International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 26 (2016) 175–181

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International Journal of Mining Science and Technology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijmst

Analytical solutions of hard roof’s bending moment, deflection and

energy under the front abutment pressure before periodic weighting
Jiang Haijun, Cao Shenggen ⇑, Zhang Yun, Wang Chen
State Key Laboratory of Coal Resources & Safe Mining, China University of Mining & Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China
School of Mines, China University of Mining & Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The distribution of front abutment pressure is closely related to the force, deformation and energy distri-
Received 28 July 2015 bution of hard roof before periodic weighting. So it is necessary to carry out research on the relationship
Received in revised form 3 October 2015 between them. According to front abutment pressure distribution feature, using the location of peak front
Accepted 20 October 2015
abutment pressure as the dividing point, coal seam is divided into two parts along the direction of min-
Available online 14 December 2015
ing: the yield zone that is the area between the faceline and the point where the maximum front abut-
ment pressure occurs, and the elastic zone that is the part before the point of peak front abutment
Keywords:
pressure. The proposed mechanical model of unit width hard roof at the panel center before periodic
Periodic weighting
Front abutment pressure
weighting consists of five parts including the yield zone. All parameters of the deflection equations for
Yield zone each of the five parts that satisfy the continuity conditions and natural boundary conditions are obtained
Bending moment by using the Matlab software. The continuous curves of front abutment pressure, deflection, bending
Deflection moment and bending strain energy density distribution of hard roof are obtained by iterative approxima-
Bending strain energy tion method, and the relationship between the yield zone width and the above curves are analyzed in
detailed.
Ó 2015 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of China University of Mining & Technology.

1. Introduction
The hard roof is referred to the high strength, large thickness
and massive strata overlying the thin immediate roof of coal seam.
It can overhang a large area over an extended period in the gob
without natural caving, and fails in the ‘‘X–O” mode when it
reaches the limiting length [1]. The hard roof can form a cantilever
over the gob after its first weighting, and will cave after reaching
the maximum span [2,3]. The sudden rupture of hard roof com-
bined with elastic energy release could cause roof vibration and
rockburst [4–6]. Falls of large area hard roofs along the face could
cause disastrous hazards [7]. Therefore, researchers are paying
more attention to the force, deformation and stored elastic energy
of hard roof before periodic weighting.
The coal seam foundation is usually considered as an elastic
body for establishing the mechanical model of hard roof. Qian
et al. carried out research on the surcharge load distribution on
the key strata before caving and the front abutment distribution
through finite element method [8]. Li et al. established the
⇑ Corresponding author at: State Key Laboratory of Coal Resources & Safe Mining,
China University of Mining & Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China. Tel.: +86
13805214480.
E-mail address: caoshenggen@126.com (S. Cao).
mechanical model of hard roof under the action of elastic ground
and advanced surcharge load [9]. The analytical solution for deflec-
tion and bending moment of the unit width hard roof in front of
the coal face and over the gob at the panel center before the first
and periodic weightings was solved by Pan et al. [10–12]. However,
Ma et al. assumed that the coal seam near the face is yielded under
the front abutment pressure as mining depth increases [13]. So the
effects of main roof’s advanced fracture to front abutment pressure
and its movement were analyzed by adopting the mechanical
model of damage foundation beam.
In summary, two types of coal seam foundation are considered;
one is elastic foundation, and the other is inelastic foundation for
the area damaged by the front abutment pressure. Therefore, it is
a key issue to establish a relatively rational mechanical model of
coal seam foundation to analyze the deformation and force of hard
roof. The mechanical properties of coal seam foundation can be
directly reflected by the distribution of front abutment pressure.
The characteristic curves of front abutment pressure near the face
as obtained by analyzing the measured data is shown in Fig. 1 [14].
The front abutment pressure reaches its peak point at the critical
point between the crushed zone and intact zone of coal seam,
and disappears at the critical point of transition from the biaxial
to triaxial state of loading. The front abutment pressure curves in

