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Testing Procedure

Recommendations for test procedure


for NC-Bolt and PC-Bolt

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Mounting of M20 NC-Bolt.

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Introduction
Pretec is manufacturing and marketing steel bolts for The main difference between the NC-Bolt and PC-Bolt
rock support, with the functional target of satisfying is:
load requirements for immediate support, as well as
offering load parameters and durability acceptable for NC-Bolt:
permanent support. Dual purpose bolts of this kind are It is made from a solid rebar surrounded by a full-
often referred to as Combination Bolts. length plastic sleeve, where grout enters between bolt
and plastic sleeve and then returns from the inner end
The two combination bolt types being discussed in this of the bolt to the bearing plate between sleeve and
report are named NC-Bolt and PC-Bolt and this report borehole rock wall. The bolt is therefore protected by 2
is giving recommendations regarding on Site testing layers of mortar with a plastic sheet in the middle.
of these bolts to verify satisfactory load capacity after
installation. Since these bolts are first installed for im- Pc-Bolt:
mediate support and are shortly after grouted by ce- It is made from a hollow steel bar forming a thick-wal-
ment mortar, load capacity testing should ideally be led steel pipe. Grout is pumped through the bolt central
executed for both these situations. hole, until it returns from the inner end between the
bolt and the borehole rock wall to appear at the bea-
Pretec has issued detailed recommendations regar- ring plate. The bolt is after grouting fully embedded in
ding installation, tensioning, grout properties and one thick layer of mortar.
grouting equipment and procedures. This Report
is presuming that all these recommendations have For both these bolt types, Pretec has specified the
been carefully implemented, so that load testing and borehole diameter to be between Ø45 and Ø48mm
evaluation may reasonably assume correct bolt in- (or Ø64-Ø68 mm for the heavier M33 NC-Bolts).
stallation and overall properties. Refer to the brochure
“Grouting – Recommendations for cementitious grout
for NC-Bolt and PC-Bolt”.

NC-Bolt PC-Bolt™

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Testing of immediate ning and not reach the targeted load before running out
support load capacity of threads at the end of the bolt, but typically, the expan-
sion shell will still get jammed to provide full bolt load.

2.1 GENERAL There are two basic reasons that may cause this kind
These considerations are valid both for the NC-Bolt of poor performance:
and the Pc-Bolt, since they both are using the same 1. The borehole diameter could by mistake be too
expansion shell to give immediately effective end-point large. The maximum specified borehole diameter
anchoring before later time grouting. (Ø48mm or Ø68mm) should take care of preventing
this from happening (in ‘normal’ rock mass quality).
The immediate anchorage is provided by the bail type 2. Weak and soft rock material may appear locally in
expansion shell (see Figure 1) at the inner end of the some of the boreholes, coinciding with where a
bolt. Make sure to remove the black plastic ring trans- given expansion shell happens to get located,
port protection and open the bail enough that the shell which may produce a locally enlarged borehole
leaves will slightly push against rock during insertion diameter due to flushing action during drilling.
of the bolt. When the bolt has been fully pushed into Even with the correct borehole diameter after
the borehole and the free-end nut is tightened against drilling, the expansion shell may get so much
the angle washer, the wedge-formed plug inside the transversally extended that the wedge-plug pulls
expansion shell is pulled toward the borehole opening through the shell. This may happen if the surroun-
while the not moving shell leaves are jammed against ding material is too soft and deformable.
the borehole rock wall. The more likely effect of such conditions is that the
expansion shell will provide full bolt load, but only
The specified torque applied on the nut will tension the after more than normal movement in the borehole.
bolt to between 40 and 60 kN (for metric threads).
(Ref. PC-Bolt and NC-Bolt brochures / product When testing tensile load capacity there are four pos-
data sheets) sible outcomes:
1. The bolt outward movement is larger than
The design engineer must decide on how to define the acceptable at or before the specified acceptable
‘load capacity’ that needs verification by testing. The test load (non-destructive testing, which in such
minimum yield and failure loads of the bolt rod itself a case would be a failed test).
are parameters known from quality testing of the steel 2. The wedge-plug pulls through the expansion shell
and should not be the purpose of load capacity testing at a load less than the specified acceptable test
of installed bolts. load (non-destructive testing, which in such a case
would be a failed test).
However, the expansion shell properties under local gro- 3. Load gets increased until bolt yield is taking place
und conditions may need to be verified as satisfactory. and the test is stopped (destructive testing, which
The expansion shell has a limited range of acceptable would normally be approved).
expansion, before the wedge-formed plug in rare cases 4. The bolt is pulled to failure (destructive testing,
would pull through the shell and lose all load capacity. In normally approved).
very poor ground, the shell may slide during bolt tensio-
The design engineer will in most cases decide on a
Plastic ring non-destructive routine testing, that will be applied to
(Transport protection) a specified percentage of installed bolts. All tests must
Expanding leaves be successfully pulled to a given percentage of the bolt
minimum yield load, normally within
Bail
the range 50% to 90%. Using 90% for the most
Wedge-shaped nut called common NC-Bolts, the numbers would be:
a ”plug”
• M20x2.5 HRB500E: 90% of min yield load = 111 kN
• M22x2.5 HTRB630: 90% of min yield load = 172 kN.
• M33x3.5 HRB500E: 90% of min yield load = 312 kN
• M33x3.5 HRB600E: 90% of min yield load = 374 kN
Figure 1. Bail type expansion shell

