A review on the performance of conventional and energy-absorbing rockbolts

This is a review paper on the performances of both conventional and energy-absorbing rockbolts manifested in laboratory tests. Characteristic parameters such as ultimate load, displacement and energy absorption are reported, in addition to load-displacement graphs for every type of rockbolt. Conventional rockbolts refer to mechanical rockbolts, fully-grouted rebars and frictional rockbolts. According to the test results, under static pull loading a mechanical rockbolt usually fails at the plate; a fully-grouted rebar bolt fails in the bolt shank at an ultimate load equal to the strength of the steel after a small amount of displacement; and a frictional rockbolt is subjected to large displacement at a low yield load. Under shear loading, all types of bolts fail in the shank. Energy-absorbing rockbolts are developed aiming to combat instability problems in burst-prone and squeezing rock conditions. They absorb deformation energy either through ploughing/slippage at predefined load levels or through stretching of the steel bolt. An energy-absorbing rockbolt can carry a high load and also accommodate significant rock displacement, and thus its energy-absorbing capacity is high. The test results show that the energy absorption of the energy-absorbing bolts is much larger than that of all conventional bolts. The dynamic load capacity is smaller than the static load capacity for the energy-absorbing bolts displacing based on ploughing/slippage while they are approximately the same for the D-Bolt that displaces based on steel stretching.