Failure Mechanism for Surrounding Rock of Deep Circular Roadway in Coal Mine Based on Mining-Induced Plastic Zone

In order to reveal the failure mechanism of the deep roadway under mining-induced pressure in coal mine, the boundary equations for the plastic zone around the deep roadway were deduced, and then the evolution laws for morphology of the plastic zone and the relationship between the morphological indexes and the stability of surrounding rock were discussed. The results show that, for the deep roadway, the effect of mining on the plastic zone is more sensitive than that on the shallow one. Even if the changes of mining influence are small, they may also cause extremely serious plastic failure of surrounding rock masses, leading to the sudden instability of the roadway. When the plastic wings of the plastic zone are approximately perpendicular to the roof, floor, or sidewall, the large deformation and failure of the deep roadway are very likely to occur. Compared with the index of the uniformity coefficient, the irregular shape coefficient can be used to better characterize the differences in the plastic zone morphology. Finally, a case study was provided to apply the principles for the formation and extension of a butterfly-shaped plastic zone.

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