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For Pc-Bolt calculated the same way: • Supporting frame for the pull reaction forces. Such
• M27/15: 90% of min yield load = 141 kN a frame may be for example a tripod or a tubular
• R27/15: 90% of min yield load = 143 kN frame with an inner diameter large enough to clear
• R27/12: 90% of min yield load = 227 kN the bolt and pull-rod assembly. A tripod will typically
be seated against rock or sprayed concrete surface
Refer to Product data sheets – www.pretec.no outside of the rock bolt bearing plate. It is important
that the pulling force is centered on the rock bolt
For special cases of poor rock quality, raising concern and pulling in the extended direction of the rock bolt.
that ‘soft’ rock may cause expansion shell failure at less If the rock bolt bearing plate has an angle washer
than bolt rod steel failure, destructive testing (pulling to between itself and the bolt end-nut, it is sometimes
failure) may be requested to verify that the expansion possible to set the supporting frame against the
shell is not the limiting factor. angle washer to ensure centric pull. The reaction
forces would go through the angle washer and rock
When installing the bolts and applying the recommen- bolt bearing plate onto sprayed concrete and/or rock.
ded tensioning to between 40 and 60 kN (valid for With a tripod or any other configuration transferring
M-threads and as given in the PC-bolt brochure for load outside of the bearing plate, the supporting fra-
R-threads), the bolt rod will move outward until the me must be adjusted by shims, wedges or by any
wedge plug stops within the expansion shell and the other solid means to ensure correct axial pull on the
bearing plate has crushed point contacts at the rock rock bolt. Reaction forces would transfer directly to
surface. This deformation is normal and necessary. surrounding sprayed concrete/rock.
However, the design engineer will typically specify the • A hydraulic pump with hoses and couplings to po-
maximum acceptable additional bolt-end movement wer the hydraulic jack for necessary pull force.
for the non-destructive test load. Even if the test load is
successfully reached, deformation larger than the limit Options
may indicate unacceptable rock mass quality where • Device for recording and logging of applied load
the expansion shell is located and the necessary miti- and resulting deformation together with bolt ID for
gation must be described by the design engineer. subsequent identification.
• Equipment for measuring deformation during pull
test. This will typically include a micrometer that
has an independent stable basis and can be set
2.2 Pull test execution to zero before starting the pull test and should give
deformation read-out and recording of deformation
2.2.1 Equipment with time.
First, a suitable set of equipment for the pull test exe-
cution must be selected. The necessary main ele-
ments of such a set must include minimum the fol-
lowing items: (See example in Figure 2)

• A pull-rod to be attached to the free length of threads


sticking out of the bolt end nut using a connecting
sleeve
• The pull-rod tensile load capacity must be higher
than the bolt failure load. The bolt to be tested must
also show enough length of free threads to sustain
the maximum potential test load from the pull-rod.
Of course, threads must match, or an adapter must
be inserted.
• A cylindrical hollow hydraulic jack with maximum
pull capacity larger than the maximum test load (as
well as cylinder stroke length larger than the ma-
ximum potentially necessary recording of pull de-
formation). Figure 2: Pull test equipment.

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Rock support – R27/12 PC-Bolt
Contractor: Implenia
Project: Slussen SN91 – Stockholm, Sweden

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2.2.2 Testing procedure
Details of the actual testing procedure will depend on
the requirements specified by the design engineer
for the specific project at hand. This procedure must
include the detailed description of the selected testing
equipment, how to set it up correctly, as well as des-
cribing the test execution necessary to provide the
results asked for by the design engineer. The results
must be classified as either approved satisfactory, or if
not, what specific action must be taken regarding any
additional testing or changes/limitations of bolt usage,
or supplemental use of a different bolt type.
NC-Bolt M20 cut 1500mm from protruding end.
Orange plastic sleeve surrounds the bolt.

