3.

Types of tendons and their characteristics

1. Mechanically anchored rockbolt

2. Grouted smooth bar/rebars
3. Grouted Shepherd’s Crooks
4. Resin anchored bolts
5. Friction anchors
6. “Inflatable” tendons
7. Load-deformation curves
8. Rockburst conditions
3.1 Mechanically anchored rockbolt
• Expansion shell to anchor bolt
• Can be pre-tensioned
• Short bond length required
• Work well in hard rock
• Needs to be re-tensioned if not grouted
• Not effective in soft rock or closely jointed rock
3.2 Grouted smooth bar / rebar

• Disadvantage - cannot be pre-tensioned (passive support)

• Type of grout/rib combination can be engineered to give
particular load-deformation characteristics
• Ensuring good quality grout underground can be
problematic
Grouted rebar

• Example of pull-out force of different grouted bolt types in

simulated squeezing conditions (Schubert, 1996)
3.3 Grouted Shepherd’s Crook
• Eye useful for mesh and lacing applications
• Widely used in South Africa
• Problems reported with “short arm” pulling out
• Disadvantage - cannot be pretensioned (passive support)
3.4 Resin anchored bolts
• Better in weak rock than mechanically anchored bolts
• No need for re-tensioning
• Combination of fast resin for end anchoring and slow resin in rest of
hole allows for pre-tensioning and a fully bonded anchor
• Disadvantage is high cost of resin
• Resins have limited shelf life – expired resins lead to poor installations
3.5 Friction anchor (Split Set)
• Provides frictional anchorage along entire length of hole
• Hole needs to be drilled slightly undersized
• Quick and simple to install
• More yieldable than grouted anchors in mild rockburst
conditions
• Corrosion a problem
• Incorrect hole size will result in faulty installations
3.6 Inflatable tendons
• Initially developed by Atlas Copco as the Swellex system
• Folded tube is inflated by high pressure water
• Intimate contact is achieved with the rock sidewalls
• Higher pullout force compared to splitsets
• Continuous developments have since occurred from both Atlas Copco and New
Concept Mining (NCM)
• The NCM Hydrabolt has a non-return valve which results in a much shorter critical bond
length than the bolts in which the water is released.
3.7 Load-deformation curves
• Stilborg (1994) – pulling two blocks of concrete apart
3.8 Rockburst conditions

• Early 1970’s – grouted steel tendons with mesh and lacing

became standard for tunnels in deep SA mines
• Destranded hoist rope used initially
• Rope often not completely de-greased, weakening bond with grout
• Shepherd’s Crooks gradually replaced destranded hoist
rope
• Ortlepp (1994) described this as a “retrograde” step
• Tensile failure of these stiff tendons frequently occurred in rockburst
conditions
• Promoted the use of grouted yielding bolts
Rigid tendons in rockburst conditions

• Example of rockburst damage in a tunnel in which fully

grouted rigid tendons were used (Erasmus et al. 2009)

Failed
Shepherd’s Crook
Yielding grout tendons

• The Conebolt and Durabar developed in South Africa

• Quality of grout and installations must be very good – Can be
problematic in underground applications

Durabar

Cone bolt
Yielding grout tendons