INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON

OPENCAST MINING TECHNOLOGY &

SUSTAINABILITY

APPLICATION OF SLOPE STABILITY RADAR FOR ACHIEVING

SLOPE STABILITY
Subhendu Mishra
Om Prakash Sahu
IIT BHU M.Tech
Some Accidents Due to Slope Failure in Indian
Mines
 In Lalmatia Opencast Project of M/s Eastern Coalfields Limited on 29/12/2016, an area of 300 m
length by 110 m wide solid floor of the Over Burden dump area slid down by about 35 m
involving around 9.5 million cubic meters of earth material in which seventeen miners were
entrapped and killed.
 In Jayant Opencast Project of M/s Northern Coalfields limited on 17/12/2008 in which a portion
of the dragline dump measuring 35m (length) × 70m (height along the side of the slope) × 6 to
19m (height across the slope) failed suddenly and trapped five persons to death and buried a
shovel at its bottom.
 In Sasti Opencast Mines of M/s Western Coalfields Limited on 4/06/2009 wherein a dragline
overburden dump of 73m height failed and slid down the pit resulting in deaths of two persons
and burial of two excavators.
 In Kawadi Opencast mines of M/s Western Coalfields limited on 24/06/2000, in which ten were
trapped and killed due to slope failure of 31m high overburden bench.
 DGMS Circular-2010

Deploy Slope Stability Radar (SSR) with integrated visual imaging system or any similar such
technology giving a near real time monitoring of displacements of strata or dumps well in advance
of any failure and providing mine management sufficient time to safely withdraw men and
machinery from such prone areas. Such system would not only increase safety but also the
productivity and efficiency of opencast operations.
 Conventional Slope Monitoring Equipment

Prism Monitoring Extensometer

Laser Scanner Total Station

 Disadvantages

Provide displacement only for a single site or at discrete sites. If displacement occurs in between
sites or monitored sites are too widely spread, indications of an impending failure might get
unnoticed.

Difficult to install at places where the highwall is steep and access is limited due to lack of
benches.

Constant shifting and relocation of monitoring devices is not only costly but also time consuming.
 Why Slope Stability Radar (SSR)?

Wide slope coverage area.

Near real-time slope deformation data.

Remote measurements reducing exposure of workers to slope failure hazards.

Slope deformation alarms can be set within a given range to alert mine workers and operators to
changes in mine slope behavior and act accordingly.
 What is Slope Stability Radar (SSR)?

Slope Stability Radar or SSR is a

technology invented by Ground
Probe for measuring the
movement of soil or rock slopes
such as of open cast mines.

It provides continuous monitoring

of the slopes and near-real time
slope deformation data.
 SSR Principle
SSR uses a technique called phase differential
interferometry.
An SSR makes repeated scan of a slope area each time
transmitting a signal (microwave), receiving the reflected
wave and noting the change in phase.
The phase change noted from one scan to the next will be Fig.1. An SSR transmits a signal, it bounces off the slope, and the SSR receives
same unless the distance of the slope has changed. it. (1) Transmitted signal (2) Received signal

If the slope has moved any tiny amount, the change of
phase between one received signal and the next will be
proportional to the movement in slope.
The deformation is either measured in millimeters or sub-
millimeters depending upon the precision of SSR used.

Fig.2.The change of phase (1) between one received signal (2) and the next (3)
is proportional to any movement (4) which has occurred between the scans.
 SSR Methodology
The instrument is generally located 50 to 450m back from the area of slope to be scanned for
stability.

The data collection begins with a preliminary scan to get the initial condition of slope which
serves as a reference for subsequent scanning.

A series of digital images are taken covering the entire slope area by the radar which enables the
user to have a visual representation of the slope from which two-dimensional slope area can be
analyzed.

Each scan contains information of phase for every pixel which are compared to the first scan and
all the scans prior to it.

Once the comparison is made, the measurements can be deciphered through measuring the
difference between phase of two different scans.
Two different scans targeting the same area
produces an interferogram which is subtracted
from previous or original scan to measure any
distance that might have taken place.

So, by taking the phase value of a single radar

return and comparing the information with phase
information from a different scan on the same
target, an accurate depiction of the slope activity
can be achieved.

The phase information used to measure

deformation is conducted on a per pixel basis. This
means that each pixel in the output is responsible
for a corresponding area on the wall face.

 Therefore, the average movement over the area in

which a pixel is representative is shown on a per
pixel basis
Fig.3. Failure Mode Interpretation through Multiple Scans (Noon, 2003)
 Threshold Alarms
Once the deformation is measured, it is very important to predict the exact time of slope failure.
Alarming values are set along with SSR system so that alarms are triggered after a threshold value
of deformation is reached.

