Stability analysis of rib pillars in highwall mining under dynamic and static loads in open‑pit coal mine

The retained coal in the end slope of an open-pit mine can be mined by the highwall mining techniques.However,the instability mechanism of the reserved rib pillar under dynamic loads of mining haul trucks and static loads of the overlying strata is not clear,which restricts the safe and efcient application of highwall mining.In this study,the load-bearing model of the rib pillar in highwall mining was established,the cusp catastrophe theory and the safety coefcient of the rib pillar were considered,and the criterion equations of the rib pillar stability were proposed.Based on the limit equilibrium theory,the limit stress of the rib pillar was analyzed,and the calculation equations of plastic zone width of the rib pillar in highwall mining were obtained.Based on the Winkler foundation beam theory,the elastic foundation beam model composed of the rib pillar and roof under the highwall mining was established,and the calculation equations for the compression of the rib pillar under dynamic and static loads were developed.The results showed that with the increase of the rib pillar width,the total compression of the rib pillar under dynamic and static loads decreases nonlinearly,and the compression of the rib pillar caused by static loads of the overlying strata and trucks has a decisive role.Numerical simulation and theoretical calculation were also performed in this study.In the numerical simulation,the coal seam with a buried depth of 122 m and a thickness of 3 m is mined by highwall mining techniques.According to the established rib pillar instability model of the highwall mining system,it is found that when the mining opening width is 3 m,the reasonable width of the rib pillar is at least 1.3 m,and the safety factor of the rib pillar is 1.3.The numerical simulation results are in good agreement with the results of theoretical calculation,which verifes the feasibility of the theoretical analysis of the rib pillar stability.This research provides a reference for the stability analysis of rib pillars under highwall mining.

Construction of reasonable pillar group for undersea mining in metal mine

In order to achieve the safe mining in Sanshandao Gold Mine,five schemes of secure pillar group are designed.Using the method of the renormalization group,the failure mechanism of the pillar group is explored,and the safety factor of the pillar system is also obtained.The displacement characteristics,stress-strain laws,distribution of plastic zone and damage range of different pillar group are analyzed using numerical calculation software FLAC3D.To determine a reasonable pillar group scheme,the pillar stability and roof deformation are utilized to evaluate the safety of the pillar group.In addition,the theory of fuzzy comprehensive evaluation is adopted to verify the optimal scheme.The pillar group with the lowest roof deformation value is chosen as the optimal plan,which renders a factor of safety of 2.06 for the pillar group.According to this scheme,pillars with the width of 10 m are set along the strike of undersea deposit with the interval of 50 m.Rib pillars of 15 m in width are set at the location of the exploration line of 127,151 and 167.The analysis can be used to provide guidance for optimal design of pillar structures in undersea mining.

Stability and control of room mining coal pillars-taking room mining coal pillars of solid backfill recovery as an example

The stability of room mining coal pillars during their secondary mining for recovering coal was analyzed. An analysis was performed for the damage and instability mechanism of coal pillars recovered by the caving mining method. During the damage progression of a single room coal pillar, the shape of the stress distribution in the pillar transformed from the initial stable saddle shape to the final arch-shaped distribution of critical instability. By combining the shapes of stress distribution in the coal pillars with the ultimate strength theory, the safe-stress value of coal pillar was obtained as 11.8 MPa. The mechanism of instability of coal pillar groups recovered by the caving mining method was explained by the domino effect. Since the room coal pillars mined and recovered by the traditional caving mining method were significantly influenced by the secondary mining during recovery, the coal pillars would go through a chain-type instability failure. Because of this limitation, the method of solid backfilling was proposed for mining and recovering room coal pillars, thus changing the transfer mechanism of stress caused by the secondary mining(recovery) of coal pillars. The mechanical model of the stope in the case of backfilling and recovering room coal pillars was built. The peak stress values inside coal pillars varied with the variance of backfilling ratio when the working face was advanced by 150 m. Furthermore, when the critical backfilling ratio was 80.6%, the instability failure of coal pillars would not occur during the solid backfill mining process. By taking Bandingliang Coal Mine as an example, the coal pillars' stability of stope under this backfilling ratio was studied, and a project scheme was designed.

