Sudden surface collapse disasters caused by shallow partial mining in Datong coalfield, China

Numerous sudden surface collapses induced by shallow partial mining in the Datong Jurassic coal seam have caused fatalities, significant property losses and brought about harmful results to the environment. By introducing efficient pillar widths and using the Voronoi diagram, irregular pillar stability can be estimated rationally. Theoretical analysis and numerical simulation demonstrate that the failure of a single pillar increases the load on surrounding pillars. If the magnitude of the transferred load is sufficiently high, the adjoining pillars will also fail in a chain reaction. This can be interpreted by the merger of inner stress arches combined with the external stress arch. In this paper, the evolution mode of sudden surface collapse caused by shallow partial mining is proposed and has been verified by ‘similar material simulation.’ Finally, the potential of sudden surface collapse is determined and an example of collapse prediction and prevention of surface building damage with relocation is given. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014