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Altecrete - MineCrete S3 Shotcrete Hybrid Technical Paper English
Altecrete - MineCrete S3 Shotcrete Hybrid Technical Paper English
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Minecrete S3 is far superior in these tests compared to
40MPa wet shotcrete. (See table 2)
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Minecrete S3 Shotcrete and applied (TSL) membranes
such as Tunnelguard will be the appropriate solutions to
capitalize on these mechanisms, one better than the
other.
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depends on the strength of the concrete, the thickness Description Unit Value
of the application, the perimeter covering the lining and Mass of the block MR kg 2,700
the size of the block or wedge to be contained. Lining Volume FR m³ 1.0
(See graphic 1 & figure 4) Gravitational acceleration g m/s2 9.81
Lining Density γ N/m³ 23,000
Average length of the shear
surface (for equilateral
Ls m 3.0
tetrahedral block of rock with 1
metre side lengths)
Lining Thickness ts m 0.050 0.025
Shear Strength of Shotcrete τs KPa 130 255
Shear Strength of Shotcrete τs MPa 0.13 0.26
Compressive Strength of
V MPa 0.8 1.6
Shotcrete
Compressive Strength of
V MPa 1.2 2.3
Shotcrete (FOS 1.5)
Table 3. Calculation of the shear and compression
strength of a liner of different thickness.
Equation 1.
τs = Shear Strength
FT = Total force resisted by the shotcrete in shear = FS + FR
FR = MR g (MR is mass of rock and g= gravitational
acceleration assumed to be 9.81m/s2)
Ls = 4m (for 1 metre cube block)
Ls = 3m (for equilateral tetrahedral block of rock with 1 metre
side lengths)
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The Minecrete S3 hybrid shotcrete after curing for two deeper understanding of the in-situ strength properties
hours has enough consistency to be tested on the of sprayed concrete, in particular, the resistance of the
compression machine as a cube sample. Minecrete S3 adhesion of the shotcrete to the rock will lead to practical
develops a shear strength of 5.3 MPa in 24 hours and improvements mainly in quality, which will prevent falling
7.4 MPa in 24 hours, values far superior to conventional rocks and accidents, improved safety for staff and
shotcrete. (See graph 5) teams. From graph 6 it is observed that Minecrete S3
develops 1.59 MPa in 24 hours and 2.71 MPa in 28 days.
The conventional shotcrete develops average values of
only 0.5 MPa as shown in table 4 made by Prof. Bernard.
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Photo 6. Strongly fractured rock mass (RMR 2830) where Photo 7. Minecrete S3 manual application in Peru. Note that
25mm thickness of the Minecrete S3 was applied instead of the level of dust pollution is minimal and shows a low rebound
50mm of conventional shotcrete. for improved health and safety
Cement Kg/m³ 450 448.2 -1.8 Photo 8. Manual application of Minecrete S3 in Peru in a
3 size excavation of 3.0m x 3.0m.
Fibre Kg/m 25 6.2 -18.8
Photo 9 shows the electrically driven Minecreter pump Photo 9. Manual application of Minecrete S3 in Peru with the
and mixer with electronic water dosing unit. pump and mixer equipment (Minecreter)
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Photo 10. Final spraying of Minecrete S3 Photo 13. Drilling of bolting holes through 25mm (1") thick
with 25mm (1") thickness Minecrete S3. No cracking was observed.
Photo 11. Final spraying of Minecrete S3 In photo 13 and 14 it was observed that after drilling there
with 25mm (1") thickness
was no evidence of cracking in the Minecrete S3 Hybrid
Photos 10 and 11 show the final spraying of Minecrete Shotcrete. The bolts were drilled only 2.5 hours after
S3. After a fast two hours of setting Minecrete S3 has being sprayed without any inconvenience or cracking,
achieved enough strength to drill the holes for the bolt plate did not penetrate into the Minecrete S3 because
installation of the rock bolts as shown in photo 12. of the strong fast setting. (See photo 15 & 16)
Photo 12. Drilling of bolts into holes through 25mm (1") thick Photo 15. Drilling of bolting holes through 25mm (1") thick
Minecrete S3. No cracking was observed Minecrete S3. No cracking was observed
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VOLUMETRIC MIXERS
The Minecrete S3 has a very fast setting time of 30-40
minutes. Due to the rapid curing the product has to be
mixed on site. To solve this problem, a new technology
for underground mining has been introduced. The
volumetric mixer (VM) is a high volume concrete batching
and mixing truck that stores the individual unmixed dry
components, such as Minecrete S3 cement, aggregate,
fibres and water in separate compartments, ready to be
batched, mixed and fed to a Minecreter spraying machine
or robotic concrete sprayer.
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Photo 20 shows VT feeding a robotic shotcrete spraying Description Unit Shotcrete Minecrete Difference
machine. The VT will be able to efficiently feed any type Monthly
of existing robotic sprayer. Volume m3/month 1,303.5 521.4 782.1
Required
Productivity m2/m3 10.0 25.0 -15.0
Productivity m2/m 9.0 9.0
Monthly Area m2/month 13,035 13,035
Monthly
m/month 724 724
development
Monthly
cycles/month 226 226
Volume
Photo 20. Volumetric Mixer feeding Minecrete S3 Productivity m3/m 1.8 0.7 -1.1
into a robotic sprayer.
