A Parametric Study Using Numerical Modelling to Assess the Stability of Marble Quarries

Marble quarries, are located at 3 km southeast of the city of Afyon İscehisar. The marble bed is lens shaped has a thickness of 300 meters. İscehisar is on south of the city center and marble bed extends through NW-SE direction for 6 km long and 1.5 km wide. Present base elevation of İscehisar marble quarry is at 1020 m and it is planned to be excavated down to 980 m elevation. The aim of this study is to determine the stability deep slopes at maximum depth (> 90 m) using numerical modelling. In the finite element method, generalized Hoek-Brown and Mohr-Coulomb failure criteria together with a jointed rock mass model are used. In marble quarries, particularly in this locations, the rock mass is severely affected by sliding blocks, caused by four intersecting joint sets. Stability analysis were conducted under static and dynamic conditions using Phase2 V.9.016 software. Shear Strength Reduction (SSR) technique that is built into the software used to determine the failure mechanisms and to suggest and the necessary controls to ensure the stability of the slopes.