Mechanism of Rock Bursts Induced by the Synthetic Action of “Roof Bending and Rock Pillar Prying” in Subvertical Extra-Thick Coal Seams

When studying the rock burst mechanism in subvertical extra-thick coal seams in the Wudong coal mine in Xinjiang, China, most studies focus on rock pillars, while the effect of the roof on rock bursts is usually ignored. In this paper, a rock burst mechanism in subvertical extra-thick coal seams under the control of a “roof-rock pillar” is proposed. A theoretical analysis is first performed to explain the effect of roof-rock pillar combinations on rock bursts in coal seams. Numerical modeling and microseismic analysis are implemented to further study the mechanism of rock burst. The main conclusions are as follows: 1) During the mining of the B3+6 coal seam, an obvious microseismic concentration phenomenon is found in both the roof and rock pillar of B3+6. The rock bursts exhibited obvious directionality, and its main failure characteristics are floor heave and sidewall heave, but there will also be some failures such as shoulder socket subsidence in some parts. 2) The stress transfer caused by rock pillar prying is the main reason for the large difference in rock burst occurrence near the vertical and extra thick adjacent coal seams under the same mining depth. 3) Under the same cantilever length, the elastic deformation energy of the roof is much greater than that of the rock pillar, which makes it easier to produce high-energy microseismic events. With an increasing mining depth, the roof will become the dominant factor controlling the occurrence of rock bursts. 4) The high-energy event produced by the rock mass fracture near the coal rock interface easily induces rock bursts, while the high-energy event produced by the fracture at the far end of the rock mass is less likely to induce rock burst. 5) Roof deformation extrusion and rock pillar prying provide high static stress conditions for the occurrence of rock bursts in the B3+6 coal seam. The superposition of the dynamic disturbance caused by roof and rock pillar failure and the high static stress of the coal seam is the main cause of rock burst in the B3+6 coal seam.

Mechanism of Hard-Roof Rock Burst Control by the Deep-Hole Blasting: Numerical Study Based on Particle Flow

In underground coal mines, the deep-hole blasting (DHB) technology is generally adopted for thick hard-roof control. This technology uses the energy released by explosives to weaken the energy storage capacity of hard roof so as to prevent hard-roof rock burst disasters. In this paper, a numerical simulation model of roof DHB was established based on particle flow and the damage range of single-hole blasting with concentrated cylindrical charge was studied. The temporal and spatial evolutions of overlying strata, the distribution of the force chain structure, and the working resistance of hydraulic pressure in the mining process before and after the application of DHB were contrastively analyzed. The following beneficial conclusions were drawn. The blasting-induced single-hole damage range is generally characterized by annular zoning. After the application of DHB, overall the collapse morphology of the key strata in the mining process changes from long-distance instantaneous slipping instability to stratified short-arm stepped synergistic subsidence. The density and strength of force chains in the overburden are notably reduced; the peak value of compressive force chain strength in the key strata in the mining process falls by 17.85% as a result of DHB. The monitoring results of the working resistance of hydraulic support reveal that the DHB technology can effectively shorten the step distance of periodic weighting and reduce the variation amplitude of overburden load during weighting. In summary, the mechanism of hard-roof rock burst control by DHB is reflected by both static load reduction and dynamic load reaction.

Magma chamber decompression during explosive caldera-forming eruption of Aira caldera

Decompression of a magma chamber is a fundamental condition of caldera collapse. Although theoretical models have predicted the decompression of magma chambers before caldera collapse, few previous studies have demonstrated the amount of magma chamber decompression. Here, we determine water content in quartz glass embayments and inclusions from pyroclastic deposits of a caldera-forming eruption at Aira volcano approximately 30,000 years ago and apply this data to calculate decompression inside the magma chamber. We identify a pressure drop from 140–260 MPa to 20–90 MPa during the extraction of around 50 km3 of magma prior to the caldera collapse. The magma extraction may have caused down-sag subsidence at the caldera center before the onset of catastrophic caldera collapse. We propose that this deformation resulted in the fracturing and collapse of the roof rock into the magma chamber, leading to the eruption of massive ignimbrite.