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmst.2015.11.027
2095-2686/Ó 2015 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of China University of Mining & Technology.
176 Haijun Jiang et al. / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 26 (2016) 175–181
Actual
Induced vertical stress
Pre-failure
Transition from biaxial to
triaxial state of loading
γH Crushed zone
Goaf
Distance
0.3-0.4 H
Fig. 1. Model of stress redistribution around coal mining face.
the crushed zone are almost linearly distributed. These basic char-
acteristics of the front abutment pressure confirm to the findings of
Peng [15]. To summarize the features of front abutment pressure,
the following conclusions can be made: (1) the front abutment
pressure is divided into two zones, one is the yield zone (crushed
zone) which located between the peak front abutment pressure
and faceline, while the other is the elastic zone (non-crushed zone)
which located in front of the peak front abutment pressure; (2) the
front abutment pressure reaches its peak point at the elasto-yield
point (the contact point between the elastic zone and yield zone),
and disappears at the faceline, and is almost linearly distributed in
the yield zone. According to the front abutment pressure distribu-
tion features mentioned above, using the location of peak front
abutment pressure as the dividing point, coal seam is divided into
two parts along the direction of mining; the yield zone refers to the
area between the faceline and the point where maximum front
abutment pressure occurs, and elastic ground is the part which
in front of the point of peak front abutment pressure. Following
the mechanical model of unit width hard roof at the panel center
before periodic weighting proposed by Pan et al., a five parts con-
tinuous hard roof’s mechanical model including the yield zone is
established in this research [10]. All parameters of the deflection
equations for each of the five parts that satisfy the continuity con-
ditions and natural boundary conditions are obtained by using the
Matlab software. The continuous curves of front abutment pres-
sure are obtained by iterative approximation method. The relation-
ship between the front abutment pressure and deflection, moment,
bending strain energy density distribution of hard roof are ana-
lyzed in detail. These results lay the groundwork for rational quan-
titative analysis of failure position in front of the face and energy
release of hard roof.
2. Front pressure model and mechanical model for hard roof
during periodic weighting
2.1. Front pressure model
According to previous studies and Fig. 1, a mechanical model of
the vertical pressure in front of the face including the front abut-
ment pressure and uniform vertical load of cH can be established
as shown in Fig. 2 [14,15]. The vertical pressure in front of the face
Pc
Front abutment pressure
Front pressure
Elastic-yield critical point C
Yield zone Elastic foundation
Fig. 2. Model of front abutment pressure in longwall mining.
can be divided into two zones along the mining direction, yield
zone and elastic zone. The vertical pressure reaches its peak Pc at
the elasto-yield critical point C, and vanishes at the face. It is lin-
early distributed in the yield zone. The vertical pressure in front
of its peak point P c can be determined through the mechanical
model of elastic foundation beam.
2.2. Mechanical model of hard roof
0.12 H
According to the mechanical model of front abutment pressure
mentioned above and employing the mechanical model proposed
by Pan et al. for solving the bending moment and deflection of hard
roof before periodic weighting, an analytical model can be
established as shown in Fig. 3a [10]. Based on the mechanical
model that is shown in Fig. 2, and the principle of action–reaction,
the mechanical model for hard roof can be obtained as shown Fig. 3
(b). Considering the original point 0 as the peak position of dis-
tributed surcharge loading above the hard roof, the mechanical
model of semi-infinite elastic foundation beam and finite length
elastic foundation beam are utilized in the section before 0,
and between 0 and elasto-yield critical point respectively. The
length of finite length elastic foundation beam is l1 . The distance
between elasto-yield critical point and faceline is l2 . The yield
zone width ranges from 0.45 to 2.25H (H is mining height) with
the widest at the panel center [15]. The whole coal seam
foundation can be considered an elastic foundation when the yield
zone vanishes, and the mechanical model of hard roof is identical
to that of Pan et al. [10]. The reaction force at the elasto-yield
critical point is Pc . The detailed method to ensure the continuity
of front abutment pressure at this point will be discussed in the
fourth section.
Fig. 3(a) and (b) show that the load distribution curves on the
hard roof, of which the advanced supercharging part is greater than
the uniform part. The same mathematical model for advanced
super charging load distribution model as that of Pan et al. is
adopted [10].
f c1 e xxc1
f 1 ðxÞ ¼ ðxc1  xÞe xc1 x60 ð1Þ
xc1
f c2 e xþx
 c2
f 2 ðxÞ ¼ ðx þ xc2 Þe xc2 06x6lþL ð2Þ
xc2
where f 1 ð0Þ and f 2 ð0Þ are the peak distributed surcharge loading f c1
and f c2 , when x ¼ 0; X c1 and X c2 the influence factors for the pre-
peak and post-peak surcharge load respectively. Considering the
peak position of distributed surcharge loading as the original point
0, the pre-peak and post-peak distributions of surcharge load (Fig. 3
(a) and (b)) are given by:
xxc1
F 1 ðxÞ ¼ q1 þ k1 ðxc1  xÞe xc1
x60 ð3Þ
xþxc2
F 2 ðxÞ ¼ q2 þ k2 ðx þ xc2 Þe
 xc2
06x6lþL ð4Þ
2 2
where k1 ¼ f c1 e=xc1 , N/m ; k2 ¼ f c2 e=xc2 , N/m ; q1 the uniformly
distributed vertical load caused by the pre-peak load; and q2
the uniformly distributed vertical load caused by self-weight of
beam (i.e., the post-peak load). In order to ensure the load on the
hard roof smooth and continuous, the following equations must
be satisfied:
q1 þ f c1 ¼ q2 þ f c2 ð5Þ
γH
F 1 ð1Þ ¼ q1 ð6Þ
F 2 ðl þ L Þ  q2 ð7Þ
 Haijun Jiang et al. / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 26 (2016) 175–181 177

