Numerical simulation of coal wall cutting and lump coal formation in a fully mechanized mining face

It is difficult to accurately calculate the lump coal rate in a fully mechanized mining face.Therefore,a numerical simulation of the coal wall cutting process,which revealed the crack expansion,development,evolution in the coal body and the corresponding lump coal formation mechanism,was performed in PFC2D.Moreover,a correlation was established between the cutting force and lump coal formation,and a statistical analysis method was proposed to determine the lump coal rate.The following conclusions are drawn from the results:(1)Based on a soft ball model,a coal wall cutting model is established.By setting the roller parameters based on linear bonding and simulating the roller cutting process of the coal body,the coal wall cutting process is effectively simulated,and accurate lump coal rate statistics are provided.(2)Under the cutting stress,the coal body in the working face underwent three stages—microfracture generation,fracture expansion,and fracture penetration—to form lump coal,in which the fracture direction is orthogonal to the cutting pressure chain.Within a certain range from the roller,as the cutting depth of the roller increased,the number of new fractures in the coal body first increases and then stabilizes.(3)Under the cutting stress,the fractured coal body is locally compressed,thereby forming a compact core.The formation and destruction of the compact core causes fluctuations in the cutting force.The fluctuation amplitude is positively related to the coal mass.(4)Because the simulation does not consider secondary damage in the coal,the simulated lump coal rate is larger than the actual lump coal rate in the working face;this deviation is mainly concentrated in large lump coal with a diameter greater than 300 mm.

The role of temperature‐enhanced fault closure in promoting postinjection pressure diffusion and seismicity in enhanced geothermal systems

Post shut‐in seismic events in enhanced geothermal systems(EGSs)occur predominantly at the outer rim of the co‐injection seismic cloud.The concept of postinjection fracture and fault closure near the injection well has been proposed and validated as a mechanism for enhancing post shut‐in pressure diffusion that promotes seismic hazard.This phenomenon is primarily attributed to the poro‐elastic closure of fractures resulting from the reduction of wellbore pressure after injection termination.However,the thermal effects in EGSs,mainly including heat transfer and thermal stress,may not be trivial and their role in postinjection fault closure and pressure evolution needs to be explored.In this study,we performed numerical simulations to analyze the relative importance of poro‐elasticity,heat transfer,and thermo‐elasticity in promoting postinjection fault closure and pressure diffusion.The numerical model wasfirst validated against analytical solutions in terms offluid pressure diffusion and against heatedflow‐through experiments in terms of thermal processes.We then quantified and distinguished the contribution of each individual mechanism by comparing four different shut‐in scenarios simulated under different coupled conditions.Our results highlight the importance of poro‐elastic fault closure in promoting postinjection pressure buildup and seismicity,and suggest that heat transfer can further augment the fault closure‐induced pressure increase and thus potentially intensify the postinjection seismic hazard,with minimal contribution from thermo‐elasticity.

Prediction of Permeability Using Random Forest and Genetic Algorithm Model

Precise recovery of CoalbedMethane(CBM)based on transparent reconstruction of geological conditions is a branch of intelligent mining.The process of permeability reconstruction,ranging from data perception to real-time data visualization,is applicable to disaster risk warning and intelligent decision-making on gas drainage.In this study,a machine learning method integrating the Random Forest(RF)and the Genetic Algorithm(GA)was established for permeability prediction in the Xishan Coalfield based on Uniaxial Compressive Strength(UCS),effective stress,temperature and gas pressure.A total of 50 sets of data collected by a self-developed apparatus were used to generate datasets for training and validating models.Statistical measures including the coefficient of determination(R2)and Root Mean Square Error(RMSE)were selected to validate and compare the predictive performances of the single RF model and the hybrid RF–GA model.Furthermore,sensitivity studies were conducted to evaluate the importance of input parameters.The results show that,the proposed RF–GA model is robust in predicting the permeability;UCS is directly correlated to permeability,while all other inputs are inversely related to permeability;the effective stress exerts the greatest impact on permeability based on importance score,followed by the temperature(or gas pressure)and UCS.The partial dependence plots,indicative of marginal utility of each feature in permeability prediction,are in line with experimental results.Thus,the proposed hybrid model(RF–GA)is capable of predicting permeability and thus beneficial to precise CBMrecovery.