Variation Law of Infrared Radiation Temperature of Unloading Fracture of Composite Coal-Rock

For composite mining coal-rock dynamic disaster, combining the theory of thermodynamics, damage mechanics, and other disciplines, the thermodynamic coupling mathematical model of composite coal-rock under an unloading condition is deduced, and the simulation model of composite coal-rock is established for numerical simulation. And the variation law of thermal infrared radiation under triaxial loading and unloading of composite coal-rock is analyzed and verified by experiments. The results show the following findings: (1) The distribution of thermal infrared radiation temperature of composite coal-rock is different in different stages of stress. The overall temperature of the temperature field is lower than the initial temperature field in the three-dimensional stress loading stage and the stage of stress-keeping pressure, but the internal temperature of the coal body is the highest. In the first stage of “loading and unloading,” the temperature of a coal seam increases slightly, and the temperature of other parts of the rock layer increases except for the circular low-temperature zone. In the second stage of “loading and unloading,” an alternating zone of high and low temperatures appears in the rock mass, and the temperature field is enhanced, among which the temperature field reaches the strongest after unloading the confining pressure. After jumping over the maximum stress, the temperature field decreases as a whole at the instability and rupture stage. (2) The variation of surface average thermal infrared radiation temperature ( T ave ) of composite coal-rock can be divided into the initial fluctuation stage, the linear heating stage, the local decline stage, the temperature sudden increase stage, and the fracture decline stage. At three different unloading rates of 0.003 MPa/s, 0.03 MPa/s, and 0.05 MPa/s, the T ave of coal body, floor rock, and roof rock reach the maximum before composite coal-rock instability and fracture, and the temperature change of the coal body is the most obvious. (3) Under different confining pressure unloading rates, the T ave of roof rock, coal body, and floor rock shows a strong linear relationship with stress after linear fitting. And the correlation between simulation and experimental results after fitting is above 0.89. The larger the confining pressure unloading rate is, the shorter the peak time of T ave arrives, and the larger the peak value. The comparison between the experimental results and the simulation analysis shows that the two results are consistent, and the research results can provide a theoretical basis for the prevention and control of dynamic disasters in coal and rock mining.

Study on Dynamic Evolution of Roof Crack and Support Timing of Secondary Tunneling for Large Section Open-Off Cut in Deep Mines

The stability of large section open-off cut in deep mines (LODM) is the key factor affecting the normal equipment installation and safe mining in fully mechanized top-coal caving face. The mechanical model shows that the deflection of the roof of the LODM is proportional to the cubic of span. In this paper, UDEC Trigon model is established, and the parameters of different coal measures strata are modified in detail. The evolution law, failure mode, and damage degree of roof cracks in secondary tunneling are studied, and the roof support effect is analyzed. The numerical simulation results show that the process of roof crack evolution after the primary excavation section and the second excavation section can be divided into three stages according to microseismic activities, and the reasonable supporting time can control the propagation of roof microcracks and reduce the development height of macrocracks. The rock bridge existing in the roof rock stratum after the combined support of long and short anchor cables can effectively limit the formation of macrocracks and their interaction; especially the key support in the interface area can reduce the development height of roof cracks in secondary tunneling and weaken the damage degree of roof rock stratum in the LODM. The field test shows that the moved volume of rib-to-rib and roof-to-floor of the LODM is stable at about 350 mm and 550 mm, respectively. The numerical simulation in this paper is helpful to understand the failure mode of roof in LODM with large mining height and provides a method for the design of its control technologies.

Influence of Roof Rock Thickness on the Failure Probability of Thermally Stable Diamond Composite Rock Cutting Tips

Thermally Stable Diamond Composite (TSDC) has been used to make rock cutting tips to tackle the challenges of high cutting temperature and high abrasiveness met in hard rock cutting. Various research has been conducted to investigate the failure behaviour and predict the failure risk of the TSDC tips in real rock cutting operations. Based on the scenario of roadway development in underground coal mines, a series studies have been carried out to estimate the probability of TSDC tip sudden failure suffered from randomly occurring excessive bending force, which is one of major failure modes of the TSDC tips. This study aims to improve estimation accuracy of the failure probability by removing the constraint on roof rock thickness that has been adopted in existing research.