Abstract
Underground coal mining activities and ground movement are directly correlated, and coal mining-induced ground movement can cause damage to property and resources, thus its monitoring is essential for the safety and economics of a city. Fangezhuang coal mine is one of the largest coalfields in operation in Tangshan, China. The enormous amount of coal extraction has resulted in significant ground movement over the years. These phenomena have produced severe damages to the local infrastructure. This paper uses the finite difference method (FDM) 3D model and the stacking interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) method to monitor the ground movement in Fangezhuang coalfield during 2016. The FDM 3D model used calibrated Fangezhuang geological parameters and the satellite InSAR analysis involved the use of ascending C-band Sentinel-1A interferometric wide (IW) data for 2016. The results show that the most prominent subsidence signal occurs in mining panel 2553N and the area between panel 2553N and fault F0 with subsidence up to 57 cm. The subsidence observed for the FDM 3D model and stacking InSAR to monitor land deformation under the influence of fault are in close agreement and were verified using a two-sample t-test. It was observed that the maximum subsidence point shifted towards the fault location from the centre of the mining panel. The tectonic fault F0 was found to be reactivated by the coal mining and controls the spatial extent of the observed ground movement. The impact of dominant geological faults on local subsidence boundaries is investigated in details. It is concluded that ground movement in the study area was mainly induced by mining activities, with its spatial pattern being controlled by geological faults. These results highlight that the two methods are capable of measuring mining induced ground movement in fault dominated areas. The study will improve the understanding of subsidence control, and aid in developing preventive measures in Fangezhuang coalfield with fault reactivation.
Highlights
As China’s primary source of energy, coal it is critical to the country’s social and economic growth
This paper studies the ground movement in Fangezhuang coalfield in Tangshan city using a complete 3D finite difference method (FDM) analysis in conjunction with stacking Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) analysis
In order to obtain a reliable model, an orthogonal test was applied to back analyse the strata parameters, and the subsequent FDM model result was compared with the ground movement measured using InSAR
Summary
As China’s primary source of energy, coal it is critical to the country’s social and economic growth. In terms of numerical analysis, the finite difference method (FDM) is commonly utilised within the FLAC3D software because of its efficacy as a tool for solving rock mechanics and geomechanical issues. It can handle material heterogeneity, nonlinearity, complicated boundary conditions, ground condition pressures and gravity. A few attempts have been made to study 3D model simulation of ground movement in conjunction with InSARderived ground movement to understand the effect of a geological fault (Jeanne et al, 2019; Perry et al, 2020; Francioni et al, 2021; Shi Y et al, 2021).
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