Fracture characteristics of basic roof and mechanism of strata behavior in a pillarless working face

As a research hotspot, pillarless coal mining technology has a high resource recovery rate and low roadway surrounding rock stress. To grasp the three-dimensional fracture characteristics of the basic roof is the basic to reveal the strata behavior mechanism in the pillarless working face. Thus, aiming at pillarless coal mining, the analytical solution of three-dimensional fracture mechanics models of a basic roof was analyzed by elastic thin plate theory; the principal stress distribution of a basic roof being cut by continuous artificial fractures and discontinuous artificial fractures was analyzed; the fracture characteristics of the basic roof was revealed and the strata behavior mechanism was obtained. The following conclusions can be drawn: (i) an ‘O + X’ fracture occurred in the basic roof of a traditional working face, while an opposite-trapezoid-shaped or ≡-shaped fracture was generated in the pillarless working face. (ii) When the basic roof broke, the trapezoidal or rectangular hinged plate traversed the entire pillarless working face, causing the end supports to be pressured, while the trapezoidal hinged plate did not traverse the entire traditional working face and the end supports were not pressured. (iii) The break of a basic roof induced by artificial fractures in pillarless mining reduced or even eliminated the triangular hinged plate area along the goaf edges, making a roadway in the stress relief zone. (iv) Compared with the fractures in traditional roadways and in a discontinuous roof-cutting roadway, continuous fractures could minimize surrounding rock stress and make it easy to maintain a roof-cutting roadway.

Research on Roof Fracture Characteristics of Gob-Side Entry Retaining with Roof Cutting and Non-pillar Mining in Thick Coal Seam, China

Based on the S1201-2 large height mining in the 2–2 coal seam of Ningtiaota colliery with on-site microseismic measurement, physical simulation and theoretical analysis methods, this paper explores the rule of roof movement in thick coal seams with roof cutting and non-pillar (hereinafter referred to as RCN-P) mining, so as to obtain scientific and effective theoretical basis for entry support and to summarize the regional structural characteristics and dynamic periodic fracture characteristics. As can be seen from microseismic events, the entry roof is featured by "two zones and one line" along the horizontal direction, namely, the crack generation area, the roof movement area. Additionally, and the obvious lateral breaking of the entry roof on the coal wall is a typical feature of the thick coal seam with RCN-P mining. The roof is vertically divided into "three zones", the crack generation area, the roof movement area and the crack development area. The roof cutting activity mainly affects the overburden activity within the basic roof height range, which is also the roof movement area. In addition, the distribution frequency and the intensity of microseismic events indicate the roof periodic breaking characteristics. The "breaking pressure relief,” “advanced crack development,” and “the limit breaking state” of roof breaking corresponds to the initial, middle, and final stage of breaking in the periodic weighting process, respectively. Compared with the normal mining, the RCN-P mining reduces the periodic weighting length and increases the pressure strength. As is shown in the physical simulation experiment, the basic roof and the cutting control layer in the "regional structural characteristics" constitute the “large” and “small” structures with RCN-P mining. The basic roof key layer is the core to control the stability of the strata, and the breaking process from the cantilever beam to the short masonry beam of the roof-cutting control layer is the main cause of the entry stress. Correspondingly, the basic structure model of “short masonry-hinged” roof was proposed and the calculation method of support was established for the entry with RCN-P mining in thick coal seam, providing a research foundation for scientific and effective rock formation control.

Catastrophe Mechanism of Stress-Fissure Coupling Field in Mining Close Distance Seams in Southwest China

For the sake of studying the catastrophe mechanism of stress-fissure coupling field in mining close distance seams in southwest China, a test working face in Guizhou province in southwest China is adopted and researched by the methods of numerical calculation and similar experiment. When the working face advances to 180 m in 4# coal seam in a similar experiment, the overlying rock breaks to the central base plate of Yulongshan limestone, and the conductive fractures run through the Changxing limestone karst cave and Yulongshan limestone karst cave. When the 1402 working face advances to 350 m, the top of vertical karst caves in the middle of the model produces extrusion damage, forming a penetrating water inrush passage. When the 1402 working face advances to 480 m, the top slab of the working face comes under periodic weighting with the short step. Besides, the mining of 9# coal seam starts after 4# coal seam in mining close distance seams. When the working face in 9# coal seam advances to 340 m in numerical simulation, the maximum opening of the overburden fractures is 51.16 mm. The fractures in the roof are mainly caused by the periodic breaking and falling of the basic roof, connected with the floor fractures of 4# coal seam. When the working face in 9# coal seam advances to 500 m, the maximum opening of the overburden fracture is 93.09 mm. Specifically, as the working face advances, the opening of fracture in the roof after collapse of the basic roof periodically is mainly greater than 5 mm, and the compaction closure is mainly 1 mm-5 mm. The fractures in the gob floor are mainly 0.1 mm-1 mm, and the fracture opening of the collapsed rock mass in the gob is mainly 1 mm-5 mm and greater than 5 mm. The karst caves in the overburden reduce the periodic weighting step of working face and play a guiding role in the direction of fracture development and water inflow passage formation. The karst caves are connected to surface waterfall holes and trap pits, and atmospheric precipitation recharges the water in the caves. The research results can be treated as an important basis for the prevention and treatment for water inrush disaster in mining close distance seams in the karst area of southwest China.

