Exploitation
A. Hosseini; M. Najafi; Seyed A. Shojaatlhosseini; R. Rafiee
Abstract
The longwall mining method is one of the most applied methods in extracting low-inclined to high-inclined coal seams. Selection of the most suitable extraction equipment is very important in the economical, safety, and productivity aspects of mining operations. There are a lot of parameters affecting ...
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The longwall mining method is one of the most applied methods in extracting low-inclined to high-inclined coal seams. Selection of the most suitable extraction equipment is very important in the economical, safety, and productivity aspects of mining operations. There are a lot of parameters affecting the selection of an extraction equipment in mechanized longwall mining in steeply inclined coal seams. The important criteria involved are the geometric properties of coal seam (dip, thickness, and uniformity of coal seam), geological and hydraulic conditions (faults, fractures, joints, and underground water), and geomechanical properties of coal seam and surrounding rocks. Extraction of inclined coal seams with gradients greater than 40 degree is different from low-inclined seams, and requires a special equipment. Therefore, the influence of the above-mentioned parameters must be considered simultaneously in the selection of extraction equipment for steeply inclined seams. This paper presents an application of the Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP) method in order to select a suitable extraction equipment in the Hamkar coal mine. In the proposed FAHP model, fifteen main criteria are considered, as follow: dip of coal seam, thickness of coal seam, seam uniformity, expansion of coal seam, faults, fractures and joints, underground waters, hangingwall strength, footwall strength, coal strength, in-situ stress, equipment salvage, dilution, system flexibility, and operational costs. Among the 6 considered longwall extraction equipment system alternatives, the findings show that the most suitable extraction equipment system is shearer on footwall and a support system using hydraulic props and the transport of coal with the force of gravity.
S. E. Mirsalari; M. Fatehi Marji; J. Gholamnejad; M. Najafi
Abstract
Analysis of the stresses, displacements, and horizontal strains of the ground subsidence due to underground excavation in rocks can be accomplished by means of a hybridized higher order indirect boundary element/finite difference (BE/FD) formulation. A semi-infinite displacement discontinuity field is ...
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Analysis of the stresses, displacements, and horizontal strains of the ground subsidence due to underground excavation in rocks can be accomplished by means of a hybridized higher order indirect boundary element/finite difference (BE/FD) formulation. A semi-infinite displacement discontinuity field is discretized (numerically) using the cubic displacement discontinuity elements (i.e. each higher order element is divided into four sub-elements bearing a cubic variation in the displacement discontinuities). Then the classical finite difference formulation (i.e. the backward, central, and forward finite difference formulations) is hybridized using the boundary element formulation, enabling us to obtain the nodal tangential stresses and horizontal strains along the elements. Several example problems are solved numerically, and the results obtained are then compared with their corresponding results available in the literature. These comparisons show the effectiveness and validness of the proposed method. A classical practical problem is also used to verify the applicability of the hybridized method.
M. Najafi; Seyed M. E. Jalali; F. Sereshki; A. Yarahmadi Bafghi
Abstract
Performing a probabilistic study rather than a determinist one is a relatively easy way to quantify the uncertainty in an engineering design. Due to the complexity and poor accuracy of the statistical moment methods, the Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) method is wildly used in an engineering design. In ...
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Performing a probabilistic study rather than a determinist one is a relatively easy way to quantify the uncertainty in an engineering design. Due to the complexity and poor accuracy of the statistical moment methods, the Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) method is wildly used in an engineering design. In this work, an MCS-based reliability analysis was carried out for the stability of the chain pillars in the Tabas coal mine, located in Iran. For this purpose, the chain pillar strengths were calculated using the Madden formula, the vertical stress on the chain pillars was determined by an empirical method, and a numerical modeling was performed using the FLAC3D software. The results obtained for the probabilistic stability analysis of the chain pillars showed that the failure probability obtained for the designed pillars by applying the MCS method were approximately the same as that obtained by the advanced second moment (ASM) method, and the values obtained varied between 12 and 18 percent.
