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.

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.

Monitoring and evaluation of disaster risk caused by linkage failure and instability of residual coal pillar and rock strata in multi-coal seam mining

Comprehensive research methods such as literature research,theoretical analysis,numerical simulations and field monitoring have been used to analyze the disasters and characteristics caused by the linkage failure and instability of the residual coal pillars-rock strata in multi-seam mining.The effective monitoring area and monitoring design method of linkage instability of residual coal pillar-rock strata in multi-seam mining have been identified.The evaluation index and the risk assessment method of disaster risk have been established and the project cases have been applied and validated.The results show that:①The coal pillar will not only cause disaster in singleseam mining,but also more easily cause disaster in multi-seam mining.The instability of coal pillars can cause not only dynamical disasters such as rock falls and mine earthquakes,but also cause surface subsidence and other disasters.②When monitoring the linkage instability of residual coal pillar-rock strata,it is not only necessary to consider the monitoring of the apply load body(key block),the transition body(residual coal pillar)and the carrier body(interlayer rock and working face),but also to strengthen the monitoring of the fracture development height(linkage body).③According to the principles of objectivity,easy access and quantification,combined with investigation,analysis,and production and geological characteristics of this mining area,the main evaluation indexes of the degree of disaster caused by linkage instability of residual coal pillar-rock strata are determined as:microseismic energy,residual coal pillar damage degree,fracture development height.And the evaluation index classification table was also given.④According to the measured value of the evaluation index,the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method was used to calculate the disaster risk degree in the studied mine belongs to class III,that is,medium risk level.The corresponding pressure relief technology was adopted on site,which achieved a good control effect,and also verified the accuracy and effectiveness of the risk evaluation results.

Stress-strain-acoustic responses in failure process of coal rock with different height to diameter ratios under uniaxial compression

Residual coal pillars play an important role in mining the adjacent coal seam safely,managing the gobs and maintaining the stability of abandoned coal mines.The height to diameter ratio(H/D)affects the stability of residual coal pillars.In this study,uniaxial compressive tests of coal specimens with five H/D(2.0,1.5,1.0,0.8 and 0.6)were performed,and the stress,strain and acoustic emission(AE)were monitored.Results show that the uniaxial compressive strength(UCS)and peak strain increase with H/D decreasing.An empirical equation is proposed to calculate the UCS based on the H/D.The AE activities during coal failure process can be separated into four periods.The span of quiet period and rapid decline period shorten with H/D decreasing.The smaller the H/D is,the more complicated the failure characteristics of coal will be.The failure form of coal with H/D of 2.0,1.5,and 1.0 is primarily shear failure,while splitting failure along the axial direction is the mainly mode when H/D is 0.8 or 0.6.The initiation,expansion,aggregation and connection of micro-cracks can be reflected by the real-time spatial evolution of AE event points.