Previously conducted studies have established that the sudden collapse of large areas of overhanging roofs in longwall working faces can cause shock loads and wind blast. In order to solve the problem of the hard and stable roof (HSR) being difficult to collapse in the initial mining stage, a combination of theoretical analysis and numerical simulation is used, taking Dongqu coal mine as the engineering background. The mechanical model of the initial fracture of the main roof is established, the relationship between the thickness-to-span ratio of main roof, the internal stress of the roof is analyzed, and the relationship between the thickness of the roof and the initial weighting step is revealed. The method of hydraulic fracturing (HF) is proposed to pre-crack the main roof in order to achieve controllability of the roof. The effect of HF on the control of the HSR is analyzed. The main conclusions are as follows: under the condition of a certain span of the rock beam, a smaller thickness of the rock beam makes for a larger tensile stress inside of it, increasing the likelihood that the rock beam will fracture. It is possible to reduce the initial weighting interval of the main roof by decreasing the thickness of the HSR and increasing the thickness of the load layer. The abutment pressure in the initial mining stage is obviously reduced after HF. The technical scheme of HF was proposed and applied in the field, and the field observations show that after HF, the HSR can collapse in time at the initial mining stage, leading to remarkable results being achieved.

More from our Archive

• DOI: 10.3390/su151310543 2023

  The State of the Art in Deep Learning Applications, Challenges, and Future Prospects: A Comprehensive Review of Flood Forecasting and Management

  Vijendra Kumar, Hazi Md. Azamathulla, Kul Vaibhav Sharma, Darshan J. Mehta, Kiran Tota Maharaj

• DOI: 10.3390/su151410821 2023

  Microplastics as an Emerging Threat to the Global Environment and Human Health

  Shampa Ghosh, Jitendra Kumar Sinha, Soumya Ghosh, Kshitij Vashisth, Sungsoo Han, Rakesh Bhaskar

• DOI: 10.3390/su151310663 2023

  Unraveling the Interrelationship of Digitalization, Renewable Energy, and Ecological Footprints within the EKC Framework: Empirical Insights from the United States

  Najia Saqib, Ivan A. Duran, Ilhan Ozturk

• DOI: 10.3390/su151310645 2023

  Green Environmental Management System to Support Environmental Performance: What Factors Influence SMEs to Adopt Green Innovations?

  Abdalwali Lutfi, Hamza Alqudah, Mahmaod Alrawad, Ahmad Farhan Alshira’h, Malek Hamed Alshirah, Mohammed Amin Almaiah, Adi Alsyouf, Mohammed Faisal Hassan

• DOI: 10.3390/su151411065 2023

  Green Finance, Enterprise Energy Efficiency, and Green Total Factor Productivity: Evidence from China

  Hepei Li, Chen Chen, Muhammad Umair

• DOI: 10.3390/su151310729 2023

  Innovations and the CO2 Emissions Nexus in the MENA Region: A Spatial Analysis

  Haider Mahmood, Maham Furqan, Najia Saqib, Anass Hamadelneel Adow, Muzaffar Abbas

• DOI: 10.3390/su151310442 2023

  Sustainable Potato Growth under Straw Mulching Practices

  Abdul Waheed, Chuang Li, Murad Muhammad, Mushtaq Ahmad, Khalid Ali Khan, Hamed A. Ghramh, Zhongwei Wang, Daoyuan Zhang

• DOI: 10.3390/su151310329 2023

  From Neglect to Progress: Assessing Social Sustainability and Decent Work in the Tourism Sector

  Eleonora Santos

• DOI: 10.3390/su151410976 2023

  Driving Sustainable Disaster Risk Reduction: A Rapid Review of the Policies and Strategies in Saudi Arabia

  Ahmed M. Al-Wathinani, Dennis G. Barten, Marta Borowska-Stefańska, Paweł Gołda, Noora A. AlDulijan, Mohammad A. Alhallaf, Lujain O. Samarkandi, Abdullah S. Almuhaidly, Mariusz Goniewicz, Waleed O. Samarkandi, Krzysztof Goniewicz

• DOI: 10.3390/su151410940 2023

  Wastewater Treatment and Reuse for Sustainable Water Resources Management: A Systematic Literature Review

  Jorge Alejandro Silva