ISRM Newsletter No. 56 - December 2021
- President's 2022 New Year Address
- Prof. Seokwon Jeon elected ISRM President for 2023-2027
- ISRM International Symposium LARMS 2022, Asunción, Paraguay, 16 to 19 October – Call for papers
- 35th ISRM online lecture by Prof. Charlie Li
- Eurock2022, Helsinki, Finland, 12-15 September
- AusRock 2022, Melbourne, 9 November-1 December – an ISRM Regional Symposium: abstract submissions closing soon
- 15th International ISRM Congress, Salzburg, Austria – The place to be in October 2023
- New ISRM course on Ground Control in Longwall Mining by Prof. Ismet Canbulat
- First European Rock Mechanics Debate
- Introducing the ISRM Young Members’ Seminar Series
- Renew your access to the ISRM Digital Library
- Rocha Medal 2022 winner and runners-up were announced
- 5th Symposium of the Macedonian Association for Geotechnics, Ohrid, 23-25 June – an ISRM Specialized Conference
- 9th Brazilian Rock Mechanics Symposium, 23-26 August 2022, Campinas, Brazil – an ISRM Specialized Conference
- Nordic Grouting Symposium, 4-6 October 2022 in Stockholm, Sweden – an ISRM Specialized Conference
- ISRM Sponsored Conferences
President's 2022 New Year Address
Dear Colleagues,
In the beginning of 2022, as the current Board, we have completed more than two years of activity. Following two difficult years in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19, it is unfortunate that we have to continue to fight this pandemic in the whole world. Last year we could not have imagined how the world would respond to the fight against COVID-19. Although a rapid increase in the rate of vaccination with the determination and dedication of the scientists gave us hopes to achieve better conditions on the way back to normality, particularly due to the resistance of many people in various countries against vaccination caused a considerable decrease in the rate of normalization. In other words, COVID-19 is still around and each country is handling its situation differently. Things are different than they were before 2020 and, unfortunately, in terms of the effect of the pandemic, there is still uncertainty about the future in the entire world. Whatever the conditions are, all Societies like ISRM, should continue to their activities. Due to the pandemic conditions, face-to-face activities are rather difficult and video conferences, webinars and seminars and similar tools have become the new normal.
In these difficult days, ISRM paid prime attention the use of techniques, such as video conferences, webinars and similar tools, and on-line and hybrid conferences for the communication with its members and continuation of its activities, and held all its meetings regularly. I am very glad to emphasize that the participation in all these meetings was high and all were successfully held. In addition, the ISRM activities in 2021 included a lot of works and some new initiatives. All these are given in my New Year Address that will be published in the 2021 ISRM News Journal.
Despite the difficulties related to the pandemic conditions prevailing in the whole world, election of the ISRM President for the 2023-2027 term of office was also successfully realized in the Council meeting. Professor Seokwon Jeon was elected and joined to the current Board as the President Elect. He will start his term of office in October 2023. His knowledge and ability to work is well known and we are confident that he and the new Board members, who will be elected as the future Board, will serve our Society with the same wisdom and enthusiasm as our Past Presidents did.
I would like to sincere thank the strong involvement of the ISRM Vice Presidents and Secretary General, the Chairs and members of the Commissions and three ISRM Committees, our Past Presidents and Fellows, our Secretariat, the Webmaster and the Co-editor of the ISRM News Journal in Lisbon, as well as the contributions given by our National Groups for the success of the ISRM, and the Laboratory of Civil Engineering (LNEC) in Lisbon for providing the venue for the ISRM work since its foundation. I wish all of you a Happy New Year of 2022 filled with health, success and peace, hoping that we can resume with face-to-face meetings in next year.
Reşat Ulusay
President, ISRM
Prof. Seokwon Jeon elected ISRM President for 2023-2027
At the Council meeting held online on 17 November 2021, Prof. Seokwon Jeon from the Republic of Korea was elected ISRM President for 2023-2027. The President-elect will now join the Board and will assume the Presidency of the Society after the 15th International Congress on Rock Mechanics, in October 2023.
After obtaining his Ph.D. degree in mining and geological engineering at University of Arizona, Professor Jeon started teaching at Seoul National University in 1997. Since then, he served in various leading roles in Korean rock mechanics, geotechnical and tunneling engineering community. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering of Korea and Past-President of the Korean Society for Rock Mechanics. He was involved in organizing numerous international meetings including the first and seventh Asian Rock Mechanics Symposia - ARMS and the fifth ISRM Young Scholars' Symposium on Rock Mechanics - YSRM. He has been actively participating in ISRM activities serving as ISRM Vice President for Asia in 2015-2019, with strong initiatives for education and cooperation with industry.
ISRM International Symposium LARMS 2022, Asunción, Paraguay, 16 to 19 October – Call for papers
You are invited to attend and reunite with colleagues and friends at the 2022 9th Latin American Rock Mechanics Symposium (IX LARMS), an event of the International Society of Rock Mechanics (ISRM), which will be held in Asuncion, Paraguay, from October 16-19, 2022.
The symposium main theme is “Challenges in rock mechanics: towards a sustainable development of infrastructure”. The symposium topics include but are not limited to:
- Rock mass characterization
- Geophysics applied to rock engineering
- Monitoring techniques
- Numerical methods and modelling in rock mechanics
- Environmental and safety issues in rock engineering and mining
- Soft rocks engineering and case histories
- Tunneling and deep excavations in rock
- Rock mechanics for energy infrastructure
- Petroleum and deep reservoir engineering
- Case histories in rock engineering (interdisciplinary case histories particularly encouraged)
The event will take place in the fabulous Conmebol Convention Center and the Bourbon Asunción Hotel and will be preceded by short courses and workshops. It will also include industrial exhibitions, post-conference technical tours and special activities for young researchers/professionals such as the Rock Bowl competition. Furthermore, the city of Asunción will be at your disposal with its numerous tourism activities and wonders.
Call for papers is open! - Please note that the deadline for abstracts is February 20, 2022.
Find out more and submit your abstract here! www.larms2022.com
We hope to see you there!
| Jose Pavon Chair |
Roberto Andrada Co-Chair |
Eda Quadros Barton Honorary Chair |
36th ISRM online lecture by Prof. Charlie Li
Dear ISRM Members
For the 36th ISRM Online Lecture, the ISRM invited Prof. Charlie Li, from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). The title of the lecture is "Methodologies of underground rock support and applications". It was broadcast on the 17th December and will remain available on the online lectures dedicated webpage.
Dr. Charlie C. Li received his BEng 1981 and his MEng 1984 in geological engineering from the Central South Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, China. He received his PhD in rock mechanics in 1993 from the Luleå University of Technology (LTU), Sweden. He was a research associate and then associate professor (Docent) at LTU until 2000. After that, he worked as a geotechnical engineer in the mines of Boliden Mineral Ltd. Sweden for 5 years. Since 2004 Dr. Li has been a professor of rock mechanics for civil and mining engineering at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Between 2008 and 2013, he served in part-time as Chief Technology Officer in Dynamic Rock Support AS, which was a university spin-out technology company.
His research interests are in ground support, stability analysis of underground spaces, and mechanical properties of rock and rock masses. Underground rock support is one of his most focused research subjects. The most innovative achievements of his are the analytical models for rock bolts, the study on the behavior of inflatable bolts, and the invention of the D-bolt. The D-bolt technology has been used in deep mines of many countries for rockburst ground support. He has authored more than 100 scientific papers, published a book entitled “Rockbolting – Principles and Applications” and delivered 20 keynote speeches or invited lectures.
Dr. Charlie Li served as the ISRM Vice President for Europe between 2015 and 2019. He is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences.
Eurock2022, Helsinki, Finland, 12-15 September
You are invited to reunite with your colleagues on solid bedrock at the EUROCK 2022 - Rock and Fracture Mechanics in Rock Engineering and Mining in Espoo, Helsinki-region, Finland, 12 to 15 September 2022. The conference themes include but are not limited to the latest advances in rock mechanics, interesting mining and rock engineering cases, and engineering education. The conference includes parallel sessions, short courses, workshops, and excursions.
Should the COVID-19 situation allow, the conference will be held in the Dipoli conference center in Espoo near the Aalto University campus in the Helsinki region. The touristic city of Helsinki will be at your disposal with its underground and above-ground marvels. Virtual participation with networking possibilities will be offered in parallel.
Click here to join our mailing list! (https://www.lyyti.fi/reg/eurock2022mail)
Our call for papers was a huge success. We received 300 abstracts from 44 countries! All corresponding authors have now received a notification email.
Find out more on the conference website: https://www.ril.fi/en/events/eurock-2022.html
Jointly organized by Kalliomekaniikkatoimikunta (The Finnish NG of ISRM) and RIL.
See you there!
Lauri Uotinen, Chair of the Scientific Committee
Ville Raasakka, Chair of the Organizing Committee
AusRock 2022, Melbourne, 9 November-1 December – an ISRM Regional Symposium: abstract submissions closing soon
The Australasian Ground Control Conference (AusRock 2022) is currently calling for abstract submissions in exploring innovations, research, case studies and best practices in ground control techniques, rock mechanics, rock behaviour, structural stability, mining systems, monitoring and instrumentation, data management & AI, and approaches to geotechnical challenges in extreme environments including deep mining, underwater mining and planetary science. The Conference welcomes papers from a variety of science and engineering disciplines, including geology, physics, mathematics, mining, civil, petroleum, environmental, robotics, computer science and data analytics.
AusRock 2022, hosted in partnership with AusIMM and UNSW Sydney, is being held in conjunction with the International Society of Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering as a Regional Symposium for Australasia, from 29 November - 1 December 2022 in Melbourne, Australia.
A vehicle for information exchange between various industry experts and academia, AusRock2022 will focus on new technologies and developments, current and future industry needs, operational problem solving, and practical case studies. Abstract submissions close on 25 February, with the online submission portal quick and easy to use.
For more information about AusRock 2022, or to sign up to receive a reminder, visit https://www.ausimm.com/conferences-and-events/ausrock/
15th International ISRM Congress, Salzburg, Austria – The place to be in October 2023
The Austrian Society for Geomechanics is happy to invite you to the 15th International ISRM Congress in Salzburg, Austria in October 2023. Salzburg is the city where the ISRM was founded in 1962, and traditionally research meets industry. The preparation for the congress is in full swing.
Abstract submission will open on March 1st, 2022.
- The session topics are:
- Deep geothermal energy
- Underground storage for liquid and gaseous media
- Geological risks and natural hazards
- Long term behaviour of underground structures
- Challenging rock engineering projects
- Digitalization & Automation • Monitoring
- Numerical methods in rock engineering
- Geological investigation and characterization
- New developments in rock support
- NATM versus TBM
- Comparison of international tunnelling contracts
- Hydropower projects and dams
- Rock and rock mass properties
- Deep mining and underground engineering
- Petroleum engineering and carbon sequestration
In particular, we encourage young engineers and scientists to actively participate and submit papers.
Do you want us to keep you updated? Join the mailing list here.
If you have questions, ask us. We are ready → www.ISRM2023.com
Sincerely yours,
Wulf Schubert
President of the Austrian Society for Geomechanics
Chairman of the ISRM Congress 2023
PS: If you want to see the venue of the Congress and the city click here.
New ISRM course on ground control in longwall mining by Prof. Ismet Canbulat
This new ISRM course "Ground control consideration in high-production longwall mining in Australia" was recorded and made available in 2021 by Prof. Ismet Canbulat, from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, and has now been added to the ISRM website. The course has an introduction and five parts:
- Part 0 - Ground control consideration in high-production longwall mining in Australia
- Part 1 - Principles of ground control management in Australian underground coal mines
- Part 2 - Pillar mechanisms and practical design considerations
- Part 3 - Ground support principles and design considerations
- Part 4 - Understanding and quantifying coal burst phenomenon
- Part 5 - Estimation of horizontal stress magnitudes from borehole breakout data (by Prof. Joung Oh of UNSW)
First European Rock Mechanics Debate
The first European Rock Mechanics Debate on "Using Hydraulic Fracturing to measure in situ stresses" took place online on 7 October 2021 and was streamed to the ISRM YouTube channel, where it can be watched.
In the last informal meeting of the ISRM European National groups, Charlie Li from Norway suggested the organization of European Rock Mechanics Debates aiming at stimulating communication among academics and practitioners of rock mechanics and rock engineering in Europe. Based on this suggestion, an ad-hoc committee formed by Charlie Li, Philippe Vaskou and Leandro Alejano organized the first of these debates. The debate had the participation of Gerd Klee from Germany and Arne Marius Raaen from Norway and was chaired by Philippe Vaskou from France. A flyer with the contents and indicative rules of this debate can be downloaded here. This first debate can be considered a success, with nearly 100 attendants. Other debates will follow and will be announced on the ISRM website.
Leandro R. Alejano
ISRM VP for Europe
Introducing the ISRM Young Members’ Seminar Series
The ISRM Young Members’ Seminar (YMS) Series is a new ISRM Young Members Group initiative. It consists of a series of virtual events, with the goal of providing a global platform for ISRM young members to share knowledge, experiences, and ideas. The events foster knowledge and friendship among young professionals and students at an international scale. The typical frequency of the seminars is monthly, with a total of eleven seminars per year, which will be planned for the last week of each month.
The ISRM Young Members Committee and the YMS organising committee invite young members with careers in research or industry, working in the public or private sectors, to participate and share their work with the broader rock mechanics and rock engineering community. The criteria for the speakers are as below:
- be an ISRM member;
- maximum age of 35 years, or of 40 years if a PhD degree was obtained in the previous 5 years;
- have worked in rock mechanics and rock engineering for a period no longer than ten years.
Speaker nominations can be made by the nominee's National Group, or by some other person or organization acquainted with the nominee's work. Self-nominations are also accepted. Nominations are to be addressed to the ISRM Young Members’ Seminar Series Organizing Committee at isrm.ym.seminar@gmail.com.
The Seminars will be organised in Zoom. You can join using the Zoom link created for each Seminar and you can participate in the question and answers period. Please note that admission to Zoom is limited and is given on a first come first-served basis. The Seminars will also be live-streamed to the ISRM YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKnar_ztPiNISIVJ-74pqfQ, where they will be available after the live event.
Wednesday, 26 January, 17:00 GMT
Speakers:
- Sophie Jung (PhD student at Laboratoire Navier - Ecole des Ponts ParisTech, France)
Topic: Modeling of the long term behavior of the damaged zone by fracturing around the underground storage works in argilites - Alessandra Insana (Research assistant at Politecnico di Torino, Italy)
Topic: Challenges in the Lyon-Turin base tunnel project
Zoom link: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMsdOmoqT0pG9KYZsybO9wDFg46BfhWPPdi
2nd ISRM Young Members' Seminar
February, date and time to be announced
Speakers:
- Sho Ogata (Assistant Professor from Osaka University, Japan)
Topic: Development of Coupled Thermal-Hydraulic-Mechanical-Chemical (THMC) Models for Predicting Rock Permeability Change - Sehyeok Park (Senior Researcher, Deep Subsurface Research Center, Geologic Environment Division, Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM), South Korea)
Topic: Comprehensive in-situ stress estimation for a fractured geothermal reservoir from drilling, hydraulic stimulations, and induced seismicity
3rd ISRM Young Members' Seminar
March, date and time to be announced
Speakers:
- Kimie Suzuki (Assistant Lecturer at the Department of Mining Engineering, University of Chile, Chile)
Topic: Numerical modelling of rock masses in block cave mining - Alexander Ramos (Ground Control Engineer, Peru)
Topic: Strategy and tactics for burst-prone conditions in underground mining
Sevda Dehkhoda
Chair of the ISRM Young Members Committee
Renew your access to the ISRM Digital Library
The ISRM Digital Library was launched in 2010 and its main objective is to make available to the Rock Mechanics community worldwide the materials published in the ISRM Congresses and sponsored Symposia and in this way giving them greater visibility.
The ISRM Digital Library is part of OnePetro, a large online library managed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers. ISRM individual members registered on the ISRM website are allowed to download, at no cost, up to 100 papers per year from the ISRM conferences. ISRM corporate members can download 250 papers. At the start of every year ISRM members must renew their credentials at OnePetro. Detailed instructions are available on this page.
Rocha Medal 2022 winner and runners-up were announced
The Rocha Award Committee selected the winner of the Rocha Medal 2022 and two runners-up.
Winner:
- Radhika De Silva, Sri Lanka, for the thesis "Rock fracture stimulation using a slow energy releasing fracturing compound for permeability enhanced in situ leaching", presented at Monash University, Australia.
Runners-up:
- Masoud Rahjoo, Iran, for the thesis "Directional and 3 D confinement dependent fracturing, strength and dilation mobilization in brittle rocks", presented at University of British Columbia, Canada;
- Li Xiaofeng, China, for the thesis "Research on Rock Fracturing and Fragmentation Subject to Intensive Impact", presented at University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.
5th Symposium of the Macedonian Association for Geotechnics, Ohrid, 23-25 June – an ISRM Specialized Conference
The 5th Symposium of the Macedonian Association for Geotechnics (MAG) will be held 23-25 June 2022, as an ISRM Specialized Conference and Second conference of regional geotechnical societies. It will take place in UNESCO’s world heritage site – Ohrid, a city of great historical and cultural importance on the shore of one of the oldest and deepest European tectonic lakes.
It is organized with the goal to familiarize the expert and scientific public with the most recent findings in geotechnics. For that purpose, the Symposium will host the following lecturers and guests: Reşat Ulusay, Nick Barton, Anna Maria Ferrero, Eda Freitas de Quadros, Lyesse Laloui, Heinz Brandl, Boris Jeremić, Milorad Jovanovski, etc.
Researchers and practitioners can prepare excerpts from their findings related to the main topic: "Engineering problems in soft rocks" – about those and related geological materials, in the following areas:
Geotechnical aspects in urban areas and infrastructure- Laboratory and field geotechnical testing
- Geotechnical modelling of soils and rocks
- Assessment and reduction of geo-hazards
- Eurocodes and relevant geotechnical regulation
- Earthquake geotechnical engineering
- Geotechnics in support of sustainable society
- Specific problems in soft rocks
The key dates are:
- Submission of papers: 31 March
- Info on acceptance / corrections: 15 April
- Submission of corrected papers: 30 April
Registration fees (includes symposium materials and participation in the event and social activities)
- Until 30 April: €100
- From 1 May 2022: €125
- Students: €25
Companies are encouraged to present their activities or products through stand or other sponsorship forms, where attractive opportunities are offered. Instructions for registration, papers, accommodation, marketing etc. can be found at www.mag.net.mk. In case of any technical or organizational matters, participants can obtain information from mag@gf.ukim.edu.mk and mag@mag.net.mk.
We look forward to seeing you in beautiful Ohrid!
The Organising Committee of the 5th Symposium of the MAG
9th Brazilian Rock Mechanics Symposium, 23-26 August 2022, Campinas, Brazil – an ISRM Specialized Conference
After postponements imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 9th edition of the Brazilian Rock Mechanics Symposium (SBMR) will take place in person between August 23 and 26, 2022, at EXPO DOM PEDRO, located in the city of Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
SBMR represents the most important Brazilian meeting for the presentation and discussion of scientific and technological research, projects and works in Rock Mechanics and occurs in parallel to the 20th Brazilian Congress of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (COBRAMSEG 2022), 4th Brazilian Symposium of Young Geotechnical Engineers, 6th South American Conference of Young Geotechnical Engineers and the 11th Luso-Brazilian Congress of Geotechnics.
In 2021, the event system was reopened for a new round of submission of abstracts and papers. Submission of complete works ended in December, and in January 2022, the peer review process will begin. The event proceedings will contain the complete works of the two submission periods.
The events will feature short courses on different geotechnical topics, including two in the rock mechanics subject. The former president of CBMR, Prof. Lineu Ayres da Silva will teach the course “Rock Blasting by Explosives in Urban and Underwater Areas”. The course “Fundamental Aspects to the Study of Rock Mechanics”, taught by Prof. Carlos Emmanuel Lautenschläger (CBMR vice-president), will be aimed at students and young professionals.
Furthermore, as a tradition of CBMR in its most important national event, RockBowl will take place during SBMR 2022. The 4th national edition of the Rockbowl will be sponsored by Geobrugg, and registration for the teams will start in the first quarter of 2022.
The organizing committee is working to hold an excellent event in 2022 and invites everyone to follow the page www.cobramseg2022.com.br and the social networks of the Brazilian Rock Mechanics Committee (available at www.cbmr.com.br) for updates on the symposium.
The SBMR 2022 Organising Committee
Nordic Grouting Symposium, 4-6 October 2022 in Stockholm, Sweden – an ISRM Specialized Conference
Grouting of rock has a long history when it comes to reducing transport of water through rock joints and fissures, or in soil-rock-concrete interfaces. The method is utilized for tunnelling, mining, and dam construction in the Nordic countries where most rock excavation is in hard rock.
The technology and methods are continuously developed based on new experience and research, why the Nordic Grouting Symposium is so important. There is a tradition, with nine specialised symposiums since 1992, becoming a meeting place for engineers and researchers in both tunnelling and dam construction:
Designers, contractors, and clients involved in underground construction projects- Researchers and postgraduate students in the field of rock grouting
- Engineers and geologists in grouting design
- Designers with expertise who desire a more in-depth understanding of the field of rock grouting
The symposium starts in the late afternoon (4 October) with technical visits. At the upcoming symposium, we will gather experts to exchange experiences and discuss the latest development and achievement in the field of rock grouting. Take the opportunity to listen to two days (5-6 October) of interesting technical presentations including two Keynote lectures and a Professional discussion (workshop) where we challenge ourselves and colleagues in different grouting related topics.
The day before (4 October) the actual symposium a short grouting course is arranged in fundamentals of grouting for new and young employees in the industry.
Important dates
- Abstract submission: 14 Jan 2022
- Notification of abstracts: 4 Feb 2022
- Full paper submission: 25 March 2022
- Revised paper submission: 20 May 2022
- Notification of full papers: 17 June 2022
- Registration deadline of presenting authors: 30 June 2022
For further detailed information, please visit the Conference website www.ngs2022.se. We look forward to meeting you in Stockholm.
The NGS 2022 Organising Committee
ISRM Sponsored Conferences