Heavy rockbursts due to longwall mining near protective pillars:A case study

Rockburst represents a very dangerous phenomenon in deep underground mining in unfavourable conditions such as great depth, high horizontal stress, proximity of important tectonic structures, and unmined pillars. The case study describes a recorded heavy rockburst in the Czech part of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin, which occurred during longwall mining near the protective pillar. The artificial dividing of geological blocks and creation of mining protective pillars(shaft pillars, crosscut pillars etc.) is a dangerous task in light of rockbursts occurring mainly due to overstressing of remaining pillars. A simple model of this situation is presented. Natural and mining conditions are analysed and presented in detail as well as registered seismicity during longwall mining in the area. Recorded rockbursts in the area of interest are described and their causes discussed. Many rockbursts near protective pillars were recorded in this mining region. Methodical instructions for rockburst prevention in proximity of protective pillars as well as for gates driving were devised based on the evaluation of rockburst causes. The paper presents these principles for prevention.

Coupling effects of coal pillars of thick coal seams in large-space stopes and hard stratum on mine pressure

Concerning the issue of mine pressure behaviors occurred in fully mechanized caving mining of thick coal seams beneath hard stratum in Datong Mining Area, combined with thin and thick plate theory, the paper utilizes theoretical analysis, similar experiments, numerical simulations and field tests to study the influence of remaining coal pillars in Jurassic system goaf on hard stratum fractures, as well as mine pressure behaviors under their coupling effects. The paper concludes the solution formula of initial fault displacement in hard stratum caused by remaining coal pillars. Experiments prove that coupling effects can enhance mine pressure behaviors on working faces. When inter-layer inferior key strata fractures, mine pressure phenomenon such as significant roof weighting steps and increasing resistance in support.When inter-layer superior key strata fractures, the scope of overlying strata extends to Jurassic system goaf, dual-system stopes cut through, and remaining coal pillars lose stability. As a result, the bottom inferior key strata also lose stability. It causes huge impacts on working face, and the second mine pressure behaviors. These phenomena provide evidence for research on other similar mine strata pressure behaviors occurred in dual-system mines with remaining coal pillars.

Numerical investigation into the effect of backfilling on coal pillar strength in highwall mining

This paper attempts to quantify the effect of backfilling on pillar strength in highwall mining using numerical modelling. Calibration against the new empirical strength formula for highwall mining was conducted to obtain the material parameters used in the numerical modelling. With the obtained coal strength parameters, three sets of backfill properties were investigated. The results reveal that the behavior of pillars varies with the type and amount of backfill as well as the pillar width to mining height ratio(w/h). In case of cohesive backfill, generally 75% backfill shows a significant increase in peak strength, and the increase in peak strength is more pronounced for the pillars having lower w/h ratios. In case of noncohesive backfill, the changes in both the peak and residual strengths with up to 92% backfill are negligible while the residual strength constantly increases after reaching the peak strength only when 100%backfill is placed. Based on the modelling results, different backfilling strategies should be considered on a case by case basis depending on the type of backfill available and desired pillar dimension.

Analysis of stability of coal pillars with multi-coal seam strip mining

Strip mining is one of the efficient measures to control surface subsidence and mining damage. However, the researches on the laws of the geological mining factors to upper and lower pillar's stability are still deficient in multi-coal seam strip mining at present. Based on the three dimension fast Lagrangian analysis of continua (short for FLAC3D) numerical simulation software, the laws of the stress increasing coefficient on the coal pillar and its stability were systematically studied for different depths, different mining widths, different interlayer spacings, different mining thicknesses, different properties of interstratified rock and the spacial relations of the upper and lower pillars in vertical alignment in multi-coal seam strip mining. The function relation between the stress increasing coefficient of upper and lower pillars with the mining depth, mining widths, interlayer spacing, mining thickness, property of interstratified rock and the spatial relationship were obtained.