Analysis of Failure Mechanism of Roadway Surrounding Rock under Thick Coal Seam Strong Mining Disturbance

Severe dynamic disturbance in extrathick coal seam mining has become one of the main factors threatening the stability of roadway surrounding rock. In this article, the #6 thick coal seam of Buliangou mine in Inner Mongolia, China, is taken as the engineering background. A mechanical model of the roadway roof structure is established to obtain an analytic formula of the key block subsidence. A three-dimensional discrete element model is established and used to verify the field measurement results. The fracture characteristics of the main roof above the F6104 transport roadway and the deformation and damage evolution law of the surrounding rock during thick coal seam mining are analyzed. The results show that because of the long-term breaking and falling of the roof rocks during extrathick coal seam mining, the F6104 transport roadway will undergo two severe mining disturbances at the locations of 10∼30 m and 50∼70 m ahead of the F6103 working face. During the two disturbance periods, the roadway roof displacement settles to 300∼350 mm and 750∼800 mm, and the deformation of the solid coal wall reaches 650∼700 mm and 1350∼1450 mm, respectively. The energy change curve of the total length of the fractured key roof is obtained, and when mining at 50 m, the basic roof is close to its tensile strength, and the strain energy can reach the peak value of 5.2 × 10 4 kJ, which easily leads to rock burst. The plastic damage zones on both sides of the roadway develop to the roof central area and eventually coalesce, and the deformation of the surrounding rock is obvious. When mining at 50∼70 m, the basic roof breaks and unloads, and elastic strain energy of 3.57 × 10 4 kJ is instantaneously released. These two dynamic disturbances are the main reasons for the instability of the roadway surrounding rock. The results clarify that the failure mechanism investigation of roadways in thick coal seam mining conditions can be effectively applied to control the stability of the roadway surrounding rock under strong mining disturbance.

Research on Roof Fracture Characteristics of Gob-Side Entry Retaining with Roof Cutting and Non-Pillar Mining in Thick Coal Seam, China

Based on the S1201-2 large height mining in the 2-2 coal seam of Ningtiaota colliery with on-site microseismic measurement, physical simulation and theoretical analysis methods, this paper explores the rule of roof movement in thick coal seams with roof cutting and non-pillar (hereinafter referred to as RCN-P) mining, so as to obtain scientific and effective theoretical basis for entry support and to summarize the regional structural characteristics and dynamic periodic fracture characteristics. As can be seen from microseismic events, the entry roof is featured by "two zones and one line" along the horizontal direction, namely, the crack generation area, the roof movement area. Additionally, and the obvious lateral breaking of the entry roof on the coal wall is a typical feature of the thick coal seam with RCN-P mining. The roof is vertically divided into "three zones", the crack generation area, the roof movement area and the crack development area. The roof cutting activity mainly affects the overburden activity within the basic roof height range, which is also the roof movement area. In addition, the distribution frequency and the intensity of microseismic events indicate the roof periodic breaking characteristics. The "breaking pressure relief,” “advanced crack development,” and “the limit breaking state” of roof breaking corresponds to the initial, middle, and final stage of breaking in the periodic weighting process, respectively. Compared with the normal mining, the RCN-P mining reduces the periodic weighting length and increases the pressure strength. As is shown in the physical simulation experiment, the basic roof and the cutting control layer in the "regional structural characteristics" constitute the “large” and “small” structures with RCN-P mining. The basic roof key layer is the core to control the stability of the strata, and the breaking process from the cantilever beam to the short masonry beam of the roof-cutting control layer is the main cause of the entry stress. Correspondingly, the basic structure model of “short masonry-hinged” roof was proposed and the calculation method of support was established for the entry with RCN-P mining in thick coal seam, providing a research foundation for scientific and effective rock formation control.

Dip Angle Effect on the Main Roof First Fracture and Instability in a Fully-Mechanized Workface of Steeply Dipping Coal Seams

The fracture instability mechanism of the basic roof is the key to support selection and surrounding rock stability control, and it is also the guarantee of safe and efficient coal mining. By means of theoretical analysis and numerical calculation, the calculation model of basic roof of steeply dipping coal seams (SDCS) under linear load is established, the stress distribution expression of basic roof plate is deduced, the inclination effect of stress evolution of steeply dipping coal seams (SDCS) workface is analyzed, and the “sequential” weighting mechanism of workface is revealed. Based on the numerical simulation test, the evolution laws of vertical stress release and shear stress concentration of overlying strata in workface with different coal seam dip angles are obtained. The results show that there is shear stress arch in the overlying strata. With the increase of coal seam dip angle, the overlying strata are suddenly damaged under the action of shear stress. The roof is in the state of discontinuous movement due to its self-weight and overburden pressure. Support is affected by the discontinuous movement and moved along with the roof. The results of this study can be of theoretical reference to the control of SDCS.

