Mechanism of rock burst caused by fracture of key strata during irregular working face mining and its prevention methods

To study the occurrence mechanism of rock burst during mining the irregular working face, the study took irregular panel 7447 near fault tectonic as an engineering background. The spatial fracture characteristic of overlying strata was analyzed by Winkler elastic foundation beam theory. Furthermore, the influence law of panel width to suspended width and limit breaking span of key strata were also analyzed by thin plate theory. Through micro-seismic monitoring, theoretical analysis, numerical simulation and working resistance of support of field measurement, this study investigated the fracture characteristic of overlying strata and mechanism of rock burst in irregular working face. The results show that the fracture characteristic of overlying strata shows a spatial trapezoid structure, with the main roof being as an undersurface. The fracture form changes from vertical “O-X” type to transverse “O-X” type with the increase of trapezoidal height. From the narrow mining face to the wide mining face, the suspended width of key strata is greater than its limit breaking width, and a strong dynamic load is produced by the fracture of key strata. The numerical simulation and micro-seismic monitoring results show that the initial fracture position of key strata is close to tailgate 7447. Also there is a high static load caused by fault tectonic. The dynamic and static combined load induce rock burst. Accordingly, a cooperative control technology was proposed, which can weaken dynamic load by hard roof directional hydraulic fracture and enhance surrounding rock by supporting system.