The Spatial Evolution Law and Water Inrush Mechanism of Mining-Induced Overburden in Shallow and Short Coal Seam Group

Abstract

In order to grasp the overburden evolution law of the shallow and short coal seam group, based on the key bed theory, a mechanical analysis of the longitudinal expansion of mining-induced overburden fractures in the coal seam group was carried out, and the spatial evolution characteristics of mining-induced overburden fractures were simulated by the numerical simulation method. The results show that in the process of working face advancement, with the continuous instability and failure of the overburden, the size and shape of the fracture network are also changed. The repeated mining of the lower coal seam further causes the secondary activation of the upper overburden, which makes the roof fractures of the partially compacted goaf violently move again. The “channel source” and “space source” continue to carry out the process of “generation-expansion-compression-generation-expansion”, in combination with pore fracture elastic theory. The water inrush characteristics of the whole coal seam are divided into three “solid-liquid” coupling stages: the original gap seepage stage, the initial water discharge stage of mining fissures and the water inrush stage of fractured rock mass. The steady value of water inflow and its variation characteristics with time are predicted by using the formula of deep well flow in a confined aquifer.