Strata Movement and Mining-Induced Stress Identification for an Isolated Working Face Surrounded by Two Goafs

Solutions for the maintenance of safety in an isolated working face has not been well achieved; this is attributed to its unique overburden structure and the strong mining-induced stress during the advancement. This paper is devoted to filling this research gap and is based on the case study of LW 10304 in the Xinglongzhuang Coal Mine, in China. The overburden structure and stress distribution characteristics of this isolated working face were theoretically investigated, followed by the development of a comprehensive identification method. The research results showed the following: (1) The overburden strata of LW 10304 is in the form of a short “T” shape and the stress increment is featured with the overall “saddle” shape before the extraction of the isolated working face. During this period, the lower key strata and main key strata affect the stress level at the two ends and the central part of the working face, respectively; (2) Both the frequency and energy of micro-earthquakes in the working face account for more than 95%, which is positively correlated with roof damage and rib spalling, associated with some overlaps between the damaged zones; (3) The fracture movement of inferior key strata near the coal seam plays a dominant role in affecting microseism activity and mining-induced stress. The microseism energy attributed to roof breakage accounts for 43.34% of the overall energy; (4) A comprehensive indexing system, covering microseism frequency, microseism energy, and support resistance, was established to identify the mining-induced stress intensity of the isolated working face. The early warning efficiency of the “strong” degree of mining-induced stress is 0.94, which is believed to provide an option for other isolated working faces with similar geological and mining conditions.