Three-dimensional experimental study of loose top-coal drawing law for longwall top-coal caving mining technology

Based on the loose medium flow field theory, the loose top-coal drawing law of longwall top-coal caving（LTCC） mining technology is studied by using self-developed three-dimensional（3D） test device. The loose top-coal drawing test with shields and the controlled test without shields are performed in the condition without any boundary effect. Test results show that shields will cause reduction in drawing volume of coal in the LTCC mining. The deflection phenomenon of drawing body is also observed in the controlled test, which is verified that the deflection of drawing body is caused by shield. It is found that the deflection angle decreases with increasing caving height, with the maximum value of atailand the minimum value of 0. In addition, the formula to calculate the drawing volume is proposed subsequently.The deflection of drawing body is numerically simulated using particle flow code PFC3 Dand the proposed formula to calculate drawing volume in LTCC is also verified.

Stability analyses of vertically exposed cemented backfill:A revisit to Mitchell's physical model tests

Mitchell's solution is commonly used to determine the required strength of vertically exposed cemented backfill in mines. Developed for drained backfill, Mitchell model assumed a zero friction angle for the backfill. Physical model tests were performed. Good agreements were obtained between the required strengths predicted by the analytical solution and experimental results. However, it is well-known that zero friction angle can only be possible in terms of total stresses when geomaterials are submitted to unconsolidated and undrained conditions. A revisit to Mitchell's physical model tests reveals that both the laboratory tests performed for obtaining the shear strength parameters of the cemented backfill and the box stability tests were conducted under a condition close to undrained condition. This explains well the good agreement between Mitchell's solution and experimental results. Good agreements are equally obtained between Mitchell's experimental results and FLAC3 D numerical modeling of shortterm stability analyses of exposed cemented backfill.

Deep reinforcement learning and 3D physical environments applied to crowd evacuation in congested scenarios

To avoid crowd evacuation simulations depending on 2D environments and real data,we propose a framework for crowd evacuation modeling and simulation by applying deep reinforcement learning(DRL)and 3D physical environments(3DPEs).In 3DPEs,we construct simulation scenarios from the aspects of geometry,semantics and physics,which include the environment,the agents and their interactions,and provide training samples for DRL.In DRL,we design a double branch feature extraction combined actor and critic network as the DRL policy and value function and use a clipped surrogate objective with polynomial decay to update the policy.With a unified configuration,we conduct evacuation simulations.In scenarios with one exit,we reproduce and verify the bottleneck effect of congested crowds and explore the impact of exit width and agent characteristics(number,mass and height)on evacuation.In scenarios with two exits and a uniform(nonuniform)distribution of agents,we explore the impact of exit characteristics(width and relative position)and agent characteristics(height,initial location and distribution)on agent exit selection and evacuation.Overall,interactive 3DPEs and unified DRL enable agents to adapt to different evacuation scenarios to simulate crowd evacuation and explore the laws of crowd evacuation.

Capsule polymer flooding for enhanced oil recovery

To solve the problems of shear degradation and injection difficulties in conventional polymer flooding,the capsule polymer flooding for enhanced oil recovery(EOR)was proposed.The flow and oil displacement mechanisms of this technique were analyzed using multi-scale flow experiments and simulation technology.It is found that the capsule polymer flooding has the advantages of easy injection,shear resistance,controllable release in reservoir,and low adsorption retention,and it is highly capable of long-distance migration to enable viscosity increase in deep reservoirs.The higher degree of viscosity increase by capsule polymer,the stronger the ability to suppress viscous fingering,resulting in a more uniform polymer front and a larger swept range.The release performance of capsule polymer is mainly sensitive to temperature.Higher temperatures result in faster viscosity increase by capsule polymer solution.The salinity has little impact on the rate of viscosity increase.The capsule polymer flooding is suitable for high-water-cut reservoirs for which conventional polymer flooding techniques are less effective,offshore reservoirs by polymer flooding in largely spaced wells,and medium to low permeability reservoirs where conventional polymers cannot be injected efficiently.Capsule polymer flooding should be customized specifically,with the capsule particle size and release time to be determined depending on target reservoir conditions to achieve the best displacement effect.