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The loading modes and roof lithology have a significant influence on the mechanical properties of coal seams. To reveal the failure modes and energy evolution law of underground coal during the mining process, conventional uniaxial and uniaxial cyclic loading tests were carried out on three types of samples: coal, rock, and coal-rock combinations. The results show that the samples mainly behave with three failure modes (shear slip, tensile splitting, and fracture), and all the coal sections in the coal-rock combinations fail, whereas most rock sections remain intact. The compressive strength of the coal-rock combination is higher than coal and much smaller than rock. Compared with the conventional uniaxial loading condition, both the maximum deformation before failure and Young’s modulus under the cyclic loading condition are greater, and the latter increases quadratically with the cycle index. The energy densities are also calculated, and their variations are analysed in detail. The results show that with increasing cycle index, both the elastic energy stored in the sample and the dissipated energy increase in a quadratic function, and the failure process becomes more intense. This research reveals the failure modes, deformation characteristics, and energy evolution of the coal-rock combination under different loading conditions, which can provide strong support for controlling underground surrounding rocks of the coal face and roadway in coalmines.

Roof cutting is an effective technique for controlling the deformation and failure of the surrounding rock in deep gob-side entry. The determination of the roof cutting parameters has become a popular research subject. Initially, two mechanical models are established for the non-roof-cutting and roof-cutting of gob-side entry in deep mining conditions. On this basis, the necessity and significance of roof cutting is revealed by analysing the stress and displacement of roadside prop. The Universal Distinct Element Code numerical simulation model is established to determine the key roof-cutting parameters (cutting angle and cutting height) according to the on-site situation of No. 2415 headentry of the Suncun coal mine, China. The numerical simulation results show that with the cutting angle and height increase, the vertical stress and horizontal displacement of the coal wall first increase and then decrease, as in the case of the vertical stress and displacement of roadside prop. Therefore, the optimum roof cutting parameters are determined as a cutting angle of 70 • and cutting height of 8 m. Finally, a field application was performed at the No. 2415 headentry of the Suncun coal mine. In situ investigations show that after 10 m lagged the working face, the stress and displacement of roadside prop are obviously reduced with the hanging roof smoothly cut down, and they are stable at 19 MPa and 145 mm at 32 m behind the working face, respectively. This indicates that the stability of the surrounding rock was effectively controlled. This research demonstrates that the key parameters determined through a numerical simulation satisfactorily meet the production requirements and provide a reference for ensuring safe production in deep mining conditions. about 100-500 m, the microstructures, basic mechanical characteristics, and engineering responses of coal and rock have changed significantly in response to the "three highs and one disturbance" environment [10][11][12][13]. The main features are that the surrounding rock has a large deformation, high deformation speed, long deformation duration, and rheological characteristics. Hence, maintenance of the gob-side entry becomes extremely difficult, and large deformation and failure accidents occur occasionally [14][15][16][17][18].Many theoretical studies and field practices on GER technology under deep mining conditions have been completed, and three major advancements should be considered. First, the surrounding rock deformation characteristics and failure evolution law of deep GER are revealed under various geological conditions [19][20][21][22][23]. The roof of the gob-side entry is simplified into a rectangular "superposed stratified plate" structure [24,25], and the concept of the strip segmentation method for the roof load is proposed according to the theory of elastoplastic mechanics. On this basis, used a numerical analysis method to identify the influence mechanism of the roof fracture location, roof rotation, and long-term creep of the surrounding rock in deep ...

Due to the complex geostress and mining conditions in the coal seam with depth of 800 m, stability of surrounding rock for gob‐side entry retaining is very difficult to achieve. In this paper, we firstly propose an innovative bolt‐grouting controlled roof‐cutting for gob‐side entry retaining (BCR‐GER) approach for deep coal mines. Secondly, a mechanical model of “surrounding rock‐supporting body” for BCR‐GER is constructed, which consists of coal wall, roadside props, and gangues in gob (the whole supporting body). Thirdly, the key parameters (ie, cutting height, cutting angle, grouting cable length, and row of roadside props) are designed. Finally, field practice was applied at the No. 31120 haulage roadway of the Suncun coal mine in China, and in situ investigations were conducted for verification. Field measurement results show that maximum convergences of roof‐to‐floor and side‐to‐side were 264 mm and 113 mm, respectively. What is more, the maximum support resistance of roadside props was reduced by approximately 58%. The deformation and failure of surrounding rock were effectively controlled, and the pressure on roadside props was greatly reduced. This research fully considers the bearing properties of gangues in gob, eliminates the secondary disasters caused by borehole blasting, and provides guidance and reference for deep surrounding rock control of the same or similar gob‐side entry.

The stability control of surrounding rock for a large or super‐large section chamber group is a difficult technical problem in deep mining conditions, and this stability control has become one of the most important factors restricting the safety of a large‐scale coal mine. Based on the in‐site geological conditions of a super‐large section chamber group that functions for a coal gangues separation system in the Longgu Coal Mine, we first researched the stress, deformation, and failure characteristics of the in‐site chamber group surrounding rocks by using the FLAC3D software. Simulation results showed that the maximum vertical stress, deformation, and failure range of the surrounding rock for a super‐large section chamber group are larger than those of an ordinary section chamber. In addition, the roof subsidence and the plastic zone radius at the intersection are obviously larger than that of other parts, which increase by approximately 50.8% and 44.4%, respectively. Therefore, the chamber group intersection should be taken as the key area for surrounding rock control. Then, the influences of two key parameters of the chamber group, spacing and angle, were researched in detail to help in the design of the chamber group. Results show that when the chamber spacing is 80 m, the interaction begins to occur. When the angle is 70°, the stress of the surrounding rock and roof subsidence reach the minimum. Thus, the optimum chamber group parameters are determined to be a spacing of 80 m and an angle of 70°. Finally, from the perspective of chamber group stability, the optimal chamber group parameters can better meet the normal use for the super‐large section chamber group. This research provides a reference for the design of a super‐large section chamber group under the same or similar conditions and provides a strategy for controlling the surrounding rock.

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