Analysis and control of the mechanism of coal pillar sloughing in the shallow buried thick coal seam

In northern Shaanxi province, the coal seam deposit conditions are generally characterized by large thickness and shallow depth of burial, the phenomenon of coal pillar sloughing is serious in the process of working face retrieval, which brings great potential danger to mine safety production. In this paper, by monitoring the stress and damage of the coal pillar in the field section, the stress changes and damage degree of the working face in different mine stages are determined. A new mechanical model of coal pillar in a thick coal seam is constructed and the stress changes and structural breakage law of each section are obtained, the stress transfers mechanism of overburden structure and the stress damage to coal pillar during the mining process of upper and lower section comprehensive mining working face is analyzed. The stress, microscopic damage, and the degree of sloughing in the coal pillar were significantly reduced by monitoring through the top plate hydraulic cracking pressure relief control program. The results of the study show that the extent of sloughing coal pillar and internal damage is closely related to the length of key block B of the masonry beam formed by the overlying rock layer and the position of the break line, by changing the orientation of the overlying masonry beam rock layer and the position and length of the tendency to break line, the sloughing coal pillar is effectively controlled and its stress and damage are reduced. We have achieved good results in control of the sloughing in the Hanjiawan coal mine and similar mines in northern Shaanxi.