Research on the widths of protective coal pillars in main roadway based on the damaged foundation beam model

Abstract

Long-term stability of the protective coal pillars in coal mines can ensure normal and safe use of roadways; in turn, the integrity of the roadway plays an important role in safe and efficient mining in coal mines. The initial damage and rheological damage caused by coal-seam excavation disturbance have important influences on the selection of reasonable widths of the protective coal pillars. Based on damage mechanics and the theory of elastic foundation beams, a coupled damage constitutive relationship of rock-like materials is proposed in this work by considering the influence of threshold and residual strength to establish the mechanical model of the elastic damage foundation beam. By theoretical analysis and numerical calculation, the differential equation of the deflection curve of the beam is solved, the influence range of the advance abutment pressure under the condition of coupling damage is obtained, and the width of the protective coal pillar is determined. The results show that compared with the elastic foundation beam model, after considering the coupling damage of coal, the influence range of the advance abutment pressure increases with time over a certain duration. At the end of this duration, the influence range of the advance abutment pressure remains almost unchanged. For the case considered in this paper, the long-term stability of the roadway is guaranteed when the width of the coal pillar is 120 m. The potential interference or change related to the specific situation of the site can be studied by changing the relevant parameters in the model to study different working conditions, or the damage of the roof rock beam during the mining process of the working face can be considered, which will be the subject of further research in the future.