A numerical analysis of a four-way coal mine intersection with primary and secondary supports

摘要

Partial extraction room-and-pillar mining systems provide about 60% of the underground coal mined in the USA. This mining system develops 3-way and 4-way intersections. About 70% of these falls occur at intersections. Similarly, over 80% of these falls occur at intersections in Illinois. Thus, there is a significant need to improve stability of intersections. The goal here was to analyze stress distribution and instability around a 4-way intersection in a typical geologic environment in the Interior Coal Basin, USA. An additional goal was to evaluate primary and secondary support layouts for improving their stability. The results of numerical analyses of stress distributions and associated instabilities with and without primary and secondary supports installed are presented.