Front Abutment Pressure Research Articles

Analytical solutions for the mechanical behaviors of a hard roof subjected to any form of front abutment pressures

This study derived the analytical solutions for the deflection, bending moment and shear force of a hard roof under an arbitrary front abutment pressure for both the initial and periodic fracture problems using the elastic foundation beam model. With the assumption that the overburden pressure is constant in a small section, the roof subjected to arbitrarily distributed pressures is divided into a number of sufficiently small sections, whose closed-form solutions can be obtained easily. The proposed analytical solutions are validated by comparisons with those calculated using a model reported in the literature, in which the overburden pressure is assumed to follow a normal distribution. The parametric studies on the foundation stiffness, front abutment pressure and support resistance show that: (1) with the decrease of elastic foundation stiffness, the deflection and the maximum bending moment significantly increase, and the shear force significantly changes in the unmined region; (2) as the peak point position moves inside the coal wall, the deflection of the goaf roof, as well as the maximum bending moment and shear force, obviously decrease; (3) with the increase of support resistance, the maximum bending moment and deflection significantly decrease, and the shear force significant decreases in the hydraulic support region; (4) when the coal seam is soft and peak position of the front abutment pressure is near the coal wall, initial fracture occurs at the midspan; otherwise, it occurs inside the coal wall. For the periodic fracture condition, the fracture position is closer to the coal wall when the coal seam is harder, and the fracture length increases when the peak position of front abutment pressure moves inside the coal wall.

Abutment pressure distribution for longwall face mining through abandoned roadways

Abutment pressure distribution is different when a longwall panel is passing through the abandoned gate roads in a damaged coal seam. According to the geological condition of panel E13103 in Cuijiazhai Coal Mine in China, theoretical analysis and finite element numerical simulation were used to determine the front pressure distribution characteristics when the longwall face is 70, 50, 30, 20, 10, and 5 m from the abandoned roadways. The research results show that the influence range of abutment pressure is 40 to 45 m outby the face, and the peak value of front abutment pressure is related to the distance between the face and abandoned roadways. When the distance between the longwall face and abandoned roadways is reduced from 50 to 10 m, the front abutment pressure peak value kept increasing. When the distance is 10 m, it has reached the maximum. The peak value is located in 5 to 6 m outby the faceline. When the distance between the longwall face and abandoned roadways is reduced from10 to5 m, the front abutment pressure sharply decreases, the intact coal yields and is even in plastic state. The peak value transfers to the other side of the abandoned roadways. The research results provide a theoretical basis for determining the advance support distance of two roadways in the panel and the reinforcement for face stability when the longwall face is passing through the abandoned roadways.

Inorganic Cement Grouting for Reinforcing Triangular Zone of Highly Gassy Coal Face with Large Mining Height

Aiming to address the serious problem of coal wall spalling in the triangular zone of the coal face end under high-intensity mining, this paper introduces inorganic cement grouting reinforcement technology for medium-depth holes based on the specific geological conditions of the Sihe coal mine in China. Firstly, the effects of different water-to-material ratios and various accelerators on setting time and uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) of grouting materials and consolidation coal are studied. The results show that the combination of 2% accelerator I, 0.3% accelerator II, and 3.0% accelerator III was the most effective. Then, FLAC3D numerical simulation software was used to analyze the distribution laws of the plastic zone, the lateral abutment pressure, and abutment stresses in the face ends during repeated mining. The results indicate that the zone within 25–65 m of the front of the coal face was initially affected by the front abutment pressure. In this area, the stress value decreased slowly and fracture development was relatively intense. Grouting with high pressure and a large flow rate should be used in this scenario as the industrial experiment results indicated that the proposed inorganic cement grouting reinforcement technology could effectively control coal wall spalling and provide technical support for safe and efficient mining.

Analysis of Rock Burst Risk of Roadway in Lower Seam “Knife Handle” Type Isolated Working Face

In order to determine the influence degree of the main factors in the rock burst risk of the lower seam of the “Knife handle” type isolated coal face rail roadway. In this text, the methods of theoretical analysis, numerical simulation and field measurement are mainly used to study the stress distribution laws during the working face is extending, front abutment pressure and plastic zone of isolated coal pillar, variation of surrounding rock pressure and roadway deformation laws of ore pillar under the isolated coal pillar before and during mining of working face. The results show that two stress concentration areas are formed at the edge of the isolated coal pillar when the working face is not retreating mining, and the stress concentration degree of the upper seam goafs near the 1304 working face is greater. As far as the change of vertical displacement during mining is concerned, the convergence of the rail haulage gateway that its side is much larger than the roof-to-floor, and the deformation near the coal pillar side is larger than that on the side of the isolated pillar, and the maximum displacement deformation is 11 m in front of the coal wall; the rock movement during the advancing of working face is very irregular, and the distance is within 20–40 m front and back the variable face, and the abutment pressure and displacement deformation of the rail haulage gateway change a lot. The value change is obvious and the pressure is intense. Therefore, the distance of advance support is at least 40 m. It is necessary to strengthen the support in the range of 20 m.

Law of Strata Pressure Behavior in Shallow Coal Seam

The law of strata pressure behavior in shallow coal seam is analyzed, according to the load data of Jinjie Coal Mine 31109 working face hydraulic supports. The first weighting distance of main roof is 80 m, and the periodic weighting distance of main roof is about 20 m. And according to the load data in the middle and both ends of the working face, the working resistance of hydraulic supports and the setting load are a bit small, so they couldn’t meet the needs of supporting roof. Then, the front abutment pressure of working face is analyzed by numerical simulation. It does not only explain the reason that the load is too big, but also explains the reason that the strata pressure behavior in shallow coal seam is serious. The length of undamaged main roof rock beam verifies the correctness of the periodic weighting distance.

Research on Correlation Between Abutment Pressure and Gas Drainage Flow of Coal Seam

In this paper, based on the field test of No.S3012 working face of Shan Mushu Coal Mine in Sichuan Coal Group, monitoring the abutment pressure and gas drainage flow during the mining process, studying the change law of the abutment pressure and gas drainage flow of the coal seam, and using the numerical simulation method research on the evolution of abutment pressure and displacement of coal seam during the mining process. The results shown that: with the advance of coal mining face, the abutment pressure of coal seam can be divided into stress decreasing area, stress increasing area and original stress area, and the stress state of coal seam and the pore, crack structure and permeability of coal body are obviously changed. With the advance of the mining face, the abutment pressure in front and back of the coal mining face is the moving abutment pressure, and the coal mining face to be in the pressure relief area, the front abutment pressure peak value deep into the coal body 5–10 m, the influence scope reaches the front coal mining face to 90–100 m, this area is the stress increasing area. And the evolution law of the roof displacement of goaf is similar to the elliptical with the axial ratio changes, when the ratio is close to 1, the roof subsidence affected area is similar to the shape of “O”.

Analytical solutions of hard roof’s bending moment, deflection and energy under the front abutment pressure before periodic weighting

The distribution of front abutment pressure is closely related to the force, deformation and energy distribution of hard roof before periodic weighting. So it is necessary to carry out research on the relationship between them. According to front abutment pressure distribution feature, using the location of peak front abutment pressure as the dividing point, coal seam is divided into two parts along the direction of mining: the yield zone that is the area between the faceline and the point where the maximum front abutment pressure occurs, and the elastic zone that is the part before the point of peak front abutment pressure. The proposed mechanical model of unit width hard roof at the panel center before periodic weighting consists of five parts including the yield zone. All parameters of the deflection equations for each of the five parts that satisfy the continuity conditions and natural boundary conditions are obtained by using the Matlab software. The continuous curves of front abutment pressure, deflection, bending moment and bending strain energy density distribution of hard roof are obtained by iterative approximation method, and the relationship between the yield zone width and the above curves are analyzed in detailed.

Soft Roof Failure Mechanism and Supporting Method for Gob-Side Entry Retaining

To study the soft roof failure mechanism and the supporting method for a gateway in a gently inclined coal seam with a dip angle of 16° kept for gob-side entry retaining, and through the methodology of field investigation and numerical and analytical modeling, this paper analyzed the stress evolution law of roof strata at the working face end and determined that the sharp horizontal stress unloading phenomenon along the coal wall side did not appear after the working face advanced. Conversely, the horizontal stress along the gob side instantly decreased and the tensile stress produced, and the vertical stress in the central part of the roof had a higher reduction magnitude as well. An in-depth study indicates that the soft roof of the working face end subsided and seriously separated due to the effect of the front abutment pressure and the roof hanging length above the gob line, as well as certain other factors, including the rapid unloading of the lateral stress, tension and shear on the lower roof rock layer and dynamic disturbance. Those influencing factors also led to rapid crack propagation on a large scale and serious fracturing in the soft roof of the working face end. However, in the gob stress stabilized zone, the soft roof in the gob-side entry retaining has a shearing failure along the filling wall inside affected by the overburden pressure, rock bulking pressure, and roof gravity. To maintain the roof integrity, decrease the roof deformation, and enable the control of the working face end soft roof and the stabilization of the gob-side entry retaining roof, this study suggests that the preferred bolt installation angle for the soft roof situation is 70° based on the rock bolt extrusion strengthening theory.

Front abutment pressure concentration forecast by monitoring cable-forces in the roof

Front abutment pressure concentration forecast by monitoring cable-forces in the roof

Mining pressure monitoring and analysis in fully mechanized backfilling coal mining face-A case study in Zhai Zhen Coal Mine

Fully mechanized solid backfill mining (FMSBM) technology adopts dense backfill body to support the roof. Based on the distinguishing characteristics and mine pressure control principle in this technology, the basic principles and methods for mining pressure monitoring were analyzed and established. And the characteristics of overburden strata movement were analyzed by monitoring the support resistance of hydraulic support, the dynamic subsidence of immediate roof, the stress of backfill body, the front abutment pressure, and the mass ratio of cut coal to backfilled materials. On-site strata behavior measurements of 7403W solid backfilling working face in Zhai Zhen Coal Mine show that the backfill body can effectively support the overburden load, obviously control the overburden strata movement, and weaken the strata behaviors distinctly. Specific performances are as follows. The support resistance decreases obviously; the dynamic subsidence of immediate roof keeps consistent to the variation of backfill body stress, and tends to be stable after the face retreating to 120–150 m away from the cut. The peak value of front abutment pressure arises at 5–12 m before the operating face, and mass ratio is greater than the designed value of 1.15, which effectively ensures the control of strata movement. The research results are bases for intensively studying basic theories of solid backfill mining strata behaviors and its control, and provide theoretical guidance for engineering design in FMSBM.

Roof Deformation, Failure Characteristics, and Preventive Techniques of Gob-Side Entry Driving Heading Adjacent to the Advancing Working Face

In mining excavation, the roof bending subsidence of gob-side entry driving heading adjacent to the advancing working face (HAWF) can be considerable. Influenced by the original rock pressure, the front and lateral abutment pressure of the adjacent working face, and the front abutment pressure of the current working face, the support body can easily fail, leading to serious instability of the rock mass surrounding the tunnel. To study the stress state and the deformation failure mechanism of the HAWF roof structure, we use on-site survey data, numerical simulation, and theoretical calculations to fit the spatial distribution law of mining abutment pressure piecewise, and establish a dynamic mechanical model of the roof structure. We then propose a roof failure criterion and examine the roof flexure deformation behavioral pattern. We found that the central part of the roof is the main point that controls the surrounding rock. To prevent the deformation and collapse of the roof and rock surrounding the tunnel, we propose techniques that can be applied to HAWF gob-side entry driving, including setting the coal pillar width, the driving stop and restart timing, and other control concepts.

Strata behavior investigation for high-intensity mining in the water-rich coal seam

This paper describes a specific case of mining in a water-rich coal seam in western China. Water inrushes, roof caving and other disasters induced by intensive mining operation could pose great threats to the safety of coal mines. The strata behavior during the high-intensity extraction in the water-rich coal seam is analyzed by employing the numerical simulation method and in situ monitoring. The results show that about 10m ahead of the workface, the front abutment pressure peaks is at 34.13MPa, while the peak of the side abutment pressure is located about 8m away from the gateway with the value of 12.41MPa; the height of the fracture zone, the first weighting step and the cycle weighting step are calculated to be 45, 50 and 20.8m, respectively; pressure distribution in the workface is characterized by that the vertical pressure in the center occurs earlier and is stronger than those on both ends. Then, the results above are verified by in situ measurement, which may provide a basis for safe mining under similar conditions.

Numerical Simulation of Strata Behavior in Super-Long and Large Mining Height Working Face

In order to study the strata behavior characteristics in super-long and large mining height working face, the FLAC-3D software was used to study the roof displacement and the abutment pressure distribution laws of working faces. The results indicate that: ① the influence range is larger of front abutment pressure in Liuzhuang coal mine 171301 super-long large mining height working face, and reaches to 60m. ② the maximum roof displacement increases with the increase of mining depth and working face length, the increase in magnitude decreases gradually, while the maximum roof displacement sharply increases due to the increase of mining height. ③ the peak abutment pressure increases with the increase of mining depth and mining height, the location of peak abutment pressure transfer to ahead of the coal wall. ④ the effect of working face length on abutment pressure is very feeble, so, the strata behavior characteristics remain almost constant with the increase of face length.

The Change Regularity of Abutment Pressure under Various Propulsive Distance in Coal Face

The application of UDEC software helps to simulate the changing regularity of the front and posterior abutment pressure and the pressure in the goaf within the scope of propulsive distance 220m in the coal face. Incorporating the Origin software the simulation analyzed the changes and correlation of the three kinds of pressure. We can see that when the propulsive distance is within 60m the change of the front and pressure is the same to the change of the back abutment and with the increasing of the pressure the posterior abutment pressure reaches its peak first. When the propulsive distance exceeds 60m the pressure of caving gangue in the goaf begins to increase and share some of abutment pressure. Each time the main roof collapses the concentration factor and the location of the peak of the front abutment pressure will fluctuate. The concentration factor fluctuates between 2.04~2.41 and the location of peak fluctuate between 7m to 10m. With the propulsive distance increasing, the posterior abutment pressure will tend towards stability when the propulsive distance is 140 m. The goaf which experiences the change trend of low pressure -high pressure -reducing to raw rock pressure has three areas: depressor area, pressurization area and stability area. The stress depressor area which is in the range of 10 to 20 m exists every 20 to 30m in the cut-hole and the gangue compacting area.

Distribution pattern of front abutment pressure of fully-mechanized working face of soft coal isolated island

The front abutment pressure of a fully-mechanized workface of 11061 soft coal isolated island of Liangbei Coal Mine was measured and studied using a self-developed mining-induced stress monitoring system associated with electromagnetic radiation technology, and the effects of abutment pressure distribution on strata behavior we discussed. The results indicate that the mining-induced influencing distance advanced at the fully-mechanized working face of soft coal isolated island is larger than that at the general working face at the isolated island, besides the fracture zone in front of working face was widened to some extent, and the influencing range caused by relaxations on both roadways became bigger with the advancing working face. Moreover, it can be indicated that mining has significant effect on strata behavior of fully-mechanized working face of soft coal isolated island, which is mostly distributed in the area of stress concentration. The research results have an important reference value for revealing the distribution pattern of the front abutment pressure of a fully-mechanized working face of soft coal isolated island, and controlling the coal-rock dynamic disaster occurrence under similar mining conditions.

Studying the stress redistribution around the longwall mining panel using passive seismic velocity tomography and geostatistical estimation

Generally, knowledge of stress redistribution around the longwall panel causes a better understanding of the mechanisms that lead to ground failure, especially to rockbursts. In this paper, passive seismic velocity tomography is used to demonstrate the state of stress around the longwall mining panel. The mining-induced microseismic events were recorded by mounting an array of receivers on the surface, above the active panel. To determine the location of seismic events and execute the process of tomography, double-difference method is employed as a local earthquake tomography. Since passive sources are used, the ray coverage is insufficient to achieve the quality images required. The wave velocity is assumed to be the regionalized variable and it is therefore estimated in a denser network, by using geostatistical estimation method. Subsequently, the three-dimensional images of wave velocity are created and are sliced into the coal seam. These images clearly illustrate the stressed zones that they are appropriately in compliance with the theoretical models. Such compliance is particularly apparent in the front abutment pressure and the side abutment pressure near the tailgate entry. Movements of the stressed zones along the advancing face are also evident. The research conclusion proves that the combined method, based on double-difference tomography and geostatistical estimation, can potentially be used to monitor stress changes around the longwall mining panel continuously. Such observation could lead to substantial improvement in both productivity and safety of mining operations.

