Study on the disaster caused by the linkage failure of the residual coal pillar and rock stratum during multiple coal seam mining:mechanism of progressive and dynamic failure

Multi-seam mining often leads to the retention of a significant number of coal pillars for purposes such as protection,safety,or water isolation.However,stress concentration beneath these residual coal pillars can significantly impact their strength and stability when mining below them,potentially leading to hydraulic support failure,surface subsidence,and rock bursting.To address this issue,the linkage between the failure and instability of residual coal pillars and rock strata during multi-seam mining is examined in this study.Key controls include residual pillar spalling,safety factor(f.),local mine stiffness(LMS),and the post-peak stiffness(k)of the residual coal pillar.Limits separating the two forms of failure,progressive versus dynamic,are defined.Progressive failure results at lower stresses when the coal pillar transitions from indefinitely stable(f,>1.5)to failing(f,<1.5)when the coal pillar can no longer remain stable for an extended duration,whereas sud-den(unstable)failure results when the strength of the pillar is further degraded and fails.The transition in mode of failure is defined by the LMS/k ratio.Failure transitions from quiescent to dynamic as LMS/k.<1,which can cause chain pillar instability propagating throughout the mine.This study provides theoretical guidance to define this limit to instability of residual coal pillars for multi-seam mining in similar mines.

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.

Technique of coal mining and gas extraction without coal pillar in multi-seam with low permeability

Aimed at the low mining efficiency in deep multi-seams because of high crustalstress,high gas content,low permeability,the compound 'three soft' roof and the trouble-somesafety situation encountered in deep level coal exploitation,proposed a new idea ofgob-side retaining without a coal-pillar and Y-style ventilation in the first-mined key pressure-relieved coal seam and a new method of coal mining and gas extraction.The followingwere discovered:the dynamic evolution law of the crannies in the roof is influenced bymining,the formative rule of 'the vertical cranny-abundant area' along the gob-side,thedistribution of air pressure field in the gob,and the flowing rule of pressure-relieved gas ina Y-style ventilation system.The study also established a theoretic basis for a new miningmethod of coal mining and gas extraction which is used to extract the pressure-relievedgas by roadway retaining boreholes instead of roadway boreholes.Studied and resolvedmany difficult key problems,such as,fast roadway retaining at the gob-side without a coalpillar,Y-style ventilation and extraction of pressure-relieved gas by roadway retainingboreholes,and so on.The study innovated and integrated a whole set of technical systemsfor coal and pressure relief gas extraction.The method of the pressure-relieved gasextraction by roadway retaining had been successfully applied in 6 typical working faces inthe Huainan and Huaibei mining areas.The research can provide a scientific and reliabletechnical support and a demonstration for coal mining and gas extraction in gaseous deepmulti-seams with low permeability.

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.

Evaluation of roof cutting by directionally single cracking technique in automatic roadway formation for thick coal seam mining

Automatic roadway formation by roof cutting is a sustainable nonpillar mining method that has the potential to increase coal recovery,reduce roadway excavation and improve mining safety.In this method,roof cutting is the key process for stress relief,which significantly affects the stability of the formed roadway.This paper presents a directionally single cracking(DSC)technique for roof cutting with considerations of rock properties.The mechanism of the DSC technique was investi-gated by explicit finite element analyses.The DSC technique and roof cutting parameters were evaluated by discrete element simulation and field experiment.On this basis,the optimized DSC technique was tested in the field.The results indicate that the DSC technique could effectively control the blast-induced stress distribution and crack propagation in the roof rock,thus,achieve directionally single cracking on the roadway roof.The DsC technique for roof cutting with optimized parameters could effectively reduce the deformation and improve the stability of the formed roadway.Field engineering application verified the feasibility and effectiveness of the evaluated DSC technique for roof cutting.

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.

Surrounding rock control of gob-side entry driving with narrow coal pillar and roadway side sealing technology in Yangliu Coal Mine

Gob-side entry driving can increase coal recovery ratio, and it is implied in many coal mines. Based on geological condition of 10416 working face tailentry in Yangliu Coal Mine, the surrounding rock deformation characteristics of gob-side entry driving with narrow coal pillar is analysed, reasonable size of coal pillar and reasonable roadway excavation time after mining are achieved. Surrounding rock control technology and effective roadway side sealing technology are proposed and are taken into field practice. The results showed that a safer and more efficient mining of working face can be achieved. In addition, results of this paper also have important theoretical significance and valuable reference for surrounding rock control technology of gob-side entry driving with narrow coal pillar under special geological condition.

Characteristics of stress distribution in floor strata and control of roadway stability under coal pillars

Given the difficulties encountered in roadway support under coal pillars,we studied the characteristics of stress distribution and their effect on roadway stability,using theoretical analysis and numerical simulation.The results show that,under a coal pillar,vertical stress in a floor stratum increases while horizontal stress decreases.We conclude that the increased difference between vertical and horizontal stress is an important reason for deformation of the surrounding rock and failures of roadways under coal pillars.Based on this,we propose control technologies of the surrounding rock of a roadway under a coal pillar,such as high strength and high pre-stressed bolt support,cable reinforcement support single hydraulic prop with beam support and reinforcement by grouting of the surrounding rock,which have been successfully applied in a stability control project of a roadway under a coal pillar.