CUSP CATASTROPHE MODEL OF INSTABILITY OF PILLAR IN ASYMMETRIC MINING

A simplified mechanical model of pillar-hang wall was established in asymmetric mining and instability of the system was discussed by means of potential energy principle and cusp catastrophe theory. The necessary-sufficient condition and the jump value of displacement of pillar and the released energy expressions were derived, which established foundation for quantifying of the instability of system. The results show that instability of the system is related to load and its stiffness distribution. The critical load increases with the increasing relative stiffness, and the system is more stable. On the contrary, the instability of system is likely to occur, and the released energy is larger in instability process, and the harm is more tremendous accordingly. Furthermore, an example was calculated, and the estimated results are in good agreement with the practical experience, which provide basis for mining order and arranging stope.

Relationship between surface subsidence factor and mining depth of strip pillar mining

Strip pillar mining is one of the most important technical measures to control mining subsidence in China. Mining depth is one of the most important factors that can affect the mining subsidence in strip pillar mining. Six numerical simulation models were set up to simulate the surface subsidence of strip pillar mining in different mining depths. The mining depth in these six models ranges from 300 to 800 m. The simulated results were compared and analyzed. The formula was established based on the simulated results. It demonstrated that the subsidence of strip pillar mining method is related to mining depth. While the other conditions are the same, the subsidence of strip pillar mining increases with the increase of mining depth by logarithmic relationship.

Stability of boundary pillars in transition from open pit to underground mining

Based on the height of back-filled materials, thickness of ore body, height of boundary pillar and dipping angle of ore body and water pressure, the safety factors of all the pillars are calculated with the limit equilibrium method. The calculation results present that the safety factors of pillars in Sections 19, 20, 24, 28 are less than 1.3, and those of unstable sections are identified preliminarily. Further, a numerical investigation in Sections 18, 20, 22, 24, 25 and 28 implemented with numerical code RFPA20 is employed to further validate the pillar performance and the stability of stopes. The numerical results show the pillars in Sections 18, 22 and 24 are stable and the designed pillar size is suitable. The width of the ore body near Section 28 averages 20 m, failure occurs in the left stope, but the boundary pillars near Section 28 maintain good performance. The pillars in Sections 20 and 25 are unstable which are mainly affected by the Faults F8 and F18. The existence of faults alters the stress distribution, failure mode and water inrush pathway. This work provides a meaningful standard for boundary pillar and stope design in a mine as it transitions from an open pit to underground.

Fold catastrophe model of dynamic pillar failure in asymmetric mining

A rock burst disaster not only destroys the pit facilities and results in economic loss but it also threatens the life of the miners. Pillar rock burst has a higher frequency of occurrence in the pit compared to other kinds of rock burst. Understanding the cause, magnitude and prevention of pillar rock burst is a significant undertaking. Equations describing the bending moment and displacement of the rock beam in asymmetric mining have been deduced for simplified asymmetric beam-pillar systems. Using the symbolic operation software MAPLE 9.5 a catastrophe model of the dynamic failure of an asymmetric rock-beam pillar system has been established. The differential form of the total potential function deduced from the law of conservation of energy was used for this deduction. The critical conditions and the initial and final positions of the pillar during failure have been given in analytical form. The amount of elastic energy released by the rock beam at the instant of failure is determined as well as. A diagrammatic form showing the pillar failure was plotted using MATLAB software. This plot contains a wealth of information and is important for understanding the behavior during each deformation phase of the rock-beam pillar system. The graphic also aids in distinguishing the equivalent stiffness of the rock beam in different directions.

Safe mining practices under wide spans in underground non-caving mines——Case studies

Mining under wide span is of concern as it increases the probability of back caving causing personnel injury and equipment damage in underground mines in open stoping and underhand drift-and-fill methods.Though restricting personnel access to well supported lateral development is commonly practiced,it is not always possible to implement this requirement due to various factors such as ore loss control,drilling equipment limitations,availability of remote operating capacity and consideration of productivity.Even with rules implemented to limit personnel entry into openings with wide spans,the hazards of equipment damage and back caving still exist.Over the years,different practices have been reported and adopted to minimize risks associated with exposure to large spans in various underground mines.Lessons from these practices are beneficial to current and future mines with challenges of safe extraction of thick deposits in a non-caving setting.This paper briefly summarizes practices in mining wide orebodies using the open stoping method without personnel access and underhand mining using the drift-andfill method with personnel exposure in the industry and presents cases from Kinross mines where the hanging pillar design was tested,and stope backs were naturally and artificially supported for extraction under wide spans using the open stoping method.

Influence of longwall mining on the stability of gas wells in chain pillars

Longwall mining has a significant influence on gas wells located within longwall chain pillars.Subsurface subsidence and abutment pressure induced by longwall mining can cause excessive stresses and deformations in gas well casings.If the gas well casings are compromised or ruptured,natural gas could migrate into the mine workings,potentially causing a fire or explosion.By the current safety regulations,the gas wells in the chain pillars have to be either plugged or protected by adequate coal pillars.The current regulations for gas well pillar design are based on the 1957 Pennsylvania gas well pillar study.The study provided guidelines for gas well pillars by considering their support area and overburden depth as well as the location of the gas wells within the pillars.As the guidelines were developed for room-andpillar mining under shallow cover,they are no longer applicable to modern longwall coal mining,particularly,under deep cover.Gas well casing of failures have occurred even though the chain pillars for the gas wells met the requirements by the 1957 study.This study,conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health(NIOSH),presents seven cases of conventional gas wells penetrating through longwall chain pillars in the Pittsburgh Coal Seam.The study results indicate that overburden depth and pillar size are not the only determining factors for gas well stability.The other important factors include subsurface ground movement,overburden geology,weak floor,as well as the type of the construction of gas wells.Numerical modeling was used to model abutment pressure,subsurface deformations,and the response of gas well casings.The study demonstrated that numerical models are able to predict with reasonable accuracy the subsurface deformations in the overburden above,within,and below the chain pillars,and the potential location and modes of gas well failures,thereby providing a more quantifiable approach to assess the stability of the gas wells in longwall chain pillars.

Roadway layout for recycling residual coal pillar in room-and-pillar mining of thick coal seam

In the context of a room-and-pillar mining gob in Shanxi province in China,this paper numerically investigates the stress distribution and deformation rules of roadway surrounding rocks at various locations of residual coal pillars in room-and-pillar mining gobs using software FLAC3 D.It is found that the concentrated stress beneath coal pillars distributes in a shape of ellipse.A reasonable roadway layout is then proposed.In this design,it is indicated that roadways should be designed to avoid the supporting zones of pillars with increasing compression and take into account the roof falling and crushing in the upper gob.According to the surrounding rock deformation characteristics and mining roadway locations as well as the supporting principles of timely support,rock reinforcing,piecewise management and suiting local conditions,a new asymmetric shield supporting plan is proposed.The field surveying results show that this supporting plan can effectively control the roadway rock deformation,thus guarantee the safe and smooth construction of roadways.

Ground control monitoring of retreat room–and–pillar mine in Central Appalachia

In order to study pillar and overburden response to retreat mining, a ground control program was conducted at a Central Appalachian Mine. The program consisted of several monitoring methods including a seismic monitoring system, borehole pressure cells in the pillars, and time-lapse photogrammetry of the pillar ribs. Two parallel geophone arrays were installed, one on each side of the panel with the sensors mounted 3 m into the roof. A total of fourteen geophones recorded more than 5000 events during the panel retreat. A MIDAS datalogger was used to record pressure from borehole pressure cells(BPCs)located in two adjacent pillars that were not mined during retreat. A series of photographs were taken of the pillars that had the BPCs as the face approached so that deformation of the entire rib could be monitored using photogrammetry. Results showed that pillar stability and cave development were as expected. The BPCs showed an increase in loading when the face was 115 m inby and a clear onset of the forward abutment at 30 m. The photogrammetry results displayed pillar deformation corresponding to the increased loading. The microseismic monitoring results showed the overburden caving inby the face, again as expected. The significance of these results lies in two points,(1) we can quantify the safe manner in which this mine is conducting retreating operations, and(2) we can use volumetric technologies(photogrammetry and microseismic) to monitor entire volumes of the mine in addition to the traditional point-location geotechnical measurements(BPCs).