Development and verification of large deformation model considering stiffness deterioration and shear dilation effect in FLAC^(3D)

The existing constitutive models of rock with strain softening cannot successfully reflect the damageinduced anisotropy and nonlinearity of the post-peak failure behavior under progressive loading. In order to better reflect the nonlinear stress-strain behavior of rock, especially for the post-peak failure behavior,with expected stiffness degradation and large deformation, a modified constitutive model of rock considering stiffness degradation and dilatation behavior at large deformation was proposed in this study. This study analyzes and discusses various attenuation parameters in the proposed nonlinear plastic constitutive model using FLAC^(3D) software. The excavation-induced stress in rocks was calculated by FLAC^(3D) using the Mohr-Coulomb model, conventional strain model, and the proposed modified model. The obtained results of these models were analyzed and compared with field data. This study shows that the simulated results using the proposed new constitutive model matched much more closely with the measured field data, with an average error less than 5%. This new model can successfully reflect the damage-induced stiffness degradation at large deformation, and can provide a theoretical basis for stability design and evaluation of underground excavation.

Underground ground control monitoring and interpretation,and numerical modeling, and shield capacity design

Mine or longwall panel layout is a 3D structure with highly non-uniform stress distribution. Recognition of such fact will facilitate underground problem identification/investigation and solving by numerical modeling through proper model construction. Due to its versatility, numerical modeling is the most popular method for ground control design and problem solving. However numerical modeling results require highly experienced professionals to interpret its validity/applicability to actual mining operations due to complicated mining and geological conditions. Underground ground control monitoring is routinely performed to predict roof behavior such as weighting and weighting interval without matching observation of face mining condition while the mining pressures are being monitored, resulting in unrealistic interpretation of the obtained data on mining pressure. The importance of ground control pressure monitoring and simultaneous observation of mining and geological conditions is illustrated by an example of shield leg pressure monitoring and interpretation in an U.S. longwall coal mine: it was found that the roof strata act like a plate, not an individual block of the size of a shield dimension, as commonly assumed by all researchers and shield capacity is not a fixed property for a longwall panel or a mine or a coal seam. A new mechanism on the interaction between shield's hydraulic leg pressure and roof strata for shield loading is proposed.

Shear Induced Seepage and Heat Transfer Evolution in a Single-Fractured Hot-Dry-Rock

In the enhanced geothermal system(EGS),the injected fluid will induce shear sliding of rock fractures(i.e.,hydroshearing),which consequently,would increase the fracture aperture and improve the heat transfer efficiency of the geothermal reservoir.In this study,theoretical analysis,experimental research and numerical simulation were performed to uncover the permeability and heat transfer enhancement mechanism of the Hot-Dry-Rock(HDR)mass under the impact of shearing.By conducting the direct shear test with the fractured rock samples,the evolution process of fracture aperture during the shearing tests was observed,during which process,cubic law was adopted to depict the rock fracture permeability.To investigate the seepage characteristics and temperature distribution of the fractured HDR under the influence of shearing,a simulation study of shear-seepage-heat transfer in a fractured rock mass has been conducted to validate the observed shear-induced fracture dilation during the direct shear test.The results demonstrate that(1)the hydroshearing increases the dilation of granite fracture and enhances the permeability of the HDR rock mass,while the temperature around the HDR fracture will reduce.(2)Fracture roughness is of vital importance to enhance the permeability during the shearing tests.To be more specific,a rougher fracture always implies a higher permeability and a greater heat extraction efficiency.(3)The shear induced heat extracting efficiency is dominated by the increased fluid flux in the earlier period of the EGS reservoir,and this efficiency is controlled by the outlet water temperature since the fluid flux becomes stable after the shearing test.Therefore,balancing the hydroshearing enhanced heat extraction efficiency and EGS reservoir lifespan would be significant to the sustainable development and utilization of geothermal energy.