Rock dynamics in deep mining

Rock mass dynamics disasters caused by excavations and mining occur frequently in deep mines.In order to establish a theoretical system and control technologies for such disasters,we first classify and define dynamic disasters,such as rock bursts,coal bursts,mine pressure bumps,and mine earthquakes.According to the occurrence mechanism of different types of dynamic disasters,we establish a compensation control theory based on excavation and mining effects.On the basis,we propose three key technologies:high prestress compensation technology for the roadway,pressure relief technology using directional roof cutting,and the goaf filling technology using broken rock dilation.These three technologies constitute the compensation control method for dynamic disasters in deep mines.Finally,this method was successfully applied in a deep coal mine with high stress,with monitored results suggesting its rationality.This work provides a new concept and control method for the prevention of rock dynamic disasters in deep mines.

Comparative study of model tests on automatically formed roadway and gob-side entry driving in deep coal mines

Automatically formed roadway(AFR)by roof cutting with bolt grouting(RCBG)is a new deep coal mining technology.By using this technology,the broken roadway roof is strengthened,and roof cutting is applied to cut off stress transfer between the roadway and gob to ensure the collapse of the overlying strata.The roadway is automatically formed owing to the broken expansion characteristics of the collapsed strata and mining pressure.Taking the Suncun Coal Mine as the engineering background,the control effect of this new technology on roadways was studied.To compare the law of stress evolution and the surrounding rock control mechanisms between AFR and traditional gob-side entry driving,a comparative study of geomechanical model tests on the above methods was carried out.The results showed that the new technology of AFR by RCBG effectively reduced the stress concentration of the roadway compared with gob-side entry driving.The side abutment pressure peak of the solid coal side was reduced by 24.3%,which showed an obvious pressure-releasing effect.Moreover,the position of the side abutment pressure peak was far from the solid coal side,making it more beneficial for roadway stability.The deformation of AFR surrounding rock was also smaller than the deformation of the gob-side entry driving by the overload test.The former was more beneficial for roadway stability than the latter under higher stress conditions.Field application tests showed that the new technology can effectively control roadway deformation.Moreover,the technology reduced roadway excavation and avoided resource waste caused by reserved coal pillars.

Comparative study on bearing mechanism and design parameters of confined concrete arch joints in deep soft rock roadway

Square confined concrete arch is increasingly used in deep soft rock roadway support because of its advantages of high strength and construction convenience.However,the design of confined concrete arch in underground engineering still remains in experience-based method and lacks quantitative analysis.As a connecting component between arch sections,the connection joints have an important influence on the internal force distribution and failure mechanism of support arch.Therefore,a reasonable design of arch joints is the premise of rational support design.Taking Liangjia Coal Mine,a typical deep soft rock mine in China,as research background,this paper fully compared the most widely used joint types of confined concrete arch as analytical objects:flange joints and casing joints.The main failure modes of these two kinds of joints under bending moment are defined.Laboratory and numerical tests are carried out to study the mechanical characteristics of joints.Based on the M-θ curve,the influence law of different design parameters is analyzed,and the design principles of joints are proposed.The research results could provide a theoretical basis for the design and application of confined concrete arch in related projects.

Mechanical properties and influence mechanism of confined concrete arches in high-stress tunnels

Deep underground projects(e.g., coal mines), are often faced with complex conditions such as high stress and extremely soft rock. The strength and rigidity of the traditional support system are often insufficient,which makes it difficult to meet the requirements of ground control under complex conditions. As a new support form with high strength and rigidity, the confined concrete arch plays an important role in controlling the rock deformation under complex conditions. The section shape of the tunnel has an important impact on the mechanical properties and design of the support system. However, studies on the mechanical properties and influence mechanism of the new confined concrete arch are rarely reported. To this end, the mechanical properties of traditional U-shaped steel and new confined concrete arches are compared and comparative tests on arches of circular and straight-leg semicircular shapes in deep tunnels are conducted. A large mechanical testing system for underground engineering support structure is developed. The mechanical properties and influence mechanism of confined concrete arches with different section shapes under different loading modes and cross-section parameters are systematically studied. Test results show that the bearing capacity of the confined concrete arch is 2.10 times that of the U-shaped steel arch, and the bearing capacity of the circular confined concrete arch is 2.27 times that of the straight-leg semicircular arch. Among the various influencing factors and their engineering parameters,the lateral stress coefficient has the greatest impact on the bearing capacity of the confined concrete arch,followed by the steel pipe wall thickness, steel strength, and core concrete strength. Subsequently, the economic index of bearing capacity and cost is established, and the optimization design method for the confined concrete arch is proposed. Finally, this design method is applied to a high-stress tunnel under complex conditions, and the deformation of the surrounding rock is effectively controlled.

