Galerkin solution of Winkler foundation-based irregular Kirchhoff plate model and its application in crown pillar optimization

Irregular plates are very common structures in engineering,such as ore structures in mining.In this work,the Galerkin solution to the problem of a Kirchhoff plate lying on the Winkler foundation with two edges simply supported and the other two clamped supported is derived.Coordinate transformation technique is used during the solving process so that the solution is suitable to irregular shaped plates.The mechanical model and the solution proposed are then used to model the crown pillars between two adjacent levels in Sanshandao gold mine,which uses backfill method for mining operation.After that,an objective function,which takes security,economic profits and filling effect into consideration,is built to evaluate design proposals.Thickness optimizations for crown pillars are finally conducted in both conditions that the vertical stiffness of the foundation is known and unknown.The procedure presented in the work provides the guidance in thickness designing of complex shaped crown pillars and the preparation of backfill materials,thus to achieve the best balance between security and profits.     

Stress Measurement with an Improved Hollow Inclusion Technique In Jinchuan Nickel Mine

Borehole overcoring stress measurement with an improved hollow inclusion technique was carried out at 10 points on 3 levels in Jinchuan nickel mine which is situated in north-west of China. Through the measurement, 3-D in situ stress state at the measuring points and distribution characteristics of the stress field in the mine were obtained. The stress state in Jinchuan mine is dominated by the horizontal tectonic stress field. The maximum principal stress is horizontal which is about twice the weight of the overburden and its orientation is approximately vertical to the regional tectonic line. The difference between two horizontal principal stresses is quite large which is an important reason to cause failure of underground excavations.     

Unanticipated multiple seam stresses from pillar systems behaving as pseudo gob–case histories

Underground coal mining in the U.S. is conducted in numerous regions where previous workings exist above and/or below an actively mined seam. Miners know that overlying or underlying fully extracted coal areas, also known as gob regions, can result in abutment stresses that affect the active mining. If there was no full extraction, and the past mining consists entirely of intact pillars, the stresses on the active seam are usually minimal. However, experience has shown that in some situations there has been sufficient yielding in overlying or underlying pillar systems to cause stress transfer to the adjoining larger pillars or barriers, which in turn, transfer significant stresses onto the workings of the active seam. In other words, the overlying or underlying pillar system behaves as a ‘‘pseudo gob." The presence of a pseudo gob is often unexpected, and the consequences can be severe. This paper presents several case histories, summarized briefly below, that illustrate pseudo gob phenomenon:(1) pillar rib degradation at a West Virginia mine at 335 m depth that contributed to a rib roll fatality,(2) pillar rib deterioration at a Western Kentucky mine at 175 m depth that required pillar size adjustment and installation of supplemental bolting,(3) roof deterioration at an eastern Kentucky mine at 400 m depth that stopped mine advance and required redirecting the section development,(4) coal burst on development at an eastern Kentucky mine at 520 m depth that had no nearby pillar recovery, and(5) coal burst on development at a West Virginia mine at the relatively shallow depth of 335 m that also had no nearby pillar recovery. The paper provides guidance so that when an operation encounters a potential pseudo gob stress interaction the hazard can be mitigated based on an understanding of the mechanism encountered.     

3-D modeling of rock burst in pillar No. 19 of Fetr6 chromite mine

Fetr6 is an underground mine in which chromite is extracted using stope and pillar mining method. Despite of all improving works such as roof supporting and replacing of ore pillars with concrete pillars, pillar No. 19 failed and other pillars failed progressively as a domino effect and 4000 m² of mine collapsed within a few minutes, consequently. For detail investigation, two 3-D numerical models were developed by 3Dec. The first, a base model, was used for estimation of stress on pillars just before failure and the other for investigation of rock burst in pillar No. 19. The results show that discontinuity parameters such as friction angle and shear stiffness is critical parameters in this pillar failure. In addition, it indicates that W/H ratio equal 0.3, the lack of ore extraction strategy and inadequate roof support are the major reasons for this failure. In this paper, the procedure of study was described.     

