Stability Control of Gob-Side Entry Retaining in Fully Mechanized Caving Face Based on a Compatible Deformation Model

The stability control of gob-side entry retaining in fully mechanized caving face is a typical challenge in many coal mines in China.The rotation and subsidence of the lateral cantilever play a critical role in a coal mine,possibly leading to instability in a coal seam wall or a gob-side wall due to its excessive rotation subsidence.Hence,the presplitting blasting measures in the roof was implemented to cut down the lower main roof and convert it to caved immediate roof strata,which can significantly reduce the rotation space for the lateral cantilever and effectively control its rotation.Firstly,the compatible deformation model was established to investigate the quantitative relationship between the deformation of the coal seam wall and the gob-side wall and the subsidence of the lateral cantilever.Then,the instability judgments for the coal seam wall and gob-side wall were revealed,and the determination method for the optimal roof cutting height were obtained.Furthermore,The Universal Distinct Element Code numerical simulation was adopted to investigate the effect of roof-cutting height on the stability of the retained entry.The numerical simulation results indicated that the deformation of the roadway could be effectively controlled when the roofcutting height reached to 18 m,which verified the theoretical deduction well.Finally,a field application was performed at the No.3307 haulage gateway in the Tangan coal mine,Ltd.,Shanxi Province,China.The field monitoring results showed that the blasting roof cutting method could effectively control the large deformation of surrounding rocks,which provided helpful references for coal mine safety production under similar conditions.

Experimental and Numerical Study on Anchorage Strength and Deformation Properties of Blocky Rock Mass

This study experimentally and numerically investigated the anchorage properties,bolt force evolution,deformation and stress fields of blocky rock mass with various dip angles of joint surfaces under an applied axial load.The results show that due to bolt reinforcement,the axial stress-strain curves of anchorage blocky rock mass show typical strain-hardening characteristics,and comparedwithmodels without anchorage,the peak strength and elastic modulus increase by 21.56%and 20.0%,respectively.With an increase in axial stress,the lateral strain continuously increases,and restriction effects of bolts reduce the overall deformation of model surfaces.The axial stressstrain curves of anchorage blocky rock mass in the simulations present a“double peak strength”phenomenon due to bolt reinforcement,and the peak strength,second peak strength,residual strength,surface displacement field,as well as the principal stress fields all depend on the dip angles of joint surfaces.As a result of the bolt reinforcement effects,cone-shaped compression zones are produced in the models,and compression zones of adjacent bolts superimpose with each other to form anchorage belts,improving the overall bearing capacity of anchorage models.Obvious stress concentration can be observed at both bolt end and anchorage section.Not only the role of bolt support transfers the blocky rock mass to be a three-dimensional stress state through compression effects,but also it improves both tensile strength and shear resistance of both joint surfaces and the overall blocky rock mass.