Deformation effect of lateral roof roadway in close coal seams after repeated mining

Abstract This paper analyzed the deformation mechanism in lateral roof roadway of the Ding Wu-3 roadway which was disturbed by repeated mining of close coal seams Wu-8 and Wu-10 in Pingdingshan No. 1 Mine. To determine the strata disturbance scope, the strata displacement angle was used to calculate the protection pillar width. A numerical model was built considering the field geological conditions. In simulation, the mining stress borderline was defined as the contour where the induced stress is 1.5 times of the original stress. Simulation results show the mining stress borderline of the lateral roadway extended 91.7 m outward after repeated mining. Then the original stress increased, deforming the roadway of interest. This deformation agreed with the in situ observations. Moreover, the strata displacement angle changed due to repeated mining. Therefore, reselection of the displacement angle was required to design the protective pillar width. Since a constant strata displacement angle was used in traditional design, the proposed method was beneficial in field cases.