Study on Movement Law of Overlying Strata during Shallow Thinner Seam Mining in Shendong Mining Area

Given the particularity and the first time for shallow thinner seam mining in Shendong mining area, the overlying strata movement law during shallow thinner coal seam mining has been studied in this paper based on the fully mechanized thinner coal face of NO.71301 in Shi Getai coal mine, resorting to observation on spot, numerical simulation and other methods. Through research, the important laws and features had been obtained, such as, initial pressure step, periodical pressure step, the obvious partition of periodical weighting, the unitary elasticity distribution of front abutment pressure, and the stress shell morphology over the mining rock, which provides important characteristic for roof control and foundation for the powered support selection.

Unconventional staggered distance simultaneous mining theory in extremely close and thin coal seams and its application

The exploitation of extremely close thin coal seams is featured of great interaction and it is hard to realize the simultaneous mining of upper and lower coal seams. This paper defines the extremely close coal seam and studies the unconventional staggered distance simultaneous mining in pressure-relief region formed by locating the lower coal mining face in the upper face. The mechanical model of unconventional staggered distance simultaneous mining is established and its theoretical formula is given. The numerical simulation analyzes the influence of staggered distance on the front abutment pressure distribution: when staggered distance increases, the degree of upper coal mining face front abutment stress concentration decreases and the degree of lower coal mining face front abutment stress concentration decreases first and increases later; when the staggered distance is larger than a certain value, the front abutment pressure in lower coal mining face is in “double peak” distribution. With theoretical analysis, the staggered distance of the left six simultaneous mining face in Zhengyang Mine is conformed to be 6 m. This research conclusion has been verified in the field and significant socio-economic benefits have been achieved, which can provide a reference for safe and efficient exploitation of extremely close coal seams.

Stress analysis of longwall top coal caving

Longwall top coal caving (LTCC) is a relatively new method of mining thick coal seams that is currently achieving high productivity and efficiency in application, particularly in China. The technique is similar to traditional longwall mining in that a cutting head slices coal from the lower section of the coal seam onto a conveyor belt installed in front of the hydraulic support near the cutting face. In modern LTCC an additional rear conveyor belt is located behind the support, to which the flow of the caved coal from the upper part of the seam can be controlled by a moveable flipper attached to the canopy of the support. The mining method relies on the fracturing of the top coal by the front abutment pressure to achieve satisfactory caving into the rear conveyor. This paper develops a yield and caveability criterion based on in situ conditions in the top coal in advance of the mining face (yield) and behind the supports (caveability). Yielding and caving effects are combined into one single number called caving number ( CN), which is the multiplication result of caving factor ( CF) and yield factor ( YF). Analytical derivations are based on in situ stress conditions, Mohr–Coulomb and/or Hoek–Brown rock failure criteria and a non-associated elastoplastic strain softening material behaviour. The yield and caveability criteria are in agreement with results from both numerical studies and mine data. The caving number is normalised to mining conditions of a reference Chinese mine (LMX mine) and is used to assess LTCC performance at fourteen other Chinese working longwalls that have had varying success with the LTCC technology. The caving number is found to be in good agreement with observations from working LTCC mines. As a predictive model, results of this analytical/numerical study are useful to assess the potential success of caving in new LTCC operations and in different mining conditions.

Measurements of in situ stress and mining-induced stress in Beiminghe Iron Mine of China

In order to obtain the distribution rules of in situ stress and mining-induced stress of Beiminghe Iron Mine, the stress relief method by overcoring was used to measure the in situ stress, and the MC type bore-hole stress gauge was adopted to measure the mining-induced stress. In the in situ stress measuring, the technique of improved hollow inclusion cells was adopted, which can realize complete temperature compensation. Based on the measuring results, the distribution model of in situ stress was established and analyzed. The in situ stress measuring result shows that the maximum horizontal stress is 1.75–2.45 times of vertical stress and almost 1.83 times of the minimum horizontal stress in this mineral field. And the mining-induced stress measuring result shows that, according to the magnitude of front abutment pressure the stress region can be separated into stress-relaxed area, stress-concentrated area and initial stress area. At the −50 m mining level of this mine, the range of stress-relaxed area is 0–3 m before mining face; the range of stress-concentrated area is 3–55 m before mining face, and the maximum mining-induced stress is 16.5–17.5 MPa, which is 15–20 m from the mining face. The coefficient of stress concentration is 1.85.