Analysis of Roof Deformation Mechanism and Control Measures with Roof Cutting and Pressure Releasing in Gob-Side Entry Retaining

The mechanical model of the basic roof fracture structure is established on the basis of key block theory to study the roof breaking mechanism of gob-side entry retaining under roof cutting and pressure relief, and the analytical formula of roof support resistance is derived when the key block of the basic roof is stable. The influence of roof cutting angle and cutting height on roof support resistance is also analyzed. Determining the cutting seam parameters of the retained roadway roof is necessary to identify the support resistance of the roadway roof due to the correlation between the roof cutting parameters and the support resistance. Taking the II 632 haulage drift of the Hengyuan coal mine as the engineering background, FLAC3D numerical simulation is used in this paper to analyze the influence of different roof cutting angles and cutting heights on the surrounding rock structure evolution of retained roadways. Results show that the roof cutting angle and cutting height respond to the support resistance of the retained roadway roof, and the support resistance required by the roof increases with the roof cutting angle and cutting height. This condition ensures that the side roof of the gob can be cut off smoothly, and the support resistance required by the roof of retained roadways is within a reasonable range. Through theoretical and numerical simulation analysis, the reasonable roof cutting height of II 632 haulage drift is 8 m and the roof cutting angle is 15°. The theoretical analysis and numerical simulation results reveal that the required support resistance to maintain the stability of the roadway roof is 0.38 MPa. The supporting scheme of the roof of the II 632 haulage drift in the Hengyuan coal mine is then designed. Finally, the field industrial test is used for verification. The borehole imaging results show that the overall line of the retained roadway roof is small based on the description of field monitoring results. The deformation of the surrounding rock surface of the retained roadway is less than 100 mm, and the roadway is 40 m from the lagging working face. The deformation rate of surrounding rock decreases with the increase in distance from the working face. The integrity of the retained roadway roof is good, and the deformation of the surrounding rock is effectively controlled.

Fracture criterion of basic roof deformation in fully mechanized mining with large dip angle

To explore the structure evolution of overlying strata and pressure characteristics of coal mining with large dip angle, the basic roof mechanical model was established that based on the thin plate theory and the development characteristics of 1212 (3) working face of Panbei Mine. The formula was deduced that used for calculating the basic roof stress distribution in large dip angle coal seam. It revealed the mechanism evolution of mining stress and its influence on overburden deformation. Furthermore, it was also discussed that the effect of false roof on the failure of the basic roof. It showed that the false roof increases the differentiation of gangue’s filling rate in goaf and improves the evolution rate of basic roof fracture. It is the main influencing factor that the large dip angle leads to the “scoop” distribution of the stress and deformation in basic roof. It dominates the evolution of overburden fractures and the regional instability. The maximum deformation of the basic roof is located in the middle and upper part of the working face. This theoretical model is verified by means of numerical simulation and field monitoring.

Mechanical analysis of basic roof fracture mechanism and feature in coal mining with partial gangue backfilling

Coal mining with partial gangue backfilling (CMPGB) method has the advantages of both high filling efficiency and excellent workface capacity, which breaks through the technical bottleneck of full-section backfilling mining. In order to reveal the fracture mechanism and characteristics in CMPGB workface, this paper presents a comparative analysis of the filling ratio of different filling patterns in CMPGB. A local composite elastic foundation mechanical model of basic roof in CMPGB was established using thin elastic plate theory. Then, Galerkin’s semi-analytic solution process was designed according to local composite elastic foundation characteristics. A deflection equation of the basic roof was derived, and a critical condition of the basic roof breakage was given. Based on engineering calculation example of Ji15-31010 workface of Pingdingshan No. 12 Coal Mine, the following conclusions are drawn. (1) At the basic roof of caving section, tensile-shear failure occurred in workface, cutoff position, and transition section, while compressive-shear failure occurred in the central part of the goaf. The basic roof showed a typical local “C–X” failure characteristic. (2) The value of first caving span decreased from 32.7 to 31.4 m as the elastic foundation coefficient of backfilling body increased from 70 × 106 to 120 × 106 N/m3, with a decreasing amplitude of only 4.1%. The increase of density of backfilling body only changed the support structure of backfilling section and had an insignificant effect on the first caving span. (3) The value of the first caving span decreased from 59.1 to 21.68 m as the length of caving section increased from 40 to 140 m, indicating that the first caving span was mainly influenced by the length of caving section. The measured value of the first caving span of Ji15-31010 CMPGB workface was 29.8 m, which was close to the theoretical value of mechanical model.