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.

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.

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.

Support technologies for deep and complex roadways in underground coal mines:a review

Based on geological and mining characteristics,coal mine roadways under complex conditions were divided into five types,for each type the deformation and damage characteristics of rocks surrounding roadways were analyzed.The recent developments of roadway support technologies were introduced abroad,based on the experiences of supports for deep and complex roadways from Germany,the United States and Australia.The history and achievements of roadway support technologies in China were detailed,including rock bolting,steel supports,grouting reinforcement and combined supports.Four typical support and reinforcement case studies were analyzed,including a high stressed roadway 1,000 m below the surface,a roadway surrounded by severely weak and broken rocks,a chamber surrounded by weak and broken rocks,and a roadway with very soft and swelling rocks.Based on studies and practices in many years,rock bolting has become the mainstream roadway support form in China coal mines,and steel supports,grouting reinforcement and combined supports have also been applied at proper occasions,which have provided reliable technical measures for the safe and high effective construction and mining of underground coal mines.

Key technologies and equipment for a fully mechanized top-coal caving operation with a large mining height at ultra-thick coal seams

Thick and ultra-thick coal seams are main coal seams for high production rate and high efficiency in Chinese coal mines, which accounts for 44 % of the total minable coal reserve. A fully mechanized top-coal caving mining method is a main underground coal extraction method for ultra-thick coal seams. The coal extraction technologies for coal seams less than 14 m thick were extensively used in China. However, for coal seams with thickness greater than 14 m, there have been no reported cases in the world for underground mechanical extraction with safe performance, high efficiency and high coal recovery ratio. To deal with this case, China Coal Technology ＆ Engineering Group, Datong Coal Mine Group, and other 15 organizations in China launched a fundamental and big project to develop coal mining technologies and equipment for coal seams with thicknesses greater than 14 m. After the completion of the project, a coal extraction method was developed for top-coal caving with a large mining height, as well as a ground control theory for ultra-thick coal seams. In addition, the mining technology for top-coal caving with a large mining height, the ground support technology for roadway in coal seams with a large cross-section, and the prevention and control technology for gas and fire hazards were developed and applied. Furthermore, a hydraulic support with a mining height of 5.2 m, a shearer with high reliability, and auxiliary equipment were developed and manufactured. Practical implication on the technologies and equipment developed was successfully completed at the No. 8105 coal face in the Tashan coal mine, Datong, China. The major achievements of the project are summarized as follows： 1. A top-coal caving method for ultra-thick coal seams is proposed with a cutting height of 5 m and a top-coal caving height of 15 m. A structural mechanical model of overlying strata called cantilever beam-articulated rock beam is established. Based on the model, the load resistance of the hydraulic support with a large mining height for top-coal caving method is determined. With the analysis, the movement characteristics of the top coal and above strata are evaluated during top-coal caving operation at the coal face with a large mining height. Furthermore, there is successful development of comprehensive technologies for preventing and controlling spalling of the coal wall, and the top-coal caving technology with high efficiency and high recovery at the top-coal caving face with a large mining height. This means that the technologies developed have overcome the difficulties in strata control, top-coal caving with high efficiency and high coal recovery, and enabled to achieve a production rate of more than 10 Mtpa at a single top-coal caving face with a large mining height in ultra-thick coal seams; 2. A hydraulic support with 5.2 m supporting height and anti-rockburst capacity, a shearer with high reliability, a scraper conveyor with a large power at the back of face, and a large load and long distance headgate belt conveyor have been successfully developed for a top-coal caving face with large mining height. The study has developed the key technologies for improving the reliability of equipment at the coal face and has overcome the challenges in equipping the top-coal caving face with a large mining height in ultra-thick coal seams; 3. The deformation characteristics of a large cross-section roadway in ultra-thick coal seams are discovered. Based on the findings above, a series of bolt materials with a high yielding strength of 500-830 MPa and a high extension ratio, and cable bolt material with a 1 × 19 structure, large tonnage and high extension ratio are developed. In addition, in order to achieve a safe roadway and a fast face advance, installation equipment for high pre-tension bolt is developed to solve the problems with the support of roadway in coal seams for top-coal caving operation with a large mining height; 4. The characteristics of gas distribution and uneven emission at top-coal caving face with large mining height in ultra-thick coal seams are evaluated. With the application of the technologies of gas drainage in the roof, the difficulties in gas control for high intensive top-coal caving mining operations, known as ＂low gas content, high gas emission＂, are solved. In addition, large flow-rate underground mobile equipment for making nitrogen are developed to solve the problems with fire prevention and safe mining at a top-coal caving face with large mining height and production rate of more than 10 Mtpa. A case study to apply the developed technologies has been conducted at the No. 8105 face, the Tashan coal mine in Datong, China. The case study demonstrates that the three units of equipment, i.e., the support, shearer and scraper conveyor, are rationally equipped. Average equipment usage at the coal face is 92.1%. The coal recovery ratio at the coal face is up to 88.9 %. In 2011, the coal production at the No. 8105 face reached 10.849 Mtpa, exceeding the target of 10 Mtpa for a topcoal caving operation with large mining height performed by Chinese-made mining equipment. The technologies and equipment developed provide a way for extracting ultra-thick coal seams. Currently, the technologies and equipment are used in 13 mining areas in China including Datong, Pingshuo, Shendong and Xinjiang. With the exploitation of coal resources in Western China, there is great potential for the application of the technologies and equipment developed.

