Evaluating the Effect of Overburden Depth, Mining Height, and Support Density on Coal Rib Damage Using DEM Modeling
There has been a global effort in the past decade, especially in major coal-producing countries, toward understanding the mechanics involved in the stability of coal mine ribs. Buckling and spalling of mine ribs are known to have an impact on their stability and degradation. The generation, propagat...
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MDPI AG
2023-03-01
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Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/13/3/77 |
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author | Maurice Sunkpal Taghi Sherizadeh Dogukan Guner |
author_facet | Maurice Sunkpal Taghi Sherizadeh Dogukan Guner |
author_sort | Maurice Sunkpal |
collection | DOAJ |
description | There has been a global effort in the past decade, especially in major coal-producing countries, toward understanding the mechanics involved in the stability of coal mine ribs. Buckling and spalling of mine ribs are known to have an impact on their stability and degradation. The generation, propagation, and coalescence of cracks in mine pillar ribs are significantly affected by the overburden depths. In addition, the in situ stress magnitudes tend to affect the rib damage process. High horizontal stresses and increased depths can lead to unfavorable stress conditions, inducing coal mass damage and strength loss. Understanding the dynamics involved in rib behavior will inform better rib control practices. This study intended to assess the effect of mining depth, mining height, and supports on coal mine rib stability. In this research, the response of the coal mass was studied using distinct element modeling to better understand the failure process of coal mine ribs. The study confirmed mining depth as a significant factor controlling the rib loading and failure mechanism. In addition, increased mining heights increased the rib deformation and failure process. The evaluated support effect revealed that at shallower depths, shorter bolt lengths are sufficient to control rib stability. Increasing the bolt length for depths greater than 250 m is in order, but higher depths do not correlate with longer supports. The approach used in this study demonstrated its capacity to be used in designing rib support requirements and understanding coal mass and support mechanisms. |
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issn | 2076-3263 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-03-11T06:28:47Z |
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spelling | doaj.art-1fd64ea33f634dcc9490bfd7f4d7b18f2023-11-17T11:19:53ZengMDPI AGGeosciences2076-32632023-03-011337710.3390/geosciences13030077Evaluating the Effect of Overburden Depth, Mining Height, and Support Density on Coal Rib Damage Using DEM ModelingMaurice Sunkpal0Taghi Sherizadeh1Dogukan Guner2Department of Mining and Explosives Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO 65409, USADepartment of Mining and Explosives Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO 65409, USADepartment of Mining and Explosives Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO 65409, USAThere has been a global effort in the past decade, especially in major coal-producing countries, toward understanding the mechanics involved in the stability of coal mine ribs. Buckling and spalling of mine ribs are known to have an impact on their stability and degradation. The generation, propagation, and coalescence of cracks in mine pillar ribs are significantly affected by the overburden depths. In addition, the in situ stress magnitudes tend to affect the rib damage process. High horizontal stresses and increased depths can lead to unfavorable stress conditions, inducing coal mass damage and strength loss. Understanding the dynamics involved in rib behavior will inform better rib control practices. This study intended to assess the effect of mining depth, mining height, and supports on coal mine rib stability. In this research, the response of the coal mass was studied using distinct element modeling to better understand the failure process of coal mine ribs. The study confirmed mining depth as a significant factor controlling the rib loading and failure mechanism. In addition, increased mining heights increased the rib deformation and failure process. The evaluated support effect revealed that at shallower depths, shorter bolt lengths are sufficient to control rib stability. Increasing the bolt length for depths greater than 250 m is in order, but higher depths do not correlate with longer supports. The approach used in this study demonstrated its capacity to be used in designing rib support requirements and understanding coal mass and support mechanisms.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/13/3/77mining heightin situ stresses’ mining depthmine rib deformationsupport effectcoal rib stability |
spellingShingle | Maurice Sunkpal Taghi Sherizadeh Dogukan Guner Evaluating the Effect of Overburden Depth, Mining Height, and Support Density on Coal Rib Damage Using DEM Modeling Geosciences mining height in situ stresses’ mining depth mine rib deformation support effect coal rib stability |
title | Evaluating the Effect of Overburden Depth, Mining Height, and Support Density on Coal Rib Damage Using DEM Modeling |
title_full | Evaluating the Effect of Overburden Depth, Mining Height, and Support Density on Coal Rib Damage Using DEM Modeling |
title_fullStr | Evaluating the Effect of Overburden Depth, Mining Height, and Support Density on Coal Rib Damage Using DEM Modeling |
title_full_unstemmed | Evaluating the Effect of Overburden Depth, Mining Height, and Support Density on Coal Rib Damage Using DEM Modeling |
title_short | Evaluating the Effect of Overburden Depth, Mining Height, and Support Density on Coal Rib Damage Using DEM Modeling |
title_sort | evaluating the effect of overburden depth mining height and support density on coal rib damage using dem modeling |
topic | mining height in situ stresses’ mining depth mine rib deformation support effect coal rib stability |
url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/13/3/77 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT mauricesunkpal evaluatingtheeffectofoverburdendepthminingheightandsupportdensityoncoalribdamageusingdemmodeling AT taghisherizadeh evaluatingtheeffectofoverburdendepthminingheightandsupportdensityoncoalribdamageusingdemmodeling AT dogukanguner evaluatingtheeffectofoverburdendepthminingheightandsupportdensityoncoalribdamageusingdemmodeling |