F1(x) F2(x) F1(x) F2(x)

q1 q2 q1 q2

0 x 0 x

P0 PK
Pc
Elastic foundation Yield zone Support Yield Support
Elastic foundation zone
l1 l2 l3 l4 l1 l2 l3 l4
l L l L
y y
(a) Constitution of model of main roof before weighting (b) Constitution of mechanical model of main roof before weighting

Fig. 3. Constitution of models of main roof before weighting.

The mechanical diagrams of five parts corresponding to those ð4Þ q1 k1 xxc1

y11 ðxÞ þ 4b4 y11 ðxÞ ¼ þ ðxc1  xÞe xc1 x60 ð9Þ
shown in Fig. 4 are semi-infinite elastic foundation beam, finite EI EI
length elastic foundation beam, plastic zone, supporting zone and
where b ¼ ½C=ð4EI1=4 ; and EI the flexural rigidity of rock beam.
beam over the gob, are shown in Fig. 4, respectively.
The force diagram of isolated body of finite elastic foundation
beam in the segment 0 6 x 6 l1 is shown in Fig. 4(b). F 2 ðxÞ is the
3. Differential equation of deflection curves of continuous rock distributed load on the rock beam and the shear forces and bend-
beam ing moments on the left-hand and right-hand ends of the rock
beam are Q 0 , and M 0 , and Q 1 , and M 1 . The differential equation
This study considers the deflection functions of the beam in of deflection of elastic ground segment dx is as follows:
the segments x < 0 and 0 6 x 6 l1 as y11 ðxÞ and y12 ðxÞ for the
ð4Þ q2 k2 xþx
 c2
elastic ground, and the segments l1 6 x 6 l, l 6 x 6 l þ l3 , and y12 ðxÞ þ 4b4 y12 ðxÞ ¼ þ ðx þ xc2 Þe xc2 0 6 x 6 l1 ð10Þ
EI EI
l þ l3 6 x 6 l þ L as y21 ðxÞ, y22 ðxÞ, and y23 ðxÞ for the yield zone, sup-
ports and gob along the x directions, respectively. Fig. 4(c) shows the force diagram of rock beam ranging from the
The force diagrams for the isolated body of semi-infinite elastic elasto-yield critical point to the midspan. Taking moment about
foundation beam in the segment x < 0 is under the load of F 1 ðxÞ the section of x for all loads on the beam, the differential equation
and is subjected to the combined action of shear force Q 0 and of deflection of plastic zone ðl1 6 x 6 lÞ section of the rock beam is
bending moment M0 , as shown in Fig. 4(a). The bearing force qc as follows:
of ground is proportional to the vertical displacement y of rock 1
EIy0021 ðxÞ ¼ M 1  Q 1 ðx  l1 Þ þ q2 ðx  l1 Þ
2
beam
2
Z xl1
qc ¼ Cy ð8Þ þ
1
l þtþxc2
k2 ðl1 þ t þ xc2 Þe xc2 ðx  l1  tÞdt
0
where C is the ground stiffness. The minus sign in Eq. (8) represents Z xl1  
~ t
that the direction of force qc is opposite to the vertical displacement  Pc 1  ðx  l1  tÞdt 0 6 t 6 l2 ; l1 6 x 6 l ð11Þ
0 l2
y. The differential equation of deflection of elastic ground segment
dx is as follows:

