Coal Pillar Lecture Notes Flashcards
What can underground mining accidents cause (geology)
Severe windblast and seismic activity
what has reduce the fatalities in Australia when mine failures occur
That the events occured over shut down periods
What are the key differences between mining and other engineering structures
Mining changes the loading conditions of the rock mass and does not have consistent well defined properties.
What were the fundermental principles of the research undertaken to address the intrinsic properties of rock mass
- identification of the primary variables
- pysical processes involved in the failure
- reviews of field performance where operating mines are utilising full-scale mine testing
- undertake rigerous probalistic analysis to quantify levels of risk
What are not deemed appropriate design tools on their own?
Trial and error, curve fitting and experimental panels are not adequate on their own.
What is it essential to understand to design appropriate pillars in coal for the risk levels
understanding the functions of each pillar system
What are pillar systems for local support
*bord and pillar
*pillar extraction (face line pillars, stooks and fenders)
*retreat longwall (chain pillars, sacrificial pillars)
*special purpose
What are pillar systems providing regional stability
interpanel pillars
barrier pillars
What are the main function of the pillars in a bord and pillar system
- restrict surface movement
- protect infrastructure from high load abutment stresses
- prevent hydraulic connections of overhead water sources going through the strata
- provide temporary support of the roof in thick seam workings
- provide partitions to ventilation
What are the two pillar extraction methods
Face line pillars
Stooks and fenders
What are face line pillars utilised for
control abutment stresses around the goaf edge
through
1. act as a leverage point to break off roof strata
2. protect access and egress paths
3. act as venitalion partitions
What are stooks and fenders implemented for
- control convergence through reducing roof span
- function as temporary roof supports
What are the retreat longwall pillar types
Chain pillars
Sacrificial pillars
What are chain pillars used for
- protect future roadways from high abutment stresses
- protect access and egress to coal face
- act as bentialtion parititons
What is the purpose of special pillars
- create protective pillars below specific surface features (like dams and cliff faces)
- shaft pillars
- crown pillars
- yeild pillars
What pillars provide regional stability
Inter panel pillars
barrier pillars
What do inter-panel pillars control
- ventilation control
- regional instability control
- water control
- pressure outburst control
- fire control
What to barrier pillars provide
a regional load bearing framework to the mined to create a buffer for:
*mininimising adjacent mine holing into each other
*protect from risks of other mines (water, fire, gases)
*restrict stresses between collieries
*protect critical mine infrastructure
How is stress transferred over an excavation
The weight is transfered to the abutments, this weight increases as excavation width increases. As futher increases the roof might cave.
When excavation becomes very large centre excavation stress is transferred through goaf while edges still support some undermined sections
What does the stiffness of the roof strata control
Influence on the magnitude and distribution of the abutment stresses around the excavation
What determines the roof strata stiffness
modulus of elasticity, panel width, depth, thickness of roof strata
How do typical panels seperated by a barrier pillar have the abutment stresses interact
They dont interact
What happens with the stress in addtional ‘normal’ panels
as pillar width decrease there is a relation to other abutment stress profiles. The profiles are additive and result in an increase in pillar stress.