Impact of cooling rate on mechanical properties and failure mechanism of sandstone under thermal-mechanical coupling effect

High geo-temperature is one of the inevitable geological disasters in deep engineering such as resource extraction,space development,and energy utilization.One of the key issues is to understand the mechanical properties and failure mechanism of high-temperature rock disturbed by low-temperature airflow after excavation.Therefore,.the experimental and numerical investigation were carried out to study the impact of cooling rate on mechanical properties and failure mechanism of high temperature sandstone.First,uniaxial compression experiments of high temperature sandstone at different real-time cooling rates were carried out to study the mechanical properties and failure modes.The experimental results indicate that the cooling rate has a significant effect on the mechanical properties and failure modes of sandstone.The peak strain,peak stress,and elastic modulus decrease with an increase in cooling rate,and the fragmentation degree after failure increases gradually.Moreover,the equivalent numerical model of heterogeneous sandstone was established using particle flow code(PFC)to reveal the failure mechanism.The results indicate that the sandstone is dominated by intragrain failure in the cooling stage,the number of microcracks is exponentially related to the cooling rate,and the higher the cooling rate,the more cracks are concentrated in the exterior region.Under axial loading,the tensile stress is mostly distributed along the radial direction,and the damage in the cooling stage is mostly due to the fracture of the radial bond.In addition,axial loading,temperature gradient and thermal stress mismatch between adjacent minerals are the main reasons for the damage of sandstone in the cooling stage.Moreover,the excessive temperature gradient in the exterior region of the sandstone is the main reason for the damage concentration in this region.

A deformation measurement method based on surface texture information of rocks and its application

Users of the digital image correlation method are faced with the problem of poor operability,low repeatability,and lack of standardized specifications for spraying speckles.To solve the problem,the research proposed a rock deformation measurement method that obviates the need to spray speckles.A local binary model was established by using the local binary pattern(LBP)operator based on deep texture features on rock surfaces.The resulting LBP digital speckle pattern can substitute artificial speckle patterns and demonstrates high quality and strong applicability.Based on the LBP digital speckle pattern,the target tracking algorithm was employed to achieve non-contact measurement of the dynamic displacements of rocks.The feasibility and effectiveness of the algorithm in practical application were verified by conducting shear tests on granite and siltstone.Test results show that the deformation characteristics in the displacement nephograms are in line with the measured data pertaining to rock fracturing and conform to the basic characteristics of the shear failure of rocks.The deformation measurement method based on surface texture information can realize non-contact displacement measurement of rocks under conditions without speckles:this obviates the influence of the quality of sprayed speckles on the accuracy of the measurement of deformation.

恒阻吸能材料及锚固体力学特性研究与应用

锚固支护作为地下工程围岩控制的主体,与围岩联合承载形成锚固体,共同抵抗动力灾害释放的能量。传统锚杆(索)支护强度、延伸率不足,在抵抗动力灾害时易破断失效。恒阻吸能材料是一种具有高强、高延伸的新型支护材料。为明确恒阻吸能新材料及其锚固体的力学特性,本文开展了恒阻吸能支护材料与现场常用支护材料MG335、MG500的静力拉伸与动力冲击试验。在此基础上,对MG335、MG500与恒阻吸能支护材料锚固下的岩体开展了霍普金森冲击对比试验,研究了高速冲击下锚固体的变形破坏特征。相比于MG335、MG500锚固体,通过霍普金森冲击试验得到恒阻汲能锚固体的峰值应力提高了42.2%与63.9%,所能吸收的动力冲击能量提高了42.0%与63.2%。恒阻吸能支护技术能够增强锚固体的抗冲承载能力与吸能能力。结合上述试验成果,提出了强扰动下围岩恒阻吸能支护的工程建议,并在千米冲击地压矿井中应用。