x + xc 2 x + xc 2
− −
x − xc 1 xc 2
F2 ( x ) = k 2 ( x + x c 2 ) e + q2 F2 ( x ) = k 2 ( x + x c 2 ) e
xc 2
+ q2
F1 ( x ) = k1 ( x c1 − x ) e
xc 1
+ q1 F1 (0) F 2 (0) F2 (l1 ) dt
q2

q2 F2 (l 1 )
0 x
q1
dx
0 x M 1 Q1
dx x P0
0 Pk
M1 P t
M0 M0 Q Elastic foundation Q1 x-l 1 -t
0 l1
Q0 x-l 1
l1
Elastic foundation y l2
y l+L
(a) (b) y
(c)
x + xc 2
x + xc 2 −
− xc 2
xc 2 F2 ( x ) = k 2 ( x + x c 2 ) e + q2
F2 ( x ) = k 2 ( x + x c 2 ) e + q2
F 2 (l) F2 (l+l 3 ) dt q2
dt q2

0 x 0 x

M2 Q2 Pk
P0 M 3 Q3
t t x-l-l 3-t
x-t-l
l x-l l+l3 l4
l3
l+L
l+L y
y
(d) (e)

Fig. 4. Diagrams of isolated bodies of rock beam before periodic weighting.

178 Haijun Jiang et al. / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 26 (2016) 175–181

!
where P c is the reaction force of yield zone from the elasto-yield q2 k2 x4c2 4xc2 xþx
 c2
critical point to rock beam; l2 the width of yield zone; and M1 Y 12 ðxÞ ¼ 4 þ 4 4
xc2 þ x þ 4 4
e xc2 ð17Þ
4b EI EI 1 þ 4b xc2 1 þ 4b xc2
and Q 1 the internal forces of rock beam in the cross section of x ¼ l1 .
Fig. 4(d) is the force diagram of the isolated rock beam from For the finite elastic foundation beam, the homogeneous
faceline to midspan cross section. The differential equation of equation in Eq. (10) is
deflection curves of rock beam above the shield support can be
ð4Þ
obtained by taking moment about the section x. y12 þ 4b4 y12 ¼ 0 ð18Þ
1 The general solution Y 12 ðxÞ of Eq. (16) can assume the form of
EIy0022 ðxÞ ¼ M 2  Q 2 ðx  lÞ þ q2 ðx  lÞ
2
2 hyperbolic function
Z xl

