A Study on the Development and Evolution of Fractures in the Coal Pillar Dams of Underground Reservoirs in Coal Mines and Their Optimum Size

作者：Bao Zhang, Wei Ni, Xiuqiang Hao, Huiqiang Li, Yupeng Shen · 发表于：Processes · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.3390/pr11061677 · 被引用次数：17 · 研究领域：Dam Engineering and Safety、Rock Mechanics and Modeling、Landslides and related hazards

The western mining areas of China, which are rich in coal resources, lack water resources. Large-scale and high-intensity coal mining in China’s western mining areas has led to the loss of groundwater resources. Underground reservoirs in coal mines are an effective means of achieving the protection and utilization of water resources in these western mining areas. One of the important standards for the safety of an underground reservoir in a coal mine involves checking whether the development of cracks in the coal pillar dam body, under the dual stress conditions of overlying strata and lateral water pressure, passes through the coal pillar dam body or its top and bottom plates, forming a seepage channel for mine water. This article focuses on the safety issues associated with coal pillar dams in the underground reservoirs of coal mines. From the perspectives of overlying rock pressure and lateral water pressure on coal pillar dams, mechanical models, numerical calculations, and similar simulation methods were used to analyze macroscopic deformation, displacement, and crack development in coal pillar dams of different sizes under vertical and horizontal stress and to study the optimum width of coal pillar dams. Our research results indicated that the optimal width of the coal pillar dam body can be determined via numerical simulation based on the deformation and stress state in a given dam. When the horizontal stress increases, the smaller the coal pillar width is, the greater...