某铀矿山独立矿区Ⅲ#矿体采矿方法选择

某铀矿山现采区铀资源的开发已接近尾声,开采该矿山独立矿区的Ⅲ#铀矿体已是当务之急．本文根据该矿体的赋存条件,采用经验类比法,对适合于开采该矿体的低成本、高效率的采矿方法进行了探讨．     

Simulation of recovery of upper remnant coal pillar while mining the ultra-close lower panel using longwall top coal caving

With the depletion of easily minable coal seams, less favorable reserves under adverse conditions have to be mined out to meet the market demand. Due to some historical reasons, large amount of remnant coal was left unrecovered. One such case history occurred with the remnant rectangular stripe coal pillars using partial extraction method at Guandi Mine, Shanxi Province, China. The challenge that the coal mine was facing was that there is an ultra-close coal seam right under it with an only 0.8–1.5 m sandstone dirt band in between. The simulation study was carried out to investigate the simultaneous recovery of upper remnant coal pillars while mining the ultra-close lower panel using longwall top coal caving(LTCC). The remnant coal pillar was induced to cave in as top coal in LTCC system. Physical modelling shows that the coal pillars are the abutments of the stress arch structure formed within the overburden strata. The stability of overhanging roof strata highly depends on the stability of the remnant coal pillars. And the gob development(roof strata cave-in) is intermittent with the cave-in of these coal pillars and the sandstone dirt band. FLAC3 D numerical modelling shows that the multi-seam interaction has a significant influence on mining-induced stress environment for mining of lower panels. The pattern of the stress evolution on the coal pillars with the advance of the lower working face was found. It is demonstrated that the stress relief of a remnant coal pillar enhances the caveability of the pillars and sandstone dirt band below.     

基于RS-ANN的某矿山井下开采防水安全岩柱厚度的确定

水下矿床是难采矿体的一个重要方面,针对某矿山的实际情况,深入分析了该矿的地质资料后,在查阅相关文献的基础上,建立了该矿导水裂隙带高度的粗糙集—神经网络预测模型.在比较了粗糙集—神经网络预测结果、地质详查报告提供的结果及采用经验公式计算的结果后,认为神经网络预测的结果较准确,其结论在该矿水下开采设计中可以采用.在预测的导水裂隙带高度基础上,参考采矿设计手册中的经验公式,并类比其它矿山水下开采的情况,计算出了防水安全岩柱的厚度.此项研究为该矿重新编制开采设计方案和安全专篇提供了依据,同时为矿山安全管理提供了参考.     

Coupling control on pillar stress concentration and surface cracks in shallow multi-seam mining

In order to ensure safe mining and reduce surface damage in shallow multi-seam mining, the failure characteristics of interburden strata with different coal pillars offset distances between pillars in the upper and lower seams, the distribution characteristics of stress concentration in coal pillars, and the development characteristics of stratum cracks and subsidence were investigated by physical and UDEC2 D simulation. Meanwhile, the effect of different coal pillar offset distances on stress concentration of coal pillar and development of stratum cracks were studied. Based on those results, a formula for safe mining and reducing surface damage was established, which provided a theoretical basis for safe and environmentally friendly mining in shallow multi-seam. According to the results, the optimal coal pillar offset distance(the side to side horizontal distance of the upper and lower coal pillars) between the upper and lower coal seams was developed to reduce the stress concentration of coal pillars and surface damage.The results of this study have been applied in Ningtiaota coal mine and have achieved good results in safe and environmentally friendly mining.     

Design of crown pillar thickness using finite element method and multivariate regression analysis

Minerals are now being extracted from deep mines due to drying up of resource in shallow ground. The need for suitable supports and ground control mechanisms for safe mining necessitates proper pillar design with filling technology. In addition, high horizontal stress may cause collapse of hanging wall and footwall rocks, hence designing of suitable crown pillars is absolutely necessary for imposing overall safety of the stopes. This paper provides a methodology for the evaluation of the required thickness of crown pillars for safe operation at depth ranging from 600 m to 1000 m. Analyses are conducted with the results of 108 non-linear numerical models considering Drucker-Prager material model in plane strain condition. Material properties of ore body rock and thickness of crown pillars are varied and safety factors of pillars estimated. Then, a generalized statistical relationship between the safety factors of crown pillars with the various input parameters is developed. The developed multivariate regression model is utilized for generating design/stability charts of pillars for different geo-mining conditions.These design charts can be used for the design of crown pillar thickness with the depth of the working,taking into account the changes of the rock mass conditions in underground metal mine.     

Coupling effects of coal pillars of thick coal seams in large-space stopes and hard stratum on mine pressure

Concerning the issue of mine pressure behaviors occurred in fully mechanized caving mining of thick coal seams beneath hard stratum in Datong Mining Area, combined with thin and thick plate theory, the paper utilizes theoretical analysis, similar experiments, numerical simulations and field tests to study the influence of remaining coal pillars in Jurassic system goaf on hard stratum fractures, as well as mine pressure behaviors under their coupling effects. The paper concludes the solution formula of initial fault displacement in hard stratum caused by remaining coal pillars. Experiments prove that coupling effects can enhance mine pressure behaviors on working faces. When inter-layer inferior key strata fractures, mine pressure phenomenon such as significant roof weighting steps and increasing resistance in support.When inter-layer superior key strata fractures, the scope of overlying strata extends to Jurassic system goaf, dual-system stopes cut through, and remaining coal pillars lose stability. As a result, the bottom inferior key strata also lose stability. It causes huge impacts on working face, and the second mine pressure behaviors. These phenomena provide evidence for research on other similar mine strata pressure behaviors occurred in dual-system mines with remaining coal pillars.     

