Insights into the Relationships Among the Roof, Rib, Floor, and Pillars of Underground Coal Mines
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Insights into the Relationships Among the Roof, Rib, Floor, and Pillars of Underground Coal Mines Ted M. Klemetti 1
&
Mark A. Van Dyke 1 & Nicole Evanek 1 & Craig C. Compton 1 & Ihsan Berk Tulu 2
Received: 2 June 2020 / Accepted: 16 September 2020 # This is a U.S. government work and its text is not subject to copyright protection in the United States; however, its text may be subject to foreign copyright protection 2020
Abstract Ground control failures continue to be one of the leading causes of injuries and fatalities in underground coal mining. The roof, rib, floor, and pillars are four areas of potential ground failures that miners, engineers, and consultants are continually evaluating. Quite often, these four underground structures are evaluated independently. A recent push to consider them as a system and in a similar manner as design engineers evaluate mechanical systems has highlighted the need to fully understand the interrelationship among the roof, rib, floor, and pillar. This relationship combines the geometry of the mine layout, geological environment, installed support, and even the timing of the coal extraction. Several studies using field observations and instrumentation show that these relationships can be independent at times, while being dependent in other scenarios. Cases with good roof conditions while the rib and floor deteriorate are contrasted with cases where the roof, rib, and floor deteriorate at the same time. The presented cases in this study demonstrate the importance of understanding the geological environment and mine design to ensure that the proper support is installed. Keywords Coal mining . Longwall mining . Roof . Rib . Floor . Pillar
1 Introduction Underground coal mine designs are driven by three primary considerations: ventilation needs, production necessities, and ground control requirements. The ventilation needs include minimum air quality standards to support mine workers, dilution of methane, removal of dust from working areas, and temperature and humidity regulation. The production necessities include providing access for miners, equipment, and supplies to the working areas of the mine; the ability to extract coal; the movement of the coal from the extraction faces to the surface facilities; and the optimization of the productivity and extraction costs. The ground control requirements assist in meeting some of the production and ventilation needs while providing a safe working area for the miners. The ground control requirements can be subdivided into four areas of potential failure: roof, rib, floor, and pillars as
* Ted M. Klemetti [email protected] 1
Pittsburgh Mining Research Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
2
Department of Mining Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA
seen in Fig. 1. Each area has been studied for decades, and the studies have developed several design methodologies, best practices, engineering guidelines, and even software packages to assist in underground coal mine design
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