1. INTRODUCTION Long-term reliability of geotechnical infrastructure is a key determinant of safety and operational continuity in mining, across both large open-pit slopes and confined underground excavations. Ground anchoring systems play a central role in stabilising rock and soil masses, controlling deformation, and enabling excavation advance under demanding stress and hydrogeological conditions. Improving the efficiency of ground support therefore requires solutions that reduce maintenance interventions and logistical constraints without compromising the safety margins demanded by modern design practice. High-strength prestressing steel remains the dominant reinforcement material for anchoring because of its tensile capacity and the maturity of design, installation, and quality-control procedures. However, its long-term performance in permanent applications can be limited by corrosion processes, particularly in aggressive hydrogeological environments where moisture availability and groundwater chemistry may accelerate degradation. In addition, the high density of steel (≈7.85 g/cm³) imposes handling and transport penalties that are especially relevant in constrained underground headings and remote surface installations. These constraints often translate into conservative sizing, additional protection measures, and increased life-cycle management requirements. Although fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforcements are increasingly explored in infrastructure as corrosion-resistant alternatives, their translation into geotechnical anchoring remains limited by the scarcity of design-oriented quantitative benchmarks within established practice. In particular, evidence is limited on how graphene-enhanced glass fibre-reinforced polymer (GFRP) concepts compare against conventional steel tendons when assessed using acceptance indicators and sizing logic consistent with Eurocode 7 principles and regional anchoring guidance. This gap restricts the ability of practitioners to judge whether nano-enhanced composite anchors can meet stability-driven design targets while offering competitive geometric demand and operational advantages. This study addresses that gap by presenting a quantitative benchmark of graphene nanoplatelet-enhanced GFRP (GNP–GFRP) anchors against a reference prestressing steel system (Freyssi SIOE type) under a consistent analytical framework. Structural efficiency is assessed through global factor of safety (FS) contribution and preliminary sizing metrics, with emphasis on reductions in required cross-sectional area and equivalent diameter. The results provide a design-focused basis to evaluate mechanical feasibility and to define priorities for subsequent numerical and experimental validation, including anchor–ground interaction modelling and long-term bond–slip performance under representative stress and hydrogeochemical exposure. 2. STATE OF ART 2.1 Evolution of Ground Anchoring Systems Ground anchoring systems have played a fundamental role in the stabilization of rock and soil masses in civil, mining, and underground engineering. Their evolution is closely linked to the increasing need to control instability in progressively larger, deeper, and more complex excavations, both at the surface and underground.
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