Productivity 3 5.80 2.40 -3.4
m /blast
PRODUCTION RATES Cycle Total
Drilling,
Taking all of the above information into account, it is
lashing,
possible to reduce the thickness of the shotcrete with ventilation,
hours/blast 7.0 7.0
Minecrete S3 by half. For example, if a mine currently charging
sprays 1,500m3 of shotcrete per month, with a rebound explosives
of 15% and a rehabilitation of 15%. Through the use of Spraying time hours/m3 0.10 0.10
Minecrete S3 Shotcrete Hybrid only 564m 3 will be
Setting time hours/blast 3.0 2.0 -1.0
required due to a low rebound of 5% and half the
application thickness of 25mm. (See table 6) Total time by
hours/blast 10.6 9.2 -1.3
cycle
Total Monthly
Productivity hours/month 2,394.7 2,091.4 -303.3
time
Description Unit Shotcrete Minecrete Difference Saving time
Compression hours/month 303.3
MPa 28 36 8 per Month
Strength Additional
blast/month 32.8
Lining Thickness mm 50 25 -25 development
Rebound % 0 0 0 Additional
m/month 105.0
Productivity 2
m /m 3 10.0 25.0 15.0 development
Table 7. Development and blasts increase using Minecrete S3.
Monthly Volume m3/monthly 1,303.5 521.4 -782.1
Monthly Area m2/monthly 13,035 13,035 As a comparison example of 1,500m3 per month shows
Repair % 15% 8% -0.1 the quantity of aggie cars required is decreased from 4 to
Additional by 2 VM. (See table 8 and 9)
m3/monthly 196.0 42.0 -154.0
repair
Area additional by Productivity
m2/monthly 1,960.0 1,050.0 -910.0
repair Description Unit Shotcrete Minecrete Difference
Total Volume
m3/monthly 1,500.0 564.0 -936.0 Volume Required 3
m /month 1,500.0 564.0 -936.0
Required
Total Area Volume per day m3/day 50.0 19.0 31.0
m2/monthly 14,995 14,085 -910
Required Volume per shift 3
m /shift 25.0 9.5 15.5
Table 6. Production rates and monthly quantities required. Table 8. Monthly consumption required.
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The instillation cost of shotcrete batching plants, silos shotcrete’s that have up to 3% material shrinkage that
and civil works with four aggie cars, can cost up to results in de-bonding from the rock surface.
$1,780,000.00 while Minecrete S3 requires two VM’s
and two backhoe machines, totalling $760,000.00 with a • Due to its fast setting and curing speed. Minecrete S3
large saving of over a million US dollars. (See table 10) requires mixing only at the working area when application
is required. The application involves using a Minecreter or
VM with a robotic sprayer. Minecrete S3 does not require
Batching Plant and auxiliary equipment material delivery through the use of fixed shotcrete
Description Unit Shotcrete Minecrete Difference batching plants on surface or underground. This
eliminates the need for barrel mixer trucks(aggie cars)
Batching plant & civil works U$/Total 300,000 -300,000
reducing labour and traffic, eliminating old time consuming
Backhoe U$/Total 80,000 160,000 80,000 practices while improving mine production by gaining more
Total Cost (3) U$/Total 380,000 160,000 -220,000 application hours in a shift.
Table 10. Capital investment to implement conventional
shotcrete and Minecrete S3. • Minecrete S3 is non-flammable and non-toxic and does
not contain any toxic additives that can harm workers
when it comes into contact with skin or inhaled. Personal
CONCLUSIONS
protection equipment used with conventional shotcrete
• Minecrete S3 Super Hybrid Shotcrete can be used in the
application is still required.
mining and civil engineering industries.
• With the use of this Minecrete S3 it is possible to increase 3. H. Yilmaz, “Comparison of tensile-bond strength of thin spray-
your production rates, by reducing your amount of on liners,” International Journal of Mining, Reclamation and
shotcrete m3 pumped per shift. This will make it possible Environment, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 56–71, 2013.
to increase blasting cycles and speed up ore production,
increasing overall profitability to the mine. 4. Stacey, TR 2001, ‘Review of membrane support mechanisms,
loading mechanisms, desired membrane performance, and
appropriate test methods’, Journal of the South African Institute
• Due to the fast setting and curing times of Minecrete S3, of Mining and Metallurgy, vol. 101, no. 7, pp. 342–352
in just two hours it is possible to re-enter the working area
that has been sprayed and continue installing the primary 5. Hla Aye Saw, Ernesto Villaescusa, and Christopher Windsor,
support safely with no issues. "Safe re-entry time with In-Cycle Shotcrete for support of
underground excavations" in "Shotcrete for Underground
• The application of Minecrete S3 generates very low dust Support XII", Professor Ming Lu, Nanyang Technological
University Dr. Oskar Sigl, Geoconsult Asia Singapore PTE Ltd.
levels further reducing dust pollution in the air which is a
Dr. GuoJun Li, Singapore Metro Consulting Eds, ECI
big improvement over the dust levels of conventional dry Symposium Series, (2015).
or wet shotcrete. Creating a healthier and safer
underground workplace during operation. 6. Bernard, E.S. (2009). EARLY-AGE RE-ENTRY UNDER
FRESH FIBRE REINFORCED SHOTCRETE.
• Minecrete S3 does not shrink, insuring that the bond to the
rock surface will stay intact. As opposed to other
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