3D Topographic Stress Perturbations and Implications for Ground Control in Underground Coal Mines

Details

• Personal Author:
  Becker J ; Cione K ; Griffith WA ; Miller T ; Pan E
• Description:
  It is well known that the perturbed stress field beneath valleys can result in roof instabilities in shallow underground coal and stone mines. Quantitatively predicting the magnitude of these stress perturbations, particularly beneath complicated three-dimensional (3D) topography, has not become commonplace in mine planning, perhaps due to the complexity and time-consuming nature of the problem. Here we utilize 3D digital elevation models and the 3D boundary element method (BEM) approach to efficiently calculate the pre-mining topographically perturbed stress field in the vicinity of the Carroll Hollow coal mine in eastern Ohio. We find that regions of elevated compressive stress in the mine correspond to areas in which cutter roof failure is a common source of roof instability. Furthermore, both the magnitude and inclination of the principal stresses calculated from the 3D topographic BEM model are found to be consistent with observed failure distributions within the mine. We propose that the approach outlined in this study can be efficiently applied to the mine planning process in order to mitigate or avoid potentially hazardous mining conditions. Description provided by NIOSH
• Subjects:
  • Coal
  • Coal Mining
  • Mining
  • Occupational Health
  • Safety
• Keywords:
  • Topography
  • Underground mining
  • Underground construction
  • Geologic surveys
  • Structural design
  • Mining engineering
  • Models
  • Roof supports
  • Rock mechanics
  • Ground stability
  More +
• ISSN:
  1365-1609
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 6 ; Pennsylvania ; Texas
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  59-68
• Volume:
  70
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20053117
• Citation:
  Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 2014 Sep; 70:59-68
• Contact Point Address:
  W. Ashley Griffith, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Texas Arlington, P.O. Box 19049, Arlington, Texas, 76019, USA
• Email:
  wagriff@uta.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2014
• NORA Priority Area:
  Mining
• Performing Organization:
  University of Texas at Arlington
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20121122
• Source Full Name:
  International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences
• End Date:
  20150831
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/215943/cdc_215943_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.97 MB]
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c85c70f2f00454086c0044aace8a286930bf30098247c3d9e16146ed346b6c50ff1672c105d3fd20f5c13f435899274bda5f475d146621192624a408153c391a