Ground pressure and overlying strata structure for a repeated mining face of residual coal after room and pillar mining

To investigate the abnormal ground pressures and roof control problem in fully mechanized repeated mining of residual coal after room and pillar mining, the roof fracture structural model and mechanical model were developed using numerical simulation and theoretical analysis. The roof fracture characteristics of a repeated mining face were revealed and the ground pressure law and roof supporting condi- tions of the repeated mining face were obtained. The results indicate that when the repeated mining face passes the residual pillars, the sudden instability causes fracturing in the main roof above the old goal and forms an extra-large rock block above the mining face. A relatively stable ＂Voussoir beam＂ structure is formed after the advance fracturing of the main roof. When the repeated mining face passes the old goaf, as the large rock block revolves and touches gangue, the rock block will break secondarily under overburden rock loads. An example calculation was performed involving an integrated mine in Shanxi province, results showed that minimum working resistance values of support determined to be reason- able were respectively 11,412 kN and 10,743 kN when repeated mining face passed through residual pillar and goaf. On-site ground pressure monitoring results indicated that the mechanical model and support resistance calculation were reasonable.

Joint Bearing Mechanism of Coal Pillar and Backfilling Body in Roadway Backfilling Mining Technology

In the traditional mining technology,the coal resources trapped beneath surface buildings,railways,and water bodies cannot be mined massively,thereby causing the lower coal recovery and dynamic disasters.In order to solve the aforementioned problems,the roadway backfilling mining technology is developed and the joint bearing mechanism of coal pillar and backfilling body is presented in this paper.The mechanical model of bearing system of coal pillar and backfilling body is established,by analyzing the basic characteristics of overlying strata deformation in roadway backfilling mining technology.According to the Ritz method in energy variation principle,the elastic solution expression of coal pillar deformation is deduced in roadway backfilling mining technology.Based on elastic-viscoelastic correspondence principle,combining with the burgers rheological constitutive model and Laplace transform theory,the viscoelastic solution expression of coal pillar deformation is obtained in roadway backfilling mining technology.By analyzing the compressive mechanical property of backfilling body,the time formula required for coal pillar and backfilling body to play the joint bearing function in roadway backfilling mining technology is obtained.The example analysis indicates that the time is 140 days.The results can be treated as an important basis for theoretical research and process design in roadway backfilling mining technology.

Subsidence over room and pillar retreat mining in a low coal seam

The objective of this paper is to study the behavior of a low thick and low depth coal seam and the overburden rock mass. The mining method is room and pillar in retreat and partial pillar recovery. The excavation method is conventional drill and blast because of the small production. The partial pillar recovery is about 30% of the previous pillar size, 7 m × 7 m. The roof displacement was monitored during retreat operation; the surface movement was also monitored. The effect of the blasting vibration on the final pillar strength had been considered. Due to blasting, the pillar reduced about 20%. The consequence is more pillar deformation and roof vertical displacement. The pillar retreat and ground movement were simulated in a three-dimensional numerical model. This model was created to predict the surface subsidence and compare to the subsidence measured. This study showed that the remaining pillar and low seam reduce the subsidence that was predicted with conventional methods.

Lateral abutment pressure distribution and evolution in wide pillars under the first mining effect

The wide pillars are generally popular due to the high productivity and efficiency in Northwest China.The distribution of lateral abutment pressure in coal pillars is important for mining safety.To reveal the effect of the first mining on the lateral abutment pressure distribution and evolution in wide pillars,an in-situ experiment,theoretical analysis and numerical simulation were performed.First,the field monitoring of lateral abutment pressure was conducted from the perspective of time and space in the Chahasu Coal Mine,Huangling No.2 Coal Mine and Lingdong Coal Mine during the first mining.Based on the field monitoring stress,a theoretical model was proposed to reveal the lateral abutment pressure distribution.The methodology was demonstrated through a case study.Aiming at the distribution mechanism,a numerical experiment was conducted through the finite-discrete element method(FDEM).Last,field observations of borehole fractures were performed to further study the damage distribution.In addition,two types of lateral abutment pressure evolution with mining advance were discussed.Suggestions on the stress monitoring layout were proposed as well.The results could provide foundations for strata control and disaster prevention in wide pillars in underground coal mines.