Rock Burst Disaster induced by Mining Abutment Pressure

As the mining depth increases, rock burst is getting more and more hazardous in China. How to prevent rock burst disaster induced by mining abutment pressure is being considered as key topic in coal mines. This study demonstrates a severe rock burst disaster happened in the Gucheng Mine, China. The disaster caused one worker killed and the other four wounded, and 260 m long roadway severely damaged. By using numerical simulations, we found that the abutment pressure superposition induced by two coal faces is the leading cause. In the vicinity of No. 2105 goaf, the vertical superposing stress was 1.5 times of the original stress. As no. 2103 coalface came near and near, the vertical superposing stress was getting large and large. When it reached 1.77 times of the original stress, the high energy stored in surrounding rocks released abruptly. This rock burst disaster, warns of us that how to monitor the distribution of multi-mining abutment pressure, is an urgent work for preventing the rock burst hazards.