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.

Structure instability forecasting and analysis of giant rock pillars in steeply dipping thick coal seams

Structure stability analysis of rock masses is essential for forecasting catastrophic structure failure in coal seam mining. Steeply dipping thick coal seams （SDTCS） are common in the Urumqi coalfield, and some dynamical hazards such as roof collapse and mining-induced seismicity occur frequently in the coal mines. The cause of these events is mainly structure instability in giant rock pillars sand- wiched between SDTCS. Developing methods to predict these events is important for safe mining in such a complex environment. This study focuses on understanding the structural mechanics model of a giant rock pillar and presents a viewpoint of the stability of a trend sphenoid fractured beam （TSFB）. Some stability index parameters such as failure surface dips were measured, and most dips were observed to be between 46° and 51°. We used a digital panoramic borehole monitoring system to measure the TSFB＇s height （△H）, which varied from 56.37 to 60.50 m. Next, FLAC^3D was used to model the distribution and evolution of vertical displacement in the giant rock pillars; the results confirmed the existence of a TSFB structure. Finally, we investigated the acoustic emission （AE） energy accumulation rate and observed that the rate commonly ranged from 20 to 40 kJ/min. The AE energy accumulation rate could be used to anticipate impeding seismic events related to structure failure. The results presented provide a useful approach for forecasting catastrophic events related to structure instability and for developing hazard prevention technology for mining in SDTCS.

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.

Rockburst mechanism and the law of energy accumulation and release in mining roadway: a case study

The rockburst dynamic disasters in the process of deep coal mining become more and more serious.Taking the rockburst occurred in the 23130 working face of Yuejin Coal Mine as the engineering background,we study the characteristics of mining stress feld around roadway,the plastic failure morphological characteristics of surrounding rock and the accumulation/release law of elastic energy before and after burst.An analysis model quantitatively describing the physical process of rockburst in the mining roadway is established,and the calculation method of dynamic release of elastic energy in the physical process of rockburst is educed.The mechanism of rockburst in mining roadway is revealed.The results show that an“L-shaped”stress concentration zone is formed within 100 m of the 23130 working face,and the principal stress ratio of the surrounding rock of the transportation roadway is 2.59–4.26.The change of the direction of the maximum principal stress has a signifcant efect on the burst appearance characteristics.The failure strength of diferent sections of the mining roadway is characterized by the elastic energy release value.With the increase of the working face distance,the elastic energy released by burst failure and the expansion variation of failure boundary radius show a nonlinear variation law that tends to decrease steadily after sharp fuctuation.The closer to the working face,the higher the burst risk.At a distance of 10 m from the working surface,the maximum principal stress reaches its maximum value.The butterfy-shaped failure system generated by the surrounding rock of the roadway has energy self-sustainability,and the elastic energy released by the sudden expansion of the butterfy leaf is enough to cause a burst damage of 1.9 magnitude.This work could provide theoretical support for the prediction and prevention of rockburst.

Reliability analysis on bolt support structure of coal roadway under the influence of mining

Based on the features of the serious deformation of coal roadway,many random variables of the mechanics of the surrounding rocks and the influence of mining, the reliability analysis model of the support structure of coal roadway under the influence of mining is established,and the calculating formulas of reliability of the support structure is obtained with the engineering structure reliability theory. And the reliability is calculated based on the method of Monte Carlo to the coal roadway which is exampled on the influence of mining or not. The relationship between support parameters and reliability, the mining influence coefficients and reliability is established, which provides theory foundations for the design of the coal roadway bolt support.

Deformation effect of lateral roof roadway in close coal seams after repeated mining

This paper analyzed the deformation mechanism in lateral roof roadway of the Ding Wu-3 roadway which was disturbed by repeated mining of close coal seams Wu-8 and Wu-10 in Pingdingshan No. 1 Mine. To determine the strata disturbance scope, the strata displacement angle was used to calculate the protection pillar width. A numerical model was built considering the field geological conditions. In simulation, the mining stress borderline was defined as the contour where the induced stress is 1.5 times of the original stress. Simulation results show the mining stress borderline of the lateral roadway extended 91.7 m outward after repeated mining. Then the original stress increased, deforming the road- way of interest. This deformation agreed with the in situ observations. Moreover, the strata displacement angle changed due to repeated mining. Therefore, reselection of the displacement angle was required to design the protective pillar width. Since a constant strata displacement angle was used in traditional design, the orooosed method was beneficial in field cases.