hom tIHI BuNau 01 MIIIfI$, UnIfiHl

'Technology New dflenbH t

s"'" De1M'*!I.n,
$1~ dev~opnwnt$ fro~ :'th~' B~rav 'C!/Mtn~ Re~8atc:~
Prog;ams. tt
01 the Intel1ol"

I plibfl ed to el\eourage the trane{er of thJs infimnatiot\ to the mtMral$ indtlflhy and It appltea-
tion in commercial pr.oU.., Mentwo of company Of' ptOduct names f fo! <!oQumentahQn only .n~
doe3 not Imply gOYffntneol andOra.fTl nt O. a peeffJe: firm or product. ,
':.

Bu.¥ u of Mfn'es' ear~h i5 p..-Iormed and tepOfted unCi r mand.t& of the Unfted S't ate ConQrefl8.
For. free • .,blcrtption to Tech~ H••a, .,Ue to~ l.chnor~y ff.n.... ' Group, Bu,..u of U,..*,
aA01 e 51.. NW, W••h,'~ o.c.. 20241. :.

No. 32.1, Jarw.ary 1989

Illtegl·ity Factor Approach to Mine IJjllar

Stability Evaillation alld Oesig.l
Objective

Develop a new method for coal mine pillar sta-

[ P I I' I

J o.
011. 110."

r.'I.d,lnQ
bility evaluation and design based on pillar load
measurcmenb.
L [I
Approach

.'\ novel approach to chain pillar ~tability evalu-

at:on and design for longwall coal mining panels
I,, :,
ha ' been developed by the Bureau of Mines. I
The evaluation approach uses an lNT E.G RI T Y
PA TOR as th e criterion for stahility. HycJrau-
lic nor hole pressure cells developed by th~ J
Bu reall are used to measure stres. es in a pillar •
..." '-0 1 &lttl
li to ' - Ja" Pol
,f
pf'\\I1.' ~
"'.a1-Yt1 rg
rn.ot. ... flrQ
': . 11
: .

tor stability evaluation. The results are used to "z-.b¢. D'.lh'. It J.r.
improve the pillar design.
Test configuralion of the inlegn'Iy factor approach 10
evaJuaJe mine piliat' design and stability.

How It \-Vorks calculated from the vertical stresses meJsured

Int egr ity factor is (kfin~d as th e ratio of the lowl
. l rc ngth integrat d ucross the critical dimension
of th c pillar to th e total load int eg raled across
til e same critical dimension. The pillar strength
is cal cuiatL:cI Irom the triaxial compres~ ivc
st rength of the coal determined from laboratory
t sts usinp the horiLontal ~tres se s measured in
~;itll as confining pressure-so The pillar load is
in situ. The biaxial stres-(::s in the pillar are
measureu by instc:lIling two pressure cell :,:" in :.l
horiztonal {hill hole; one c~1l is oriented verti-
cally and the other horizontally.
The [1\ rEGRITY FACTORS determined at
different stages of the longwall mining procc. s
are used to ev~t1uate the long-term stt.lbility of
chain pillars over their lIseful life -c;pan. A n
integrity factor ~r(,~Lter than I is considered to he>

ThIS doc ument was pre pa red by the Bureau 01 Mlne ~, Nell her the United Stat e GOl/ernment nor nV person acting on behal! 0 1 the Unit ed Stat es Govsrnm"nl
ass umes a ny liabIlIt y reS u1lfng Irom tl'\e use 01 the H1!orm.;tlon conlalned In thiS doc ument, 01 warrants that suc h u Se be free Irom privat ely owned l ight:..
a stahle condition, whereas an integrity factor Ur. Paul H. Lu
equal to or smaller than 1 is considered to Denver Research Center
indicate an unstable condition. The chain pillar U.S. Bureau of Mines
desif.!n is then modified, if necessary, to assure Bldg. 20, Denver Federal Center
pillar stability during the expected useful life- Denver, CO 80225
span based on results of the evaluation. (303) 236-0745

Test Resu Its

Tc"ts were conc./ucted in a coal mine with ap-

proximately 500 m of cover over its retreat IE Pillar ~ ; dth 22 .8m ---~
I()Jlgw~11 mining panels. The longwall panel~ I sl po ne I side 2 nd paf'lel s,d e
1()01.4 0 11.4
\Ven~ d eve loped with a two-entry gateroau sys-
te III \\ i 1h ~2.H-m-wiue chai n pi II a rs. Seven hori-
zontal holes we re drilled into a chain pillar at
approximately 3-m intervals across its width.
rwo horehole pressure cells were installed in
e~lch hol e : one oriented to measure the vertical
strc'i~ anu one oriented to measure the hurizon-
tal stress. 8asec./ Oil the continuous mC(lsure-
mellt of v e rtical and horizontal pillar ;;tresses,
the transient integrity factors corresponding to
different face positions during the longwall re-
tr(,~\ling proce~s were evalu<tted. The test re-
sults indicated that this chain pillar was stClble
during the entire p e riod of the rirst-pancl min-
in('. hecause the minimum valLIe of its integrity 8 J FHsl- m,rwl g -pan el fa ce a t 0 m. ! . 4. 16

f~lct()r \\',1-- 2.55, which exceedeu the critical

\.a I tI C (l fl. KU
120
• TraM.,en t tr eng th

100 • Vert Ical lo ad

fl1is approach can also he ,ldapteu for stahility
80
ev~t1l1ati()n of harrier pill~lrs and roorn-and-pil-
60
1~lr l1lini/l~r p~nels. Jt may also he lIsed for
()~tlbtlr~r prediction and prevention studies in
20
u ndc rgrotl nd mines.
:3
DISTANCE.ITI
CI Flrs t -min l ng - Don el f a ce at 60 m, r • 25 5
For More l' n rornlation

Se\.l.!ral papers on this suhject have been pub-

Ij:"\hed anu presented hy the Bureau of Mines at Slren~th and loadin): profiles are COlI.'i/roclcd ".\'ill~ Ihis
llali()n~tI and international symposia. For infor- approach, and the transient integrity factors al respective
malion on how to obtain copies of these p~pers milestone stages of miJlinl: are evaluolcd.
or for answe rs to technical questions, please
contact the I3urcau's principal investi!2ator for
this re~e~lrch: