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Physical and numerical investigations of bedding adhesion strength on stratified rock roof fracture with longwall coal mining

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Abstract

The weak bedding sandwiched between rock layers is one of the crucial factors influencing the overburden failure with the extraction of coal resources in longwall mining. In this article, the physical model tests and discrete element modelling (DEM) were carried out to examine the effects of bedding adhesion strength (BAS) on the roof fracture with longwall coal mining. A novel model generation method in the universal distinct element code was proposed for the investigation of a propagating crack interaction with existing discontinuities. It is found that crack trajectory changes from deflection to penetration with the strength increase of a discontinuity. The stair-stepping fracture of overburden cantilever structure is more prominent for the rock layers with weaker BAS, which is in coincidence with the triangular block-based DEM result. Moreover, the mechanism of failure pattern influenced by BAS was clarified by the cantilever beam theory and fracture criterion of crack competition. With the outcomes above, the longwall coal mining-induced stratified roof fracture characteristics in engineering scale were revealed. Three quantitative regions were divided in terms of the strength ratio between bedding and rock layer. Finally, three aspects, the heights of the caved zone and fractured zone, the subsidence of ground surface, and the abutment pressure of roof affected by the BAS were discussed, respectively, with some suggestions recommended for the stability controlling of roof and safety production of coal mining.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the China Scholarship Council-Monash University (CSC-Monash) Project (NO. 201606420068), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NO. 41525009, NO. 41831281, NO. 51874283), and the National Key R&D Program of China (2018YFC0604703).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, 3800, Australia

    Minghe Ju

  2. School of Civil Engineering, Institute of Future Underground Space, Southeast University, Nanjing, 211189, China

    Dapeng Wang, Jingcheng Shi, Jianchun Li & Xing Li

  3. School of Mines, China University of Mining & Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, China

    Qiangling Yao

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  1. Minghe Ju
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Correspondence to Jianchun Li.

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Ju, M., Wang, D., Shi, J. et al. Physical and numerical investigations of bedding adhesion strength on stratified rock roof fracture with longwall coal mining. Geomech. Geophys. Geo-energ. Geo-resour. 7, 24 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40948-020-00209-2

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