Validation of critical strain technique for assessing stability of coal mine intersections and its potential for development of roof control plans

Abstract

Both room-and-pillar and longwall mining systems develop underground excavations whose stability must be ensured over their entire service life. Even though rock bolts have been extensively used as a support element in US coal mines for about 40 years, limited research has been conducted in quantifying its composite reinforcement effects. Recently, the authors suggested an approach to quantify the reinforcement effect of roof supports over a designated area based on critical failure strains in tension, compression and shear. This paper validates the critical strain technique (CST) using a case study and justifies the magnitude of selected critical strain by corroborating with the US roof fall statistics. Intersections are vulnerable to failure due to the larger exposed roof span and associated stress concentrations. Through numerical application of the CST to a case study, it was demonstrated that modifying the opening orientation and installing reinforcement at critical locations can help to improve the overall stability of intersections.