Longwall mining is a highly productive and efficient coal mining method used in the USA. During longwall retreating, the belt entry must be maintained stable, and any roof fall in the belt entry would jeopardize mine safety and substantially interrupt the continuous production of coal in the longwall face. Past experience of longwall mining has shown that belt entry stability was the greatest challenge in longwall ground control, and the occurrence of roof falls in belt entries was largely associated with high horizontal stress. To properly support the roof in the belt entry, it is important to understand how longwall-induced horizontal stress changes affect roof stability in belt entries and to strategically install supplementary support to prevent any potential roof falls. Researchers from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) performed horizontal stress measurements in the immediate roof of the belt entries for two Pittsburgh seam longwall panels oriented unfavorably to high horizontal stress. Hollow inclusion cells (HICells) were installed in the immediate roof at the intersection in each of the belt entries, and stress changes were monitored as the longwall face was approaching and passing the intersection. Numerical models were set up to calculate the longwall-induced horizontal stress changes in the roof at the monitoring sites. With the verified model, investigations were made of how horizontal stress is concentrated and relieved in the belt entry roof near the face under different panel orientations. Both measurements and modeling results showed that high horizontal stress is concentrated in the roof in the belt entry within about 15 m outby the face when a longwall panel is unfavorably oriented to the major horizontal stress. The study demonstrated that longwall-induced differential horizontal stress can be used as an indication of the degree of horizontal stress concentration. Roof support strategies are discussed on how to maintain the stability of belt entry under high horizontal stress concentration. © 2022, This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the US; foreign copyright protection may apply.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has previously established pillar design guidelines for shallow, flat-lying mines and single-level operations. Little guidance exists for ground control design in multiple-level stone mines, and understanding the interactions between levels would allow engineers to better select interburden thicknesses and the necessary amount of pillar columnization. To investigate these loading conditions in multiple-level environments, NIOSH has partnered with two separately operated multiple-level mines to study the stress interaction between the levels as undermining occurs. The first mine is located in Tennessee with up to a 243-m overburden and 7-m interburden thickness between levels. The second mine is located in Kentucky with a 304-m overburden and 26-m interburden thickness between levels. The monitoring program at these sites includes stressmeters and LiDAR for tracking stress redistributions and rock displacement in response to undermining. Monitoring is ongoing, but numerical modeling results show the expected interaction between levels.

This paper presents the results of a 2017 study conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Pittsburgh Mining Research Division (PMRD), to evaluate the effects of longwall-induced subsurface deformations within a longwall abutment pillar under deep cover. The 2017 study was conducted in a southwestern Pennsylvania coal mine, which extracts 457 m-wide longwall panels under 361 m of cover. One 198 m-deep, in-place inclinometer monitoring well was drilled and installed over a 45 m by 84 m center abutment pillar. In addition to the monitoring well, surface subsidence measurements and underground coal pillar pressure measurements were conducted as the 457 m-wide longwall panel on the south side of the abutment pillar was being mined. Prior to the first longwall excavation, a number of simulations using FLAC3D™ were conducted to estimate surface subsidence, increases in underground coal pillar pressure, and subsurface horizontal displacements in the monitoring well. Comparisons of the pre-mining FLAC3D simulation results and the surface, subsurface, and underground instrumentation results show that the measured in-place inclinometer casing deformations are in reasonable agreement with those predicted by the 3D finite difference models. The measured surface subsidence and pillar pressure are in excellent agreement with those predicted by the 3D models. Results from this 2017 research clearly indicate that, under deep cover, the measured horizontal displacements within the abutment pillar are approximately one order of magnitude smaller than those measured in a 2014 study under medium cover.