Spatio-Temporal Evolution of Loading and Deformation of Surface Gas Pipelines for High-Intensity Coalbed Mining and Its Integrity Prediction Methodology

Abstract

In recent years, the integrity of the gas pipeline in the coal-gas co-mining subsidence area has become a critical problem, restricting the safe and efficient mining of coal resources. This paper establishes a theoretical model for the safety prediction of gas pipelines in mining subsidence areas based on elastic free theory, constructs a 3D model of pipe-sand soil by using ABAQUS simulation software (2021), analyzes the characteristics of ground surface and pipeline settlement combined with the measured data on-site, and reveals the temporal and spatial evolution law of the pipeline load and deformation under the condition of diagonal intersections of the pipeline and high-strength mining working face. The results show that during the mining cycle, the pipe and the sandy soil body experienced the stage of cooperative deformation, the stage of increasing non-cooperative deformation, and the stage of weakening non-cooperative deformation; the pipe body is most vulnerable to yield failure in the circumferential direction of 180°, 45°, 225°, and 0°; the relative deformation rate of the pipe experienced a slow and rapid increase in the stage, and tends to flatten out when the advancement length is about 1.5–2 times the distance at the taken cross-section. The study’s results are conducive to accurately predicting the pipe failure orientation under high-intensity mining conditions in coal seams, improving the diagnostic efficiency of pipes, and optimizing the advancement speed of the working face.