Design guidelines for steel arch supports in underground mining

Design tables and guidelines for steel arch supports made from open steel H-sections are presented. The tables record the load bearing capacities, obtained from numerical modelling results, for four different types of steel arches namely circular, semicircular, semicircular with straight legs and splay-legged. A wide range of parametric values was taken into account. Support diameters ranging from 2 to 8 m were considered. The leg-to-overall height ratio of the arch was varied between zero and 0.4. Splay leg angles of 5, 10 and 15° were also included. Interpolating functions are introduced to help calculate the load bearing capacity of a steel arch whose design parameters do not match exactly with those cited in the tables. The procedure is illustrated by numerical design examples.