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Effect of the roof cutting technique on the overlying geotechnical structure in coal mining

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Abstract

The first industrial trial of double-sided roof cutting with gob-side entry (N00 method) was used as the engineering background to study the effect of the roof cutting technique (RCT) in coal mining in terms of the extent of damage to the overlying geotechnical structure (OGS). A theoretical analysis model of the OGS was built for each method considered: the RCT (N00 method) results in more damage to the collapse zone than the traditional longwall mining method (121 method). Simulation models of these two methods were created in PFC2D to analyze the force chain distribution, fracture development, fragment evolution, and displacement variation patterns in the OGS. The RCT causes more collapse zone damage and less fracture zone damage and surface subsidence. The fracture zone damage contrast factor (KRFZ) and the surface damage contrast factor (KSSZ) were proposed as research indices. The greater the degree of damage weakening, the smaller KRFZ and KSSZ are. The average KRFZ is 0.165, and the average KSSZ is 0.845, indicating that in the OGS, damage weakening is greater in the fracture zone than at the surface. These results will provide new research ideas for the analysis of the OGS encountered in coal mining and can serve as references for similar geological and geotechnical research projects on the structural properties of strata.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program (No. 2016YFC0600900), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52074300), and the China Scholarship Council (CSC NO. 202006430081), which are gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory for Geomechanics and Deep Underground Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Beijing, Beijing, 100083, China

    Jianning Liu, Manchao He, Jiong Wang, Can Ming, Shan Guo & Peng Liu

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Polytechnic University of Catalonia, 08034, Barcelona Tech, Spain

    Jianning Liu & Alfonso Rodríguez Dono

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  1. Jianning Liu
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  2. Manchao He
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  3. Jiong Wang
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Correspondence to Jiong Wang.

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Liu, J., He, M., Wang, J. et al. Effect of the roof cutting technique on the overlying geotechnical structure in coal mining. Bull Eng Geol Environ 82, 289 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-023-03299-w

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