Four alarms are often used at an operation

 Red Alarm – It is used as a critical alarm situation where an emergency situation is announced
and the pit superintendent is notified to evacuate the area of concern as well as calling the
geotechnical department.
 Orange Alarm – It is also called ‘geotech alarm’ where movements indicate a developing situation
that the geotechnical department should be made aware of for providing guidance.
 Yellow Alarm – it is indicative of system failure in the radar which results in the pit superintendent
being notified that the radar is unavailable and geotechnical department notified to assess the
SSR.
 Green Alarm – it indicates a minor system failure where the SSR is shut down and SSR viewer
program restarted as per procedure.
 Estimation of Threshold Alarming Values
Two methods are suggested for achieving this purpose namely as follows :
I. Inverse – Velocity Method
II. Slope Gradient Method
The above two methods are based on the spatial distribution of the slope covered by SSR, so it is
very important to obtain a set of pixels for time of failure analysis.
The set of pixels are selected on the basis of “percent deformation method” applied to a
“benchmark pixel”.
Benchmark Pixel and Percent Deformation Method
The pixel with the highest accumulated
deformation is selected as observed from SSR data
and is termed as the benchmark pixel.
The benchmark pixel then undergoes percent
deformation approach where those pixels or
cluster of pixels around it are selected which have
50% or say 75% deformation as compared with the
benchmark pixel.
These cluster of pixels are then taken for inverse
velocity and slope gradient methods of failure
analysis.
The benchmark pixel even though it is a single
pixel, is to be examined very carefully as it lies in
the most critical areas of instability and can
provide accurate forecasts for the first area to
collapse Fig.4. (a) Benchmark pixel and (b) 50% deformation increment pixel
selections for the copper mine slope failure (Dick et al, 2015)
 Inverse - Velocity Method
It is based on the fact that the time to accelerating creep failure under gravity loading is inversely
proportional to the deformation rate.
The procedure of predicting the approximate time of time of slope failure when the inverse
deformation rate – time curve crosses the x axis (inverse velocity equal to 0) is referred to as the
‘inverse velocity method’.
 According to various studies and laboratory tests performed, the following equation can be
derived.

V-1 = ×
Where V-1 = Inverse velocity
A = Slope of the inverse velocity trends
= Time of Failure
= Time when prediction is done.
= Constant which values vary between 1 and 2.
Fig. 5. Time–inverse-velocity trends (Dick et al, 2015)
Slope Gradient Method

Fig.6. Deformation rate – time trends (Dick et al, 2015)

 Advantages of SSR
Productivity: SSR helps mines optimize safety and productivity by improving geotechnical risk
management with real-time quantitative data.
Improved safety: SSR allows advanced warning of a rock mass failure—whether it is a few or
several million tonnes. Early failure detection allows removal of equipment and people from risk
areas, reducing the risk of human injury and equipment damage.
Optimized production: By reducing the uncertainties caused by slope instability, SSR data helps
geotechnical, mine planning, and production engineers make informed decisions and safely
optimize mine productivity.
 Reduced production delays: Mines with wall and bench stability issues associated with blasting
can be closely monitored, allowing production equipment into new blast zones sooner.
Better managed wet weather production: SSR allows continual monitoring and updates on slope
mass movement through wet weather, so production can continue based on real-time analysis
and an informed reaction to geotechnical risk.
Improved mine design: SSR data can improve understanding of rock mass performance and of the
development of slope instabilities. Historically stable slopes that have performed much better
than expected could become candidates for an increase in the cutting angles.
 Conclusions
SSR provides proper monitoring of ground movements as well as predicting the time of slope
failure leading to more informed decisions with respect to slope stability and withdrawal of mine
personnel and machineries.

SSR is precise, continuous and more reliable for collecting data in real time along with recognizing
the failure modes.

In addition to these, SSR predicts the time of failure and alarms are triggered when the
deformation rate reaches a minimum threshold value.

Having this system installed at an open pit mine allows for more aggressive slope design while
preserving a safe working environment for personnel
 References
Blackwell G., Keast M.& Pow D. “Slope Monitoring at Brenda Mines”, pp 59-60, 1975.

Graham J. Dick, Erik Eberhardt, Albert G. Cabrejo-Liévano, Doug Stead, and Nick D. Rose,
“Development of an early-warning time-of-failure analysis methodology for open-pit mine slopes
utilizing ground-based slope stability radar monitoring data”, University of British Columbia, 2015.

Neeraj Kumar and M. Nawghade, “Slope Stability Radar A Need for Open Pit Mines Stability”.
IJSRD - International Journal for Scientific Research & Development, Vol. 4, Issue 02, 2016.

Noon D. A., “Slope stability radar for monitoring mine walls”, Mine Risk Management Conference,
2003, pp1-10.

Taser D. J., “Simulation of a slope stability radar for opencast mining” , Msc. Eng Thesis. University
of Cape Town, 2003, pp 6-9 .
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