Experimental and numerical investigation of coal cleat in longwall mines based on Discrete Fracture Network analysis

Date

2024-5

Author

Jafarova, Fidan

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Fractures and joints are important structures that have a role in controlling rock behavior and its properties. In Longwall mines, coal cleats are having a great impact on stability and mechanical behaviors. By taking them into consideration during the modeling process of the rock samples, we can have more detailed and precise outputs regarding the parameters of a rock mass. DFN (Discrete Fracture Network) approach - described as a computational model that symbolizes characteristics of a fracture or fracture sets, is used to model geometrical properties of each individual fracture such as position, size, shape and direction. In our study, we performed the mentioned analysis method on coal-like material blocks with various 3D-printed joint networks. Later on, we implemented obtained test results to the field scale models. The cleat configurations differ in plane directions, network characteristics and connectivity types. Usage of mentioned technique in highly risked longwall mining - underground method for mining panel shaped coal deposits, can decrease the risk of failures and improve the stability. In this research, we compared different behavior of various internal joint network types in coal like material and their effect on stress conditions. By that, the effect of coal cleats characteristics in longwall mines were studied and implemented to the larger scales by the application of DFN modeling of the samples.

Subject Keywords

Coal Cleat, Longwall mining, Numerical Analysis, Coal-like material

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/109877

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis