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Fracture Mechanisms of Competent Overburden Under High Stress Conditions: A Case Study

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Abstract

High-intensity longwall top coal caving (LTCC) mining of super-thick coal seam in high stress conditions often leads to significant movement and failure of overburden. The competent roof above the super-thick coal seam is easy to form large unstable structures, and the breaking and movement of the roof strata often induce high weighting strength and large dynamic disasters which severely affect the mine safety. The key to control the behavior of competent roof is to understand the fracturing law of the roof strata. In this paper, a case study based on microseismic (MS) monitoring was performed at LW8309 working face in Tongxin coal mine, where super-thick coal seam under competent sandstone roof in high stress conditions was mined by LTCC method. The spatial distribution characteristics of MS events were studied and four impact zones in the horizontal direction and ‘four-zones’ in the vertical direction were identified. Multifractal analysis of MS events was carried out to study the multifractal characteristics of the fracturing of competent overburden. In addition, a large and small periodic law of fracturing of competent roof was revealed from the temporal distribution of MS events and on-site monitoring of hydraulic support pressure. A key stratum (KS) structural model was then proposed to explain the strong behaviors of competent strata during high-intensity mining. The research results are of great significance for safe and efficient mining of super-thick coal seam under competent roof in high stress conditions.

Highlights

  • The impact zones in front of the mining face and four vertical zones were identified and the fracture characteristics of the competent overburden in the impact zones and the vertical zones were revealed.

  • Multifractal characteristics of the fracture of the competent overburden were obtained.

  • A large and small periodic law of fracture of competent overburden was revealed from the temporal distribution of MS events and on-site monitoring of hydraulic support pressure.

  • A key stratum (KS) structural model was proposed to explain the behavior of the fracture of competent overburden.

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Data availability

The data used to support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the support by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (U2013603; 52004167; 51822403) and Sichuan International Technological innovation Cooperation Project (2018HH0159).

Funding

National natural science foundation of china, U2013603, Mingzhong Gao, 52004167, Mingzhong Gao, 51822403, Mingzhong Gao.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Architecture and Environment, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China

    Guangdi Deng

  2. Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Deep Underground Engineering Sciences and Green Energy, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China

    Guangdi Deng, Heping Xie, Mingzhong Gao, Cong Li & Zhiqiang He

  3. State Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China

    Heping Xie, Mingzhong Gao, Jing Xie, Cong Li & Zhiqiang He

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  1. Guangdi Deng
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  2. Heping Xie
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  3. Mingzhong Gao
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  4. Jing Xie
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  5. Cong Li
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Correspondence to Mingzhong Gao.

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Deng, G., Xie, H., Gao, M. et al. Fracture Mechanisms of Competent Overburden Under High Stress Conditions: A Case Study. Rock Mech Rock Eng 56, 1759–1777 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-022-03169-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-022-03169-z

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