Numerical Simulation of Ore Particle Flow Behaviour through a Single Drawpoint under the Influence of a Flexible Barrier

Abstract EN

A model of the mass draw and synchronous filling no-top-pillar shrinkage stoping method was created based on the particle element theory and PFC2D software.

A numerical simulation of the ore particle flow behaviour through a single drawpoint under the influence of a flexible barrier was performed; following which, a visualization of the change process in the marked layers, draw column, flexible barrier, and cavity was obtained.

Finally, the results demonstrated the following.

(1) Before the ore particles at the highest horizon were drawn, the morphology of the draw column had an ellipsoidal (whole, closed, and approximate) shape, but after the ore particles were drawn, the morphology of the draw column had a gyroscopic shape (i.e., the shape of a spinning top).

(2) The height of the draw column increased rapidly and exponentially in the early period of the draw, presented a linear growth tendency during the medium period with an increase in the accumulated mass drawn, and remained at a certain value in the later period.

(3) The morphology of the flexible barrier presented a Gaussian distribution on the whole, but its bottom had an analogous parabola morphology, particularly in the late stage.

(4) The cavity began to form with the ore particles at the highest horizon drawn; the cavity development presented an evolutionary process from the microscopic to macroscopic regime, and the morphology of the cavity was crescent in the early stage and triangular in the late stage.