矿柱强度估算及稳定性评价

本文介绍了由实验室岩块试验结果推求工程岩体强度的方法,并提出一种新的矿柱安全系数计算方法——点安全系数计算法,突破了传统的矿柱安全系数计算模式,针对王集矿实际进行了计算,得出了符合生产实际的结论,为该矿的下部水平开采设计提供了依据。     

近松散层疏放开采的水文地质条件改造研究

阐述了水地质条件改造意义，结合太平煤矿近松散层疏放开采的实际水、地质条件，试验研究了矿井水地质条件，提出了地面供水井封堵和井下疏放结合的综合开采方案，阶段性地实现了第四系上组水的开采保护和井下安全生产，对进一步疏放开采亦具有重要的指导意义．     

Occurrence,predication,and control of coal burst events in the U.S.

Coal burst represented a major hazard for some U.S. mining operations. This paper provides an historical review of the coal burst hazards,identifies the fundamental geological factors associated with these events,and discusses mechanisms that can be used to avoid their occurrences. Coal burst are not common in most underground mines. Their occurrence almost always has such dramatic consequences to a mining operation that changes in practice are required. Fundamental factors influencing coal burst events include strong strata,abnormal strata caving,elevated stresses,critical size pillars and the lack of sufficiently sized barrier pillars during extraction. These factors interact to produce excessive stress,seismic shock and loss of confinement mechanisms. Over the 90 years of dealing with these hazards,many novel prevention controls have been developed including novel mine designs and extraction sequences,most of which are site specific in their application. Without an accurate assessment of the fundamental factors that influence coal burst and knowledge of their mechanisms of occurrence,control techniques may be misapplied and risk inadequately mitigated.     

A multi-step approach for block-cave production scheduling optimization

Production schedules that provide optimal operating strategies while meeting practical, technical, and environmental constraints are an inseparable part of mining operations. Relying only on manual planning methods or computer software based on heuristic algorithms will lead to mine schedules that are not the optimal global solution. Mathematical mine planning models have been proved to be very effective in supporting decisions on sequencing the extraction of material in mines. The objective of this paper is to develop a practical optimization framework for caving operations’ production scheduling. To overcome the size problem of mathematical programming models and to generate a robust practical near-optimal schedule, a multi-step method for long-term production scheduling of block caving is presented. A mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) formulation is used for each step. The formulations are developed, implemented, and verified in the TOMLAB/CPLEX environment. The production scheduler aims to maximize the net present value of the mining operation while the mine planner has control over defined constraints. Application and comparison of the models for production scheduling using 298 drawpoints over 15 periods are presented.     

Domino instability effect of surrounding rock-coal pillars in a room-and-pillar gob

To discuss the domino instability effect and large area roof falling and roof accidents of surrounding rock-coal pillars in a room-and-pillar gob, the equilibrium equation for a roof-coal pillar-floor system with the influence of mining floor was developed based on the engineering conditions of the surrounding rock in a room-and-pillar gob in the 3^?2 coal seam of Tanggonggou mine. The conditions of system instability and the relationship between system stability and system stiffness were analyzed from an energetic point of view. Numerical simulation using the discrete element software UDEC was also carried out to simulate conditions causing the domino effect on surrounding rock-coal pillars in a 3^?2 room-and-pillar gob. The results show that: if we want the system to destabilize, the collective energy in roof-and-floor must be larger than that in the coal pillar. When the stiffness of the coal pillars and the roof-and-floor are both greater than zero, the system is stable. When the stiffness of the coal pillars is negative but the summed stiffness of the coal pillars and roof-and-floor is larger than or equal to zero, the system is statically destroyed. When the sum of the coal pillars and the roof-floor stiffness is negative, the system suffers from severe damages. For equal advance distances of the coal mining face, the wider coal pillars can reduce the probability of domino type instability. Conversely, the smaller width pillars can increase the instability probability. Domino type instability of surrounding rock-coal pillars is predicted to be unlikely when the width of coal pillars is not less than 8 m.     