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 mechanical characteristics and application of constant resistance energy-absorbing supporting material

In deep underground engineering,rock burst and other dynamic disasters are prone to occur due to stress concentration and energy accumulation in surrounding rock.The control of dynamic disasters requires bolts and cables with high strength,high elongation,and high energy-absorbing capacity.Therefore,a constant resistance energy-absorbing(CREA)material is developed.In this study,the dynamic characteristics of the new material are obtained via the drop hammer tests and the Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar(SHPB)tests of the new material and two common bolt(CB)materials widely used in the field.The test results of drop hammer test and SHPB test show that the percentage elongation of CREA material is more than 2.64 and 3.22 times those of the CB material,and the total impact energy acting on CREA material is more than 18.50 and 21.84 times,respectively,indicating that the new material has high elongation and high energy-absorbing capacity.Subsequently,the CREA bolts and cables using the new material are developed,which are applied in roadways with high stress and strong dynamic disturbance.The field monitoring results show that CREA bolts and cables can effectively control the surrounding rock deformation and ensure engineering safety.

Effect of cyclic wetting-drying on tensile mechanical behavior and microstructure of clay-bearing sandstone

The understanding of the weakening mechanism of tensile strength of rock subjected to cyclic wetting-drying is critical for rock engineering.Tensile strength tests were conducted on a total of 35 sandstone specimens with different wetting-drying cycles.The crack propagation process and acoustic emission characteristics of the tested samples were obtained through a high-speed camera and acoustic emission system.The results indicate that the tensile strength is observably reduced after cyclic wetting-drying,and the extent of the reduction is not only related to the number of wettingdrying cycle,but also closely related to the clay mineral content of the sample.In addition,as the cycles of wetting-drying increase,the effect of each single cycle on tensile strength get reduced until it becomes constant.Moreover,the crack initiation and penetration time is prolonged as the number of wetting-drying cycle increases,which indicates that cyclic wetting-drying weakens the rock stiffness and enhances the ductility of sandstone.Meanwhile,the acoustic emission characteristics of the tested samples further confirmed the ductile behaviour of the sandstone samples with increasing wetting-drying cycle.Furthermore,through the analysis of the microstructure and mineral composition of the samples with different wetting-drying cycles,it is concluded that the main weakening mechanisms of sandstones containing clay minerals are frictional reduction,chemical and corrosive deterioration.

Evaluation method of underground water storage space and thermal reservoir model in abandoned mine

A large number of mines are closed or abandoned every year in China.Geothermal utilization is one of the important ways to efficiently reuse underground resources in abandoned mines.How to calculate the volume and distribution of underground water storage space is the key to accurately evaluate the sustainable geothermal production in abandoned mines.In this paper,according to the multi-scale characteristics of the underground space in abandoned mine,the flow and heat transfer equations in the multi-scale space are sorted out systematically,and the calculation methods of different secondary space volumes are derived in detail.Taking Jiahe abandoned mine as the background,the volume and distribution of underground secondary space are calculated,and three heat storage evaluation models considering different water storage spaces are established by using COMSOL.The simulation results show that there are great differences among different models,and the results of the equivalent porous media model considering the multi-scale space are most consistent with the reality.Sensitivity analyses of key parameters model results indicated that the heat production is closely related to not only the recharge flow rate but also the recharge temperature and operating time.Furthermore,the energy saving and emission reduction benefits of geothermal utilization in abandoned mines are calculated,the results show that geothermal utilization of abandoned mines can effectively reduce energy consumption and CO_(2)emissions,and it has great economic benefits.

