\"Silica sands produced primarily from St. Peter Sandstone are used for hydraulic fracturing in the petroleum industry, glassmaking, chemicals, ceramics, filtration and the foundry industry in the US. The recent high demand for silica sands for hydraulic fracturing has triggered increased production and commissioning of new silica sand mines to support natural gas production from shale and tight gas deposits in the US. Most mines use surface mining methods to extract St. Peter Sandstone. The room and pillar mining method has been successfully used for St. Peter Sandstone mining in a few US locations, however, no one has proposed a rigorous pillar design method. The goal of this research is to: (1) elucidate factors contributing to ground control problems in St. Peter Sandstone mines; (2) derive a pillar design method for St. Peter Sandstone using numerical modeling; and (3) investigate the mechanics of “pinch out” failure in St. Peter Sandstone. The study found that the factors contributing to ground control problems in St. Peter Sandstone mines are: water in roofs, friability of the St. Peter Sandstone, strength variability, and reinforcement techniques. The study proposed the following pillar strength criteria for St Peter Sandstone:
SP = 14.360 + 11.720C - 0.903h[0.28 + 0.53(w/h)]
Where, C is the cohesion of the pillar rock in MPa, h is the pillar height in meters and w/h is the dimensionless pillar width to height ratio.
The study also found that pinch out failure is influenced by the contrast in rock properties at the pillar-roof interface and shape of the mine opening\"--Abstract, page iii.
","abstract_html":"<p>"Silica sands produced primarily from St. Peter Sandstone are used for hydraulic fracturing in the petroleum industry, glassmaking, chemicals, ceramics, filtration and the foundry industry in the US. The recent high demand for silica sands for hydraulic fracturing has triggered increased production and commissioning of new silica sand mines to support natural gas production from shale and tight gas deposits in the US. Most mines use surface mining methods to extract St. Peter Sandstone. The room and pillar mining method has been successfully used for St. Peter Sandstone mining in a few US locations, however, no one has proposed a rigorous pillar design method. The goal of this research is to: (1) elucidate factors contributing to ground control problems in St. Peter Sandstone mines; (2) derive a pillar design method for St. Peter Sandstone using numerical modeling; and (3) investigate the mechanics of “pinch out” failure in St. Peter Sandstone. The study found that the factors contributing to ground control problems in St. Peter Sandstone mines are: water in roofs, friability of the St. Peter Sandstone, strength variability, and reinforcement techniques. The study proposed the following pillar strength criteria for St Peter Sandstone:</p><p>S<sub>P</sub> = 14.360 + 11.720C - 0.903h[0.28 + 0.53(w/h)]</p><p>Where, C is the cohesion of the pillar rock in MPa, h is the pillar height in meters and w/h is the dimensionless pillar width to height ratio.</p><p>The study also found that pinch out failure is influenced by the contrast in rock properties at the pillar-roof interface and shape of the mine opening"--Abstract, page iii.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Arthur, Francis Anohomah"],"institution":"Missouri University of Science and Technology","degree_name":"Ph. D. in Mining Engineering","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":null,"date_issued":"","date_published":null,"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:18:43Z","subjects":["Numerical Modeling","Pillar Design","Rock Mechanics","St. Peter Sandstone","Mining Engineering"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/doctoral_dissertations/2618","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Arthur, Francis Anohomah"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Dissertation - Open Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph. D. in Mining Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Missouri University of Science and Technology"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Numerical Modeling","Pillar Design","Rock Mechanics","St. Peter Sandstone","Mining Engineering"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/doctoral_dissertations/2618"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["\"Silica sands produced primarily from St. Peter Sandstone are used for hydraulic fracturing in the petroleum industry, glassmaking, chemicals, ceramics, filtration and the foundry industry in the US. The recent high demand for silica sands for hydraulic fracturing has triggered increased production and commissioning of new silica sand mines to support natural gas production from shale and tight gas deposits in the US. Most mines use surface mining methods to extract St. Peter Sandstone. The room and pillar mining method has been successfully used for St. Peter Sandstone mining in a few US locations, however, no one has proposed a rigorous pillar design method. The goal of this research is to: (1) elucidate factors contributing to ground control problems in St. Peter Sandstone mines; (2) derive a pillar design method for St. Peter Sandstone using numerical modeling; and (3) investigate the mechanics of “pinch out” failure in St. Peter Sandstone. The study found that the factors contributing to ground control problems in St. Peter Sandstone mines are: water in roofs, friability of the St. Peter Sandstone, strength variability, and reinforcement techniques. The study proposed the following pillar strength criteria for St Peter Sandstone:
SP = 14.360 + 11.720C - 0.903h[0.28 + 0.53(w/h)]
Where, C is the cohesion of the pillar rock in MPa, h is the pillar height in meters and w/h is the dimensionless pillar width to height ratio.
The study also found that pinch out failure is influenced by the contrast in rock properties at the pillar-roof interface and shape of the mine opening\"--Abstract, page iii.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Pillar design for St. Peter sandstone formation"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Arthur, Francis Anohomah"],"dc:description.abstract":["\"Silica sands produced primarily from St. Peter Sandstone are used for hydraulic fracturing in the petroleum industry, glassmaking, chemicals, ceramics, filtration and the foundry industry in the US. The recent high demand for silica sands for hydraulic fracturing has triggered increased production and commissioning of new silica sand mines to support natural gas production from shale and tight gas deposits in the US. Most mines use surface mining methods to extract St. Peter Sandstone. The room and pillar mining method has been successfully used for St. Peter Sandstone mining in a few US locations, however, no one has proposed a rigorous pillar design method. The goal of this research is to: (1) elucidate factors contributing to ground control problems in St. Peter Sandstone mines; (2) derive a pillar design method for St. Peter Sandstone using numerical modeling; and (3) investigate the mechanics of “pinch out” failure in St. Peter Sandstone. The study found that the factors contributing to ground control problems in St. Peter Sandstone mines are: water in roofs, friability of the St. Peter Sandstone, strength variability, and reinforcement techniques. The study proposed the following pillar strength criteria for St Peter Sandstone:
SP = 14.360 + 11.720C - 0.903h[0.28 + 0.53(w/h)]
Where, C is the cohesion of the pillar rock in MPa, h is the pillar height in meters and w/h is the dimensionless pillar width to height ratio.
The study also found that pinch out failure is influenced by the contrast in rock properties at the pillar-roof interface and shape of the mine opening\"--Abstract, page iii.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/doctoral_dissertations/2618"],"dc:subject":["Numerical Modeling","Pillar Design","Rock Mechanics","St. Peter Sandstone","Mining Engineering"],"dc:title":["Pillar design for St. Peter sandstone formation"],"dc:type":["Dissertation - Open Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph. D. in Mining Engineering"],"thesis:institution_name":["Missouri University of Science and Technology"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:18:43Z"}