ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Earth Sci.
Sec. Geohazards and Georisks
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feart.2025.1603252
Research on the Optimization and Application of Coal Pillar Width in Gob-side Entry Driving under Hard Roof Condition
Provisionally accepted
- 1School of Safety Engineering, North China Institute of Science and Technology, Langfang, China
- 2Chengzhuang Mine, Jinneng Holdings Equipment Manufacturing Group, Jincheng, China
- 3China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
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The width of the coal pillar is a key factor in the success of the gob-side entry driving (GED) technique. This paper, based on the 4317 working face at Chengzhuang Coal Mine, reveals the stability mechanism of roadway surrounding rock during GED with coal pillars of different widths. Firstly, a main roof failure mechanical model was established using the "internal and external stress field" theory, and the range of the internal stress field was calculated to be 13.6-15.2 m, with the optimal coal pillar width being 10 m. Then, a FLAC 3D numerical model was developed and calibrated. Through simulation, the stress and plastic zone evolution characteristics of coal pillars with widths of 5 m, 10 m, 15 m, and 20 m were compared. The results show that a 5 m coal pillar has weak bearing capacity, is prone to plastic failure, and the surrounding rock stability is poor. A 10 m coal pillar exhibits a more uniform stress distribution, smaller plastic zone, and maintains a certain elastic region, with good bearing capacity and no significant stress concentration. It is the optimal design width, offering strong economic and safety advantages. In contrast, 15 m and 20 m coal pillars show significant stress concentration, threatening coal pillar stability and causing resource waste. Finally, a combined control technique of "hydraulic fracturing roof cutting + roof anchor cable + rib anchor cable" with specific parameters was proposed and successfully applied in the 4317 tailgate. Field monitoring results showed that the surrounding rock deformation stabilized after 55 days, with a maximum deformation of 151 mm, indicating good control effectiveness.
Keywords: Gob-side entry driving, Coal pillar, Internal and external stress field, hard roof, numerical simulation
Received: 31 Mar 2025; Accepted: 30 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Ma and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Qi Ma, School of Safety Engineering, North China Institute of Science and Technology, Langfang, China
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