Pressure-Arching Characteristics in Roof Blocks during Shallow Coal Mining

To reveal the performance of the stepped subsidence and the strong roof weighting during shallow coal mining, taking the fully mechanized mining face with large mining height in the Shendong mining area in China as the engineering background, theoretical analysis and numerical simulation were used to analyze the pressure-arching effect of the hanging roof blocks. Three typical pressure-arch models of the roof structure were proposed, such as the symmetrical pressure-arch of two key blocks, the step pressure-arch of multiple key blocks, and the rotative pressure-arch of multiple key blocks. Results indicate that the horizontal stress displays a nonlinear distribution at the abutments of the symmetrical pressure-arch, and there is a linear distribution of horizontal stress with a higher peak value at the midspan of the pressure-arch. The high horizontal stress at the arch abutment is necessary to form the rotative pressure-arch of multiple key blocks. The horizontal stress is relatively less at the arch abutment of the step pressure-arch structure. The main key block is easier to slide in this structure as the boundary horizontal stresses display the nonlinear distribution. The results are of instructive significance for roof weighting forecast and strata control during shallow horizontal mining for a thick coal seam.

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