3 Testing of load capacity


after grouting
3.1 GENERAL
The NC-Bolt and Pc-Bolt types are fully grouted by ce-
ment mortar, typically within 50 m of the tunnel face,
so within relatively short time (a week or two) after in-
stallation for immediate support. Because of the corro-
sion protection applied on the bolts (PC-Coat – HDG,
zinc manganese phosphating and epoxy powder coa- PC-Bolt M27/15 cut 500mm from each end.
ting), this time span before being fully grouted is of no
All test bolts have been grouted vertically.
concern for load capacity or durability, even if occasi-
onally the time period until grouting becomes quite a
bit longer.
Provided that the clear recommendations and proce- In terms of overall load bearing capacity, item 1 is of
dures regarding grouting are properly implemented, negligible importance for the general performance of
the bolts will be completely and fully grouted by high the bolt (after grouting), but the expansion shell can be
quality cementitious mortar and the targeted load expected to show even better anchorage in the grout
capacity and durability for approval as permanent than item 1.
support should be satisfied.
The question then becomes how to test and verify that Item 2 is the most important part of the bolt, because
the installed bolts do satisfy specified load require- many rock discontinuities will typically cross the bolt
ments. It has been found that reliable and practically and represent preferred locations for any rock dilation
useful test methods for such bolts are generally mis- and rock movement. The bolts are normally placed to
sing. mitigate such risk of movement and thereby maintain
stability.
3.2 Applicable functional principles
These bolts comprise 3 functional elements after Item 3 will in most cases include rock surface reinfor-
grouting has been done: cement by sprayed concrete between the rock surface
1. The area around the expansion shell. and the bolt bearing plate. The bearing plate is there-
2. The fully grouted length of steel rod between fore a supplementary device to prevent the immediate
expansion shell and borehole mouth. rock surface (to a depth of say 2 dm) from cracking up
3. End of bolt with bearing plate and nut. and falling down as a result of general or local radial
convergence. For the functionality of the item 2 part,
the item 3 is of marginal importance, while the function
of item 3 depends on item 2 working as expected.

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Rock support – M20 NC-Bolt
Contractor: MossIA (Joint Venture Implenia Norge AS and Acciona Construction)
Project: Railway tunnel, double track Sandbukta – Moss - Såstad, Norway

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Any testing method for load capacity of the fully grou- load capacity of the bolts will be fully utilized. The load
ted bolt, must therefore produce reliable information capacity of each bolt type and production batch is do-
about item 2, the fully grouted length of steel rod bet- cumented in the Inspection Certificate according to
ween expansion shell and borehole mouth. EN10204, 3.1.

If item 2 is of primary interest for testing of bolt load Since really good testing methods for fully grouted
capacity and functionality, then it is obvious that any bolts are unavailable, it is considered more relevant
version of pull testing as described above for the and productive to execute pre-construction testing to
end-anchored bolt will be of no value at all. It is well ensure correct bolt installation and grouting, along with
known that in a normal hard rock and using a good pre-selection of grout mix design that will reliably pro-
quality grout, the NC- and Pc-Bolt rods will need a very duce top quality bolt encapsulation.
limited mortar fixation length to be pulled to failure (like
2-3 dm). It means that even if pull testing (like des- During the production stage, there should be routine
cribed above) a fully grouted bolt to failure at minor checks at specified intervals of all necessary and re-
deformation, the bolt at depth beyond 2-3 dm inside levant items of bolt grout execution. Bottom line is that
the rock surface, has not been subjected to any load at if the grout has the right quality parameters and espe-
all. Every effect of such a test happens within the first cially the proper rheological properties, the complete
30 cm of the steel rod and tells nothing about capacity mortar filling along the full length of the bolt will be en-
along the rest of the bolt. sured, as can be directly observed during execution of
grouting of every single bolt. The resulting bolt quality
It also means that a bolt embedded in proper quality may consequently be considered beyond question.
mortar, that is crossed by an opening discontinuity lo- This is where the focus should be, not on unreliable
cated at depth, will reach bolt yield load at minor de- indirect testing methods. It should also be mentioned
formation, since just a dm or two on each side of the that with such an approach and the right equipment
joint will be loaded. in place (including quality control supervision), there
would be no motivation for the operators to take short-
Any conceivable direct testing of load capacity for a cuts of any practical nature. To do it right, is no more
fully grouted NC-Bolt or Pc-Bolt will have to include complicated or demanding than being sloppy.
drill out of the whole bolt by over-coring. It is a slow
as well as costly and not so easy exercise and a test Fully grouted rock bolts should be considered reinfor-
method for the extracted column of rock and bolt must cement of the rock mass working the same way as
be designed to provide the test results that have prio- rebars placed in reinforced concrete. Individual rebars
rity from a design viewpoint. This is considered a task in concrete structures are not routinely tested for load
outside of the scope of this Report. capacity, they are simply considered (in design) to be
well embedded in the concrete and reliably offering
There are indirect test methods, like ultrasound me- expected load transfer. The way this is ensured is by
asurements to indicate completeness of grout filling, materials testing both for steel and concrete combi-
but reliability is questionable, especially for long bolts. ned with work execution requirements like how to pour
There is also the CaviMeter device from Rock Safety the concrete, details about concrete vibration, requi-
Systems that may be considered. rements on formwork etc. With proper work execution
and supervision, the result will be satisfactory as per
design, based on experience. The same quality assu-
rance principles and load verification approach must
3.3 Recommendation be valid also in case of fully grouted rock bolts.
There is hardly any doubt that when using a good
quality grout and recommended mixing and pumping
equipment with proper procedures for execution of the
grouting, that the bolts will be completely embedded,
well protected and provide a complete load transfer
between the surrounding rock and the steel bolt. In si-
tuations of significant rock movements within the rock
mass volume held together by the bolts, the maximum

