Evaluation of Drum Shearer Capacity in Coal Seam with Variable Geomechanical and Geotechnical Characteristics

Using inverse distance weighting (IDW), the model of a coal seam with distributed geological and geomechanical characteristics is developed. The hyperbolic dependences of the drum shearer advance speed and capacity on the coal seam thickness are found. Influence of coal sloughing coefficient on drum shearer capacity is assessed. Using the specialized library of MTSS, the integrated model of process flows in coal face area is developed. It is found that there exists drum shearer capacity maximum at the increasing dependence of coal cuttability on longwall length.