Investigation on the Movement and Fracture Characteristics of an Extra-Thick Hard Roof during Longwall Panel Extraction in the Yima Mining Area, China

As an extra-thick hard roof is a significant contributing factor to frequently induced sudden roof collapse accidents and coal bursts, this study investigates the relationship between extra-thick hard roof movement and mining-induced stress using physical experiments and numerical simulation methods based on mining activities in a longwall panel in the Yima mining area, Henan province, China. The results suggested that the movement and failure processes of the extra-thick roof could be divided into three main periods: the undisturbed, movement stabilization, and sudden collapse periods. The roof displacement remained essentially unchanged during the undisturbed period. During the movement stabilization period, the displacement gradually increased into the upper roof. However, the extra-thick main roof remained undisturbed until the immediate roof experienced its fourth periodic caving in the physical model. Consequently, the displacement expanded rapidly into the extra-thick main roof during the sudden collapse period and the strain energy was violently released when it accumulated in the extra-thick main roof. Additionally, the mining-induced stress was characterized by a sudden decrease in the gradual increase trend when the extra-thick roof instantly collapsed. The deformation and fracture of the extra-thick roof could cause a sudden decrease in the mining-induced stress and lead to continuous and unstable subsidence pressure exerted on the mining panel and roadway. This significantly contributes to the occurrence of coal bursts.

Numerical Investigation of Relationship between Bursting Proneness and Mechanical Parameters of Coal

As one of the most catastrophic dynamic hazards in underground coal mines, coal bursts have been a major safety concern around the world for many years. Although the coal bursts can occur in all cases of hard to soft coal if the right stress environment is created, the occurrence of coal bursts is closely related to the intrinsic mechanical properties of coal, such as the bursting proneness. In this study, a total of 27 coal specimens are selected in the open literature studies to obtain a group of fundament data, such as the mechanical parameters, four bursting proneness indices, stress-strain curves, and their geological conditions where the specimens were taken. The relationship between bursting proneness indices and the cohesion of the coal specimens is established by numerically fitting the stress-strain curves and theoretically deduction. By taking into account the coal heterogeneity, eight probability distribution functions are employed to assignment nonuniform cohesion to the numerical model and to study the influence of heterogeneity on bursting proneness. The results reveal that the coal cohesion, which combines the common advantages of the four proneness indices, can be used as bursting proneness index. In the research of heterogeneity, the coal bursting proneness will decrease with the increasing of cohesion scatter degree. The larger the cohesion scatter degree increase is, the lower the bursting proneness will be. The failure of coal specimen is more and more severe with the decrease of cohesion scatter degree. In addition, this paper provides two methods for assigning heterogeneous parameters to the numerical model. The contours of shear strain rate and plastic state between homogeneous and heterogeneous coal specimens are compared to study the failure types of coal specimens and to reveal the mechanism of violent failure in coal bursts.

Mechanism of Coal Bursts Induced by Horizontal Section Mining of Steeply Inclined Coal Seams and Application of Microseismic Multiparameter Monitoring in Early Warning

Coal bursts occurring in steeply inclined coal seams (SICSs) are increasingly severe. To solve this problem, a mechanical model for the distribution of static stress on coal-rock masses along panels and the distribution of dynamic load induced by the breakage of thick and hard roofs with propagation distance was established. The stress characteristics after a superposition of dynamic and static loads on the roof and floor roadways (Rr and Rf) were determined. In addition, precursory information characteristics and index sensitivities of four indices for dynamic loads and the CT index for static loads based on seismic tomography were separately analyzed. The monitoring and warning indices for SICSs and flat seams were compared. The results showed that the static stress of Rr was significantly higher than that of Rf, which provided a basis for the stress-triggering coal burst behaviors. Three indices for dynamic loads and seismic tomography results exhibited remarkable precursory information and high sensitivity. However, the performance of lack of shock index is poor. The continuous anomaly and the contradiction of indices at Rr and Rf can be considered as precursory information for predicting coal bursts.

Study on Roof Breakage-Induced Roadway Coal Burst in an Extrathick Steeply Inclined Coal Seam

In view of the coal burst induced by roof breakage in the steeply inclined coal seam (SICS) roadway and its mechanism, a mechanical model was established to investigate the distribution of dynamic and static stresses in the coal seam before and after the breakage of a thick hard roof. The aim of this research is to study failure laws of SICS roadways under the superposition of dynamic load induced by roof breakage and asymmetric static load. For this purpose, response characteristics including acoustic emission (AE), static stress, and acceleration were analyzed by applying different dynamic loads to different horizontal slices with a self-made similarity simulation test apparatus under combined dynamic and static loads. The theoretical model and simulation results were verified by analyzing characteristics of coal burst occurrence in the field, microseismic (MS) events, and tomographic imaging of microseismic waves. The study demonstrates the following: (1) The abutment pressure of the roof plays a dominant role in stress distribution of the coal seam slice before the breakage of the thick hard roof with the stress of the roof roadway (Rr) being obviously higher than that of the floor roadway (Rf). (2) High-energy MS events and AE events are concentrated on the roof side after the breakage of the thick hard roof, and coal bursts are more easily induced by the superposition of high dynamic and static stresses on the roof side. Coal burst in the roadway is jointly determined by dynamic and static stresses. Under the same static stress, response characteristics increase with the rise of intensity of dynamic loads. When dynamic stress is the same, coal burst easily occurs in the roadway with high static stress.

Coal Burst Induced by Horizontal Section Mining of a Steeply Inclined, Extra-Thick Coal Seam and Its Prevention: A Case Study from Yaojie No. 3 Coal Mine, China

At present, coal bursts in working faces of steeply inclined coal seams (SICSs) have rarely been investigated, and current research focuses on the influences of roof breaking and instability of overlying structures in goaf on coal bursts; however, the stress state of coal masses in working faces being subjected to coal bursts is rarely researched. To overcome the above defects, a model for analysing stresses on coal masses in horizontal section of SICSs was established based on the coal burst that occurred in LW5521-20, Yaojie No. 3 Coal Mine, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China. Moreover, the mechanism underpinning such a coal burst in SICSs was analysed based on the superposition mechanism of dynamic and static loads. The results show that the side abutment pressure near the roof and floor under the horizontal sections of SICSs is asymmetrically distributed in the vertical direction in which the peak of side abutment pressure near the roof is closer to the working face and therefore is taken as the source of static loads for coal bursts in working faces. When the superimposed dynamic load caused by hanging roof breaking and high static load borne in the coal masses is larger than the critical load for coal burst inception, a coal burst will occur. Furthermore, the superimposed dynamic load induced by coal bursts on the support and the initial static load on the supports are larger than their limiting load, which leads to support collapse and eventually causes dynamic failure of the working face. The coal burst in working faces in horizontal sections of SICSs can be prevented by using deep-hole presplit blasting in a hard roof, destress blasting in coal masses, and support optimisation of working faces, showing a favourable preventative effect.

Mechanical Properties and Failure Behavior of Composite Samples

In underground coal mining systems, the occurrences of coal burst hazards and pillar failures relate not only to the condition of stress distribution but also the geometry of roof-coal-floor structures. To study the failure response of these structures, the rock-coal-rock (RCR) sample, in which a coal component is sandwiched between rocks, is always employed as the experimental subject. In this study, the effect of height ratio (a ratio represents the height percentage of coal component in an RCR sample) on the mechanical properties and deformation behavior of RCR samples was numerically investigated by using the distinct element model (DEM). The results reveal the following. (1) The uniaxial compression strength (UCS) of the RCR sample decreases with increasing height ratio as an inverse proportional function. (2) With increasing height ratio, the elastic modulus of the RCR sample decreases exponentially, while the postpeak modulus is strengthened in an inverse proportional manner. (3) Microcracking activity of the RCR sample is different from that of the pure sample during loading. Specifically, a reactive period always occurs after the quiet and active periods in the RCR sample. (4) The RCR sample fails in a progressive manner, in which cracking bands develop preferentially in coal and then extend to rocks. Expectably, the mechanical properties and failure behavior of RCR samples are height ratio dependent, which may contribute to predicting the hazard of coal bursts and estimating the failure of rock-coal-floor structures.