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Solid backfill coal mining (SBCM) is a green mining technology which can effectively alleviate the environmental problems induced by traditional coal mining techniques, such as surface subsidence, water resources loss, coal gangue occupation, and pollution. In this study, a multilayer Winkler foundation beam model for the overburden key strata is proposed, and the model with two key strata is solved. The subsidence, rotating angle, inner force, and stress of the overburden key strata are systematically analyzed under various backfill elastic modulus, mining height, and soft layer thickness. The results show that the subsidence of the key strata exhibit "basin"-shape curves, and the backfill elastic modulus, mining height, and the thickness of the soft strata have significant influences on the subsidence of the key strata. The shear stress, horizontal stress, and vertical stress of key stratum can be effectively reduced by increasing the backfill elastic modulus. The increase of mining height has little influence on the stress of key stratum that close to the coal seam (key stratum #1), but has a significant effect on the stress of key stratum that above the soft layers (key stratum #2). On the contrary, the effect of increasing soft layer thickness on the stress of key stratum is opposite to that of increasing mining height. In addition, the shear failure of key stratum #1 at mining boundary and the tensile failures on both sides of mining boundary should be preferentially considered in SBCM engineering design. Due to the low shear stress level of key stratum #2, the tensile failure on both sides of the mining boundary should be mainly considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The instability of layer-crack plate structure in coal wall is one of the causes of rock burst. In the present paper, we investigate the formation and instability processes of layer-crack plate structure in coal wall by experiments and theoretical analysis. The results reveal that layer-crack plate structure formed near the free surface of the coal wall during the loading. During the formation of the layer-crack plate structure, the lateral displacement curve of the coal wall experiences a jagged variation, which suggests the nonlinear instability failure of the coal wall with a sudden release of the elastic energy. Then, a dynamic model for the stability analysis of the layer-crack plate structure was proposed, which takes consideration of the dynamic disturbance factor. Based on the dynamic model, the criterion for dynamic instability of the layer-crack plate structure was determined and demonstrated by an example. According to the analytical results, some control methods of dynamic stability of the layer-crack plate structure was put forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many projects such as the underground gasification of coal seams and coal-bed methane mining (exploitation) widely involve the dynamic problems of coal measures sandstone achieved via thermal treatment. This study examines the dynamic mechanical properties of coal measures sandstone after thermal treatment by means of an MTS653 high-temperature furnace and Split Hopkinson pressure bar test system. Experimental results indicate that 500 °C is a transition point for the dynamic mechanical parameters of coal measures sandstone. The dynamic elastic modulus and peak strength increase linearly from 25 to 500 °C while the dynamic peak strain decreases linearly over the same temperature range. The dynamic elastic modulus and peak strength drop quickly from 500 to 800 °C, with a significant increase in the dynamic peak strain over the same temperature range. The rock mechanics are closely linked to material composition and mesoscopic structure. Analysis by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy indicate that the molecules inside the sandstone increase in density due to the thermal expansion of the material particles, which effectively improves the deformation resistance and carrying capacity of the sandstone and reduces the likelihood of axial deformation. With heat treatment that exceeds 500 °C, the dynamic mechanical properties rapidly weaken due to the decomposition of kaolinite; additionally, hot cracking of the mineral particles within the materials arises from coal sandstone internal porosity, and other defects gradually appear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]