Geomechanics model test research on large deformation control mechanism of roadway disturbed by strong dynamic pressure

Comprehensive mechanized top-coal caving mining is one of the efficient mining methods in coal mines.However,the goaf formed by comprehensive mechanized top-coal caving mining is high,and the goaf roof collapse will cause strong dynamic pressure disturbance,especially the collapse of thick hard roof.Strong dynamic pressure disturbance has an influence on the stability of the roadway,which can lead to large deformation.In order to solve the above problem,a comprehensive pressure releasing and constant resistance energy absorbing control method is proposed.Comprehensive pressure releasing can change the roadway roof structure and cut off the stress transfer between goaf and roadway,which can improve the stress environment of the roadway.The constant resistance energy absorbing(CREA)anchor cable can absorb the energy of surrounding rock deformation and resist the impact load of gangue collapse,so as to ensure the stability of roadway disturbed by strong dynamic pressure.A three-dimensional geomechanics model test is carried out,based on the roadway disturbed by strong dynamic pressure of the extra-large coal mine in western China,to verify the control effect of the new control method.The stress and displacement evolution laws of the roadway with traditional control method and new control method are analyzed.The pressure releasing and energy absorbing control mechanism of the new control method is clarified.The geomechanics model test results show that the new control method can increase the range of low stress zone by 150%and reduce the average stress and the displacement by 34.7%and 67.8%respectively,compared with the traditional control method.The filed application results show that the new control method can reduce the roadway surrounding rock displacement by 67.4%compared with the traditional control method.It shows that the new control method can effectively control the displacement of the roadway disturbed by strong dynamic pressure and ensure that the roadway meets the safety requirements.On this basis,the engineering suggestions for large deformation control of this kind of roadway are put forward.The new control method can provide a control idea for the roadway disturbed by strong dynamic pressure.

Peak-strength strain energy storage index for evaluating coal burst liability based on the linear energy storage law

The strain energy storage index WET was widely used to evaluate coal burst liability,but the scientific evidence for selecting the unloading stress level interval(around 80%of peak strength)remains lacking,and WET can not reflect the energy storage and dissipation ratio(ESD ratio)of the whole pre-peak stage for coal materials.In this study,these two key problems in WET calculation and application were solved based on the linear energy storage(LES)law.The LES law was defined as the linear relationship between the elastic strain energy and input strain energy for solid material during loading.Using the LES law,the elastic strain energy and dissipated strain energy of at 10 types of coals were calculated precisely,and ideal ESD ratio and general ESD ratio at any stress level will be obtained subsequently.The results also show that WET is extremely close to the ideal and general ESD ratio,which proves that the selecting stress level of WET calculation is scientific and reasonable.Furthermore,the general ESD ratio converges to the peak ESD ratio(namely peak strain energy storage index WET P)as stress level increases.Compared with WET,Wp ET not only reflects the ESD ratio of coal materials over the whole pre-peak loading stage,but also exhibits excellent stability.Consequently,Wp ET is suggested as a new evaluation index of coal burst liability.

Quantitatively assessing the pre-grouting effect on the stability of tunnels excavated in fault zones with discontinuity layout optimization:A case study

Pre?grouting is a popular ground treatment strategy utilized to enhance the strength and stability of strata during the excavation of a tunnel through a fault zone.Two important questions need to be answered during such an excavation.First,how should the grouting size be determined?Second,when should excavation begin after grouting?These two questions are conventionally addressed through empirical experience and standard criteria because a reliable quantitative approach,which would be preferable,has not yet been developed.To address these questions,we apply a recently proposed numerical approach known as discontinuity layout optimization,an efficient node-based upper bound limit analysis method.A case study is provided utilizing a tunnel located in a stratum characterized by complicated geological conditions,including soft soil and a fault zone.The factor of safety is used to quantitatively assess the stability of the tunnel section.The influences of the grouted zone thickness and the time-dependent material properties of the grouted zone on the stability of the tunnel section are evaluated,thereby assisting designers by quantitatively assessing the effects of pre-grouting.