lþtþxc2
1 2
þ k2 ðl þ t þ xc1 Þe xc2 ðx  l  t Þdt  P 0 ðx  lÞ
0 2 Y 12 ðxÞ ¼ ebx ½d3 cos ðbxÞ þ d4 sin ðbxÞ
Z xl
 gt ðx  l  t Þdt 0 6 t 6 l3 l 6 x 6 l þ l3 ð12Þ þ ebx ½d5 cos ðbxÞ þ d6 sin ðbxÞ ð19Þ
0
By substituting the Eqs. (17) and (19) into Eq. (16), the solution
where L is the length from faceline to midspan; l3 the face width; of differential Eq. (10) of finite elastic foundation beam is as
M2 and Q 2 the internal forces of rock beam in the cross section of follows:
x ¼ l; P0 the shield setting load; P K the shield resistance at the
end of the face width; and g ¼ ðP K  P0 Þ=l3 the slope of support y12 ðxÞ ¼ ebx ½d3 cos ðbxÞ þ d4 sin ðbxÞ þ ebx ½d5 cos ðbxÞ þ d6 sin ðbxÞ
resistance. !
q2 k2 x4c2 4xc2 xþx
 c2
The force diagram of isolated rock beam above the gob without þ 4 þ 4 4
xc2 þ x þ 4 4
e xc2 ð20Þ
support resistance is shown in Fig. 4(e). The differential equation of 4b EI EI 1 þ 4b xc2 1 þ 4b xc2
deflection curves of rock beam above the gob without support
By taking twice-integration for Eqs. (11)–(13), the deflection
resistance can be obtained by taking moment about the section x.
equations of rock beam above the plastic zone, support resistance
1 and gob can be stated as follows:
EIy0023 ðxÞ ¼ M 3  Q 3 ðx  l  l3 Þ þ q2 ðx  l  l3 Þ
2
2
Z xll3 lþl þtþxc2 
 3
þ k2 ðl þ l3 þ t þ xc2 Þe xc2 ðx  l  l3  tÞdt 1 M1 x2 Q 1 x2 ð3l1  xÞ
0
y21 ðxÞ ¼ þ
EI 2 6
0 6 t 6 l4 l þ l3 6 x 6 l þ L ð13Þ !
~
Pc x 5 2
5ðl1 þ l2 Þ 10l1 ðl1 þ 2l2 Þ 10l1 ðl1 þ 3l2 Þ
þ 1 þ 
where M3 and Q 3 are the internal forces of rock beam in the cross 120l2 x x2 x3
section of x ¼ l þ l3 . !   
2
The boundary conditions and continuity conditions of continu- q x4 4l1 6l1 x xþx
 c2
þ 2 1 þ 2 þ k2 x5c2 5þ e xc2
ous rock beam are complicated and listed in the order from left to 24 x x xc2
right.  2  
3x x2 ð9l1  2xÞ l1 x2 ð3l1  xÞ l1xþxc2
9  þ þ e c2 þ c 1 x þ c 2
y11 ð1Þ ¼ q1 =C; y011 ð1Þ ¼ 0; y11 ð0Þ ¼ y12 ð0Þ 2x2c2 6x3c2 6x4c2
>
>
>
> ð21Þ
y011 ð0Þ ¼ y012 ð0Þ; y0011 ð0Þ ¼ y0012 ð0Þ; y000 000
11 ð0Þ ¼ y12 ð0Þ > >
>
>
y12 ðl1 Þ ¼ y21 ðl1 Þ; y12 ðl1 Þ ¼ y21 ðl1 Þ; y12 ðl1 Þ ¼ M1 =EI >
0 0 00 >
>
>
> " !
y12 ðl1 Þ ¼ Q 1 =EI; y21 ðlÞ ¼ y22 ðlÞ; y21 ðlÞ ¼ y22 ðlÞ =
000 0 0
1 M 2 x2 Q 2 x2 ð3l  xÞ P0 x4 4l 6l
2
ð14Þ y22 ðxÞ ¼ þ  1 þ 2
00 000
y21 ðlÞ ¼ M 2 =EI; y21 ðlÞ ¼ Q 2 =EI >
> EI 2 6 24 x x
>
>
y22 ðl þ l3 Þ ¼ y23 ðl þ l3 Þ; y022 ðl þ l3 Þ ¼ y023 ðl þ l3 Þ >
> ! !
>
> 2 2 3
>
> q x 4
4l 6l 9x 5
5l 10l 10l
00 000
y22 ðl þ l3 Þ ¼ M 3 =EI; y22 ðl þ l3 Þ ¼ Q 3 =EI >
> þ 2 1 þ 2  1 þ 2  3
>
; 24 x x 120 x x x
00 000
y23 ðl þ LÞ ¼ 0; y23 ðl þ LÞ ¼ 0   xþx
x  c2
þ k2 x5c2 5þ e xc2
xc2
! !#
4. Solutions for deflection, bending moment and abutment 2
3x2 x2 ð9l  2xÞ lx ð3l  xÞ lþx c2
pressure of continuous rock beam before periodic weighting  þ þ e xc2
þ c 3 x þ c 4 ð22Þ
2x2c2 6x3c2 6x4c2
4.1. Solution for differential equations of deflections

1 M3 x2 Q 3 x2 ð3ðl þ l3 Þ  xÞ
The solution of semi-infinite elastic foundation beam of Eq. (9) y23 ðxÞ ¼ þ
EI 2 6
in Fig. 4(a) is 2
!   xþx
q 2 x4 4ðl þ l3 Þ 6ðl þ l3 Þ x  c2
q1 þ 1 þ þ k2 x 5
5 þ e xc2
y11 ðxÞ ¼ ebx ½d1 cos ðbxÞ þ d2 sin ðbxÞ þ 24 x x2 c2
xc2
4b4 EI  2 
! 3x x2 ð9ðl þ l3 Þ  2xÞ ðl þ l3 Þx2 ð3ðl þ l3 Þ  xÞ lþl3x þxc2
k1 x4c1 4xc1 xxc1  þ þ e c2
þ x c1  x þ e xc1 ð15Þ 2x2c2 6x3c2 6x4c2
4
EI 1 þ 4b xc1 4 4
1 þ 4b xc1
4 
þc5 x þ c6 ð23Þ
where d1 and d2 are constants.
The solution for homogeneous linear Eq. (10) is made up of gen-
eral solution Y 12 ðxÞ and particular solution Y 12 ðxÞ By substituting Eqs. (15) and (20)–(23) into (14), the constants
d1  d6 and c1  c6 can be determined. However, to save the space
y12 ðxÞ ¼ Y 12 ðxÞ þ Y 12 ðxÞ ð16Þ
of this paper, the details of the mathematical expression for these
The particular solution Y 12 ðxÞ is derivations are omitted.
 Haijun Jiang et al. / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 26 (2016) 175–181 179

4.2. Solutions for bending moment, front pressure and bending strain and front abutment pressure curves can be obtained, and the rela-
energy density tionship between them are discussed in follows.

The relationship between bending moment and deflection is 5.1. Effects of yield zone width to front abutment pressure, bending
00
MðxÞ ¼ EIy ðxÞ ð24Þ moment and deflection of hard roof

The front abutment pressure is the reaction of coal seam foun-
dation against the overlying rock beam, which consists of yield
zone and elastic ground. The elastic foundation is divided into
two parts by the location of advanced surcharge load. The func-
tions of front abutment pressure for these two parts are
PðxÞ ¼ C  y11 ðxÞ x 6 0
PðxÞ ¼ C  y12 ðxÞ 0 6 x 6 l1
Assuming the elastic reaction at the elasto-yield critical point is
P c ¼ C  y12 ðll Þ and that of yield zone at this point is P c . Pc can be
determined for given Pc and l2 . So the equation, P c ¼ Pc , can be
obtained through iterative approximation method, which can
ensure the continuity of force action at this intersection point.
According to Figs. 2 and 3(b), the reaction at the yield zone can
be determined by
 
x  l1
PðxÞ ¼ P c 1  l1 6 x 6 l
l2
According to the principle of action–reaction, the continuous
front abutment pressure can be obtained.
The relationship between bending strain energy density distri-
bution function UðxÞ and bending moment is
dUðxÞ M2 ðxÞ
¼ ð28Þ
dx 2EI
By substituting the bending moment equation above into Eq.
(28), the strain energy density distribution function is obtained.
5. Examples
According to the results of Pan et al., the parameters of the case
example are listed as follows: the thickness of hard roof is 8 m [10].
c is the unit weight of overlying rock mass, 25 KN/m3; E plan strain
modulus of hard roof, 25 GPa; L the span of hard roof over gob,
15 m; q1 (cH) the distributed load in front of the peak load,
10  106 N/m. f c1 ¼ 