Development of Ground Response Curves for Longwall Tailgate Support Design

Details

• Journal Article:
  Golden Rocks 2006, Proceedings of the 41st U.S. Rock Mechanics Symposium, Golden, Colorado, June 17-21, 2006
• Personal Author:
  Esterhuizen, Gabriel S. ; Barczak, Thomas M.
• Description:
  Longwall tailgates in coal mines are often subject to severe mining-induced loading and deformation. Innovative tailgate supports have been developed over the years to provide safe and economical access and a ventilation pathway at the tailgate. The support capacity and yield capabilities of the supports need to be matched to the loading imposed by the surrounding rock mass. The ground response curve can be used to represent the rock mass response to mining and its effect on support systems. The FLAC finite difference code was used to supplement field results by simulating a longwall tailgate and the associated ground response. The ground response curve is developed by modeling tailgate excavations with different internal support pressures and recording the resulting convergence. Ground response curves are developed for two typical longwalls operating in the Pittsburgh Seam with weak and strong immediate roof. An additional model is presented in which the effect of weak overburden strata is simulated. The ground response is shown to be significantly affected by the strength of the immediate roof as well as the main roof. The importance of yield capacity of standing support is demonstrated. Gob height and compaction are found to affect the amount of convergence in the tailgate. The potential exists to develop site-specific tailgate design curves by combining model results with field observations. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Coal Hazardous Substances Mining Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Mining-industry; Underground-mining; Coal-mining; Ground-control; Safety-research; Injuries; Hazards; Longwall-mining; Models; Geology
• Source:
  Golden Rocks 2006, Proceedings of the 41st U.S. Rock Mechanics Symposium, Golden, Colorado, June 17-21, 2006. Alexandria, VA: American Rock Mechanics Association (ARMA), Paper No. 06-935, 2006 Jun; :1-10
• Series:
  Mining Publications
• Publisher:
  American Rock Mechanics Association (ARMA)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 8 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  PRL - Pittsburgh Research Laboratory
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  10 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20030406
• Contact Point Address:
  NIOSH Pittsburgh Research Laboratory, P.O. Box 18070, Pittsburgh, PA 15236
• Editor(s):
  Yale DP; Holtz SC; Breeds C; Ozbay U
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2006
• NORA Priority Area:
  Disease and Injury: Traumatic Injuries
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:859d2e57da7f5088b4945858c46c9d1da91f23338598a2163f0023ae817556f58aa914d179649f186cd71c4e26726b54fdc1f02568a18ae08867fffc80a00270
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/8668/cdc_8668_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 584.27 KB ]