Thin spray-on liners: a historical overview and their future potential as support in underground coal mines

ABSTRACT: Thin Spray-on Liner (TSL) is a fast setting, multi-component, polymeric material that is designed to be spray applied to a rock surface and provide areal support. TSLs are widely used in hard rock mining and some civil applications; however, they are yet to become a preferred support element in coal mining operations. Understanding of how TSL products behave to provide support to a coal rock mass and how they can be tested and monitored in-situ, is not well enough understood for them to be included as a routine support system. This presents a current challenge to the industry as how the assessment of a TSLs suitability or comparability to an existing support method can be done. This paper provides a broad overview of how TSLs have been used and tested to date and offers some insights into the future direction for establishing their use in underground coal mines.