Innovation and future of mining rock mechanics

The 121 mining method of longwall mining first proposed in England has been widely used around the world.This method requires excavation of two mining roadways and reservation of one coal pillar to mine one working face.Due to considerable excavation of roadway,the mining roadway is generally destroyed during coal mining.The stress concentration in the coal pillar can cause large deformation of surrounding rocks,rockbursts and other disasters,and subsequently a large volume of coal pillar resources will be wasted.To improve the coal recovery rate and reduce excavation of the mining roadway,the 111 mining method of longwall mining was proposed in the former Soviet Union based on the 121 mining method.The 111 mining method requires excavation of one mining roadway and setting one filling body to replace the coal pillar while maintaining another mining roadway to mine one working face.However,because the stress transfer structure of roadway and working face roof has not changed,the problem of stress concentration in the surrounding rocks of roadway has not been well solved.To solve the above problems,the conventional concept utilizing high-strength support to resist the mining pressure for the 121 and 111 mining methods should be updated.The idea is to utilize mining pressure and expansion characteristics of the collapsed rock mass in the goaf to automatically form roadways,avoiding roadway excavation and waste of coal pillar.Based on the basic principles of mining rock mechanics,the“equilibrium mining”theory and the“short cantilever beam”mechanical model are proposed.Key technologies,such as roof directional presplitting technology,negative Poisson’s ratio(NPR)high-prestress constant-resistance support technology,and gangue blocking support technology,are developed following the“equilibrium mining”theory.Accordingly,the 110 and N00 mining methods of an automatically formed roadway(AFR)by roof cutting and pressure releasing without pillars are proposed.The mining methods have been applied to a large number of coal mines with different overburdens,coal seam thicknesses,roof types and gases in China,realizing the integrated mode of coal mining and roadway retaining.On this basis,in view of the complex geological conditions and intelligent mining demand of coal mines,an intelligent and unmanned development direction of the“equilibrium mining”method is prospected.

Dynamic subsidence basins in coal mines based on rock mass rheological theory

In order to investigate the surface deformation caused by coal mining and to reduce environmental damage, more accurate information of dynamic subsidence basins, caused by coal mining, is needed. Based on theological theory, we discuss surface deformation mechanism of dynamic subsidence on the assumption that both the roof and the coal seam are visco-elastic media, put forward the idea that the principle of surface deformation is similar to that of roofs, except for their parameters. Therefore, a surface deforma- tion equation can be obtained, given the equation of the roof deformation derived.from using a HIM rhe- ological model. In the end, we apply the equation of surface deformation as a practical subsidence prediction in a coal mine. Given the theologic properties of a rock mass, the results of our research of a dynamic subsidence basin can predict the development of surface deformation as a function of time, which is more important than the ultimate subsidence itself. The results indicate that using rheological theory to calculate the deformation of a dynamic subsidence basin is suitable and provides some reference for surface deformation of dynamic subsidence basins.

Fuzzy linear model for production optimization of mining systems with multiple entities

Planning and production optimization within multiple mines or several work sites （entities） mining systems by using fuzzy linear programming （LP） was studied. LP is the most commonly used operations research methods in mining engineering. After the introductory review of properties and limitations of applying LP, short reviews of the general settings of deterministic and fuzzy LP models are presented. With the purpose of comparative analysis, the application of both LP models is presented using the example of the Bauxite Basin Niksic with five mines. After the assessment, LP is an efficient mathematical modeling tool in production planning and solving many other single-criteria optimization problems of mining engineering. After the comparison of advantages and deficiencies of both deterministic and fuzzy LP models, the conclusion presents benefits of the fuzzy LP model but is also stating that seeking the optimal plan of production means to accomplish the overall analysis that will encompass the LP model approaches.

Reasonable location parameters of pick and nozzle in combined cutting system

The drum shearer and high pressure water jet combined cutting system is an effective technology to cut hard coal-rock, but one problem of the technology is the choice of pick and nozzle location parameters. In order to solve the problem, the process and mechanism of combined cutting arc studied and mining seepage catastrophe theory is used to construct the mathematic and physical model of combined cutting hard coal-rock. Based on the model and detailed analysis of combined cutting mechanism, the single pick and nozzle combined cutting test-bed is built to test the main pick and nozzle location parameters of drum shearer and water jet combined cutting system. Test results show that the best vertical distance between the pick-tip and nozzle center point is the sum of cutting thickness and proper target distance in the Y axial direction; the best horizontal distance is the length between pick-tip point and coal-rock surface bursting crack point in the X axial direction. The best incident angle of water jet should be the same as the bursting crack line＇s angle in theory, but considering other important factors comprehensively, it is more reasonable when the incident angle of water jet is 90°.