Influence of longwall mining on the stability of gas wells in chain pillars

Longwall mining has a significant influence on gas wells located within longwall chain pillars. Subsurface subsidence and abutment pressure induced by longwall mining can cause excessive stresses and deformations in gas well casings. If the gas well casings are compromised or ruptured, natural gas could migrate into the mine workings, potentially causing a fire or explosion. By the current safety regulations,the gas wells in the chain pillars have to be either plugged or protected by adequate coal pillars. The current regulations for gas well pillar design are based on the 1957 Pennsylvania gas well pillar study. The study provided guidelines for gas well pillars by considering their support area and overburden depth as well as the location of the gas wells within the pillars. As the guidelines were developed for room-andpillar mining under shallow cover, they are no longer applicable to modern longwall coal mining, particularly, under deep cover. Gas well casing of failures have occurred even though the chain pillars for the gas wells met the requirements by the 1957 study. This study, conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health(NIOSH), presents seven cases of conventional gas wells penetrating through longwall chain pillars in the Pittsburgh Coal Seam. The study results indicate that overburden depth and pillar size are not the only determining factors for gas well stability. The other important factors include subsurface ground movement, overburden geology, weak floor, as well as the type of the construction of gas wells. Numerical modeling was used to model abutment pressure, subsurface deformations, and the response of gas well casings. The study demonstrated that numerical models are able to predict with reasonable accuracy the subsurface deformations in the overburden above,within, and below the chain pillars, and the potential location and modes of gas well failures, thereby providing a more quantifiable approach to assess the stability of the gas wells in longwall chain pillars.     

Assessing risks from mining-induced ground movements near gas wells

The proliferation of unconventional gas well development in the Northern Appalachian coalfields has raised a number of mine safety concerns. Unconventional wells, which extract gas from deep shale formations, are characterized by gas volumes and pressures that are significantly higher than those observed at many conventional wells. The gas is composed largely of methane as well as other hydrocarbons. Hundreds of planned and actively producing wells penetrate protective coal pillars or barriers within active mine boundaries, including chain pillars located between longwall panels. Gas released from a well damaged by mining-induced ground movements could pose a risk to miners by flowing into the mine atmosphere. The mining-induced ground movements that may cause well damage include conventional subsidence, non-conventional subsidence(e.g. bedding plane slip), pillar failure, and floor instability. This paper describes the known risk factors for each of the four failure mechanisms. It includes a framework that can guide the risk assessment process when mining takes place near gas or oil wells.     

复杂工程地质体地应力场智能反演

地应力是地质构造和自重共同作用在地质体内形成的原始应力,是影响工程稳定性和灾变失稳的重要因素.由于受漫长的地质构造作用和地质演化,地应力场随时间和空间变化,由此使准确反演地应力场造成困难.以金川矿区为工程背景,借助地应力测量结果,开展工程地质体的地应力场反演研究.首先,建立矿区工程地质体三维数值模型,并采用正交数值分析和遗传规划算法,建立地应力与岩体参数和侧压系数的函数关系;然后,根据实测的地应力值与计算的地应力值之差平方和最小为优化目标,建立工程地质体的地应力场反演优化模型.采用遗传算法求解,获得矿区岩体参数和侧压系数;最后,将其代入数值模型进行正分析由此获得初始地应力场.通过4个测点地应力测量值与反演值对比分析可知,反演地应力的最大误差为16%,最小误差仅为0.62%.研究结果表明,地应力智能反演方法可用于复杂工程地质体的地应力场反演,且获得的地应力场满足地质工程分析所需要的精度.     

Geomechanical design of a room and rib pillar granite mine

The geomechanical and stability design of an underground granite mine located in Canal San Bovo （Trento district, Northeastern Italy） was described. The exploitation of the granite, which is used in the ceramic industry, was carried out by the rooms and rib pillars method. The rooms are 12 m wide while the pillars are 11 m wide and they cross the main discontinuity set of the rock mass in the perpendicular direction. To verify the stability condition of an underground mine, it is necessary to carry out the calcula- tions that are able to check both the local and global stability of the rock mass. In the studied example, this approach has been applied with the development of analytical and numerical parametric analyses and it has permitted to get the best orientation and to design the size of rooms and pillars.     

User-friendly finite element design of main entries,barrier pillars,and bleeder entries

This contribution describes development and application of a user-friendly finite element program,UT3PC, to address three important problems in underground coal mine design:(1) safety of main entries,(2) barrier pillar size needed for entry protection, and(3) safety of bleeder entries during the advance of an adjacent longwall panel.While the finite element method is by far the most popular engineering design tool of the digital age, widespread use by the mining community has been impeded by the relatively high cost of and the need for lengthy specialized training in numerical methods.Implementation of UT3PC overcomes these impediments in three easy steps.First, a material properties file is prepared for the considered site.Next, mesh generation is automatic through an interactive process.A third and last step is simply execution of the program.Examples using data from several western coal mines illustrate the ease of using the application for analysis of main entries, barrier pillars, and bleeder entry safety.