A new corrosion resistant ground support system

The capacity of ground support components which have been affected by corrosion is reduced and may ultimately lead to failure of the component and the strata. In order to maintain an effective, long-term ground support system, significant campaigns of rehabilitation are often required in corrosion affected areas. The most common corrosion protection for steel ground support utilises sacrificial systems such as galvanising. galvanising has previously been proven to be susceptible to some corrosion processes. Stainless steel is the most effective in resistance to corrosion, but can be cost prohibitive, and its mechanical properties often make it unsuited for use in ground support components Providing an outer protective plastic coating to bolts has proven to be an effective means of
protecting the inner steel bar from corrosion. However, these support systems tend to be heavy, and require post cement grouting to provide full encapsulation. In comparison to a standard bolt/resin system, they are slow to install and expensive. These systems have also been shown to reduce overall load transfer performance of the bolting system.
In order to provide a higher level of corrosion protection whilst maintaining current installation practises and bolting cycle times, Minova has developed the Enduro™ steel ground support range. The Enduro™ range consists of standard Minova steel ground support components which have been treated with a unique coating process. The Enduro™ coating has been tested in the harshest of conditions, both underground and in controlled laboratory conditions. It has been proven to effectively resist or eliminate the formation of corrosion, even in the most aggressive environments. This paper outlines the laboratory and underground corrosion performance testing carried out on Enduro™ ground support products.