Borehole stress monitoring analysis on advanced abutment pressure induced by Longwall Mining

The paper presented the research on the dynamic advanced abutment stress induced by longwall mining with borehole stress meters on mining side coal mass. Twenty vibrating wire borehole stress meters were installed into the extracting coal mass wall of a first mining roadway of 910 m depth in Zhuji Coal Mine, China, and were used to monitor dynamic changes in vertical and horizontal stresses. Three months of continuous monitoring and further analysis showed that the impacting distance of advanced abutment stress induced by mining in the strike of the working face along its central axis was the farthest, greater than 250 m (the face length is 220 m); it gradually decreased in the radial direction of the face from its central axis outward; the pressure peak was located within 24 m in the front of the mining coal wall; non-synchronous caving of the layered mudstone roof at the stope occurred. Comparison between vertical and horizontal stress increments indicated that the horizontal stress was much smaller than the vertical stress in the coal mass of mining side, while the latter's magnitude determined the drastic degree of mine pressure manifestation. The study has been applied to determine the advanced support length of the working face and further provide a reliable basis to forecast such dynamic disasters as rock burst, coal and gas outburst, etc., as well as to design the asymmetric supports on both sides of a gateway.