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4 Conclusion
Combination rock bolts like NC-Bolt and Pc-Bolt from There is no direct test procedure available to test the
Pretec cover the two purposes of immediate and per- load capacity of the bolt rod between expansion shell
manent rock support. Immediate effect is achieved by and the bearing plate, which is the reason why ‘verifi-
the expansion shell anchorage, while permanent du- cation’ should be based on ensuring required materi-
rability is provided by the pre-treatment and coating of als parameters for steel and mortar, as well as proper
all steel parts, plus the full-length embedment in high supervised execution of grouting. When all aspects of
quality cement mortar. grouting are correct, any later movement of cracks and
joints crossing the bolt will transfer load to the steel
4.1 Immediate support verification which will quickly reach yield load at relatively small
Verification of immediate support load capacity (de- deformations. Ultimate capacity will be determined by
pends on the function of the expansion shell), will ty- the steel rod properties and not be limited by mortar
pically be done by non-destructive pull test that will be quality or incomplete grout embedment caused by
deemed satisfactory if reaching a pre-defined percen- poor execution of grouting.
tage of the minimum yield load of the bolt. In additi-
on to this requirement, there may also be a specified
maximum allowed deformation. The design engineer This presentation have been made by K. Garshol
will typically specify the relevant numbers for individual Rock Engineering Ltd
tunnel projects.
Destructive testing may be specified by the design
engineer to be optionally executed if some not satis-
factory non-destructive load tests are identified, for
further evaluation of potential action to be taken. Such
testing may also include a fixed routine test to be done
per a higher number of installed bolts, or in case geo-
logical mapping shows a less than acceptable rock
mass quality.

4.2 Permanent support verification


Regarding verification of load capacity after grouting
(for the permanent support), the same principles being
used for rebars in reinforced concrete are considered
valid.

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Norwegian Tunnelling Network (NTN) has issued
a “Best Practice / the Norwegian way” document
regarding installation of rock bolts:
www.norwegiantunnelling.com

Look under “Elements of Norwegian tunneling”


and “Temporary and permanent rock bolts”.

Factory in Haining, Zhejiang, China


Total area: 22000 m2
Content: Mechanical production, hot dip galvanizing and powder coating

11
Pretec AS Pre Cast Technology AB

Kampenesmosen 3, Solbräckegatan 15,


1739 Borgenhaugen 442 45 Kungälv
Norway Sweden
(+47) 69102460 (+46) 303351900
www.pretec.no www.pretec.se

Pretec Danmark A/S Penen J. & Co N.V - PDS Pretec Finland Oy Ab

Ådalen 6-12, Nijverheidsstraat 5, Billskogintie 12,


4600 Køge 2390 Oostmalle 02580 Siuntio
Denmark Belgium Finland
(+45) 56662422 (+323) 3129170 (+358) 207345681
www.pretec.dk www.penen.be www.pretec.fi

Pretec Underground Pvt. Ltd Zhejiang Pretec Metal


Products Co Ltd.

Plot No.176, D-Block, Auto Nagar


Visakhapatnam - 530012 Nr. 9, Jinchang Rd
Andhra Pradesh Haining
India China
(+891) 2743432 (+86 573) 87878119
www.pretecindia.in www.chinapretec.com

Office adress: Kampenesmoen 3, N-1739 Borgenhaugen, Norway | Postal adress: Box 102, N-1740 Borgenhaugen, Norway

Phone: (+47) 69 10 24 60 or (+47) 908 45 246 | E-mail: post@pretec-group.com


Web: www.pretec-group.com

Rev. 12/2020

i-Pack Design as, Sarpsborg

12

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