For sustainable utilization of limited coal resources, it is important to increase the coal recovery rate and reduce mine accidents, especially those occurring in the entry (gateroad). Entry stabilities are vital for ventilation, transportation and other essential services in underground coal mining. In the present study, a finite difference model was built to investigate stress evolutions around the entry, and true triaxial tests were carried out at the laboratory to explore entry wall stabilities under different mining conditions. The modeling and experimental results indicated that a wide coal pillar was favorable for entry stabilities, but oversize pillars caused a serious waste of coal resources. As the width of the entry wall decreased, the integrated vertical stress, induced by two adjacent mining panels, coupled with each other and experienced an increase on the entry wall, which inevitably weakened the stability of the entry. Therefore, mining with coal pillars always involves a tradeoff between economy and safety. To address this problem, an innovative non-pillar mining technique by optimizing the entry surrounding structures was proposed. Numerical simulation showed that the deformation of the entry roof decreased by approximately 66% after adopting the new approach, compared with that using the conventional mining method. Field monitoring indicated that the stress condition of the entry was significantly improved and the average roof pressure decreased by appropriately 60.33% after adopting the new technique. This work provides an economical and effective approach to achieve sustainable exploitation of underground coal resources.
Gob-side entry retaining by roof cutting (GERRC) employed in a deep inclined thick coal seam (DITCS) can not only increase economic benefits and coal recovery, but also optimize surrounding rock structure. In accordance with the principles of GERRC, the technology of GERRC in DITCS is introduced and a roof-cutting mechanical model of GERRC is proposed to determine the key parameters of the depth and angle of RC. The results show that the greater the RC angle, the easier the caving of the goaf roof, but the length of cantilever beam increases. The depth of RC should account for the dip angle of the coal seam when the angle is above 20°. Increasing the coal seam dip angle could reduce the volume of rock falling of the goaf roof, but increase the filling height of the upper gangue to slide down. According to numerical model analysis of the stress and displacement of surrounding rock at different depths and angles of RC, when the depth of RC increased from 9 m to 13 m, the distance between the stress concentration zone and the coal side is increased. When the angle of RC increased from 0° to 20°, the value of roof separation is decreased. GERRC was applied in a DITCS with 11 m depth and 20° RC angle, and the field-measured data verified the conclusions of the numerical model.
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