A new grouting cable without a core tube used for reinforcement of fractured rock mass

Grouting cable is a newly developed technology for the reinforcement of fractured rock mass in coal mines of China. It integrates the procedures of cable anchoring and grouting, thus simplifying the working procedure of roadway support. However, ordinary grouting cable products with a core tube have some significant defects, such as a narrow flow channel, difficulty in slurry diffusion and significant reduction of cable strength. To overcome these shortcomings of ordinary grouting cables, this paper proposes a new kind of grouting cable without a core tube. The ordinary plastic core tube is replaced by a steel core wrapped by several steel strands. The inner gap between the steel strands and steel core is used as the slurry flow channel. The optimised measures can significantly improve slurry diffusion and strength performance of the grouting cable. As a novel idea, several samples of the new grouting cable were produced. Lab testing and field application experiment indicated that slurry diffusion and strength performance of the new grouting cable had been significantly improved compared with ordinary ones.