Numerical Modeling of Subsidence-Induced Stress on the Pipeline in Steep Seam Mining

Abstract

In China, surface subsidence caused by steep coal seam mining has affected the safe operation of pipelines in recent years. The study site is one coal mine, where the gas pipeline from Shanshan to Urumqi is across. FLAC3D was adopted to study subsidence-induced stress on the pipeline, and the numerical model was calibrated with the measurement data. Visualization of alarm levels on the pipeline was obtained by integrating the usage of Fish function embedded in FLAC3D and Tecplot. The simulations reveal that the stress on the pipeline is closely related to the excavation depth. The stress on the pipeline increases with the excavation depth increasing when mining the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd levels, whereas the stress on the pipeline decreases slightly with the excavation depth increasing when mining the fourth, fifth, and sixth levels. The maximum stress on the pipeline occurs after mining the 3rd level. The possible damage to the pipe is at the upper-right side. Therefore, the results are helpful to prevent and reduce the impact of subsidence on the pipeline.