties of spider webs shows that spider silks (threads) are extremely strong, typically three times as strong as common steel. Spiders also construct their webs with yielding mechanisms to enhance their energy-absorbing capability. In this paper, the techniques employed in web construction are compared with those used in rock support in excavations prone to rockbursting. It is shown that the design of rockburst support could benefit from some of the capabilities used by spiders in the construction of their webs.

Keywords : rockbursts; ground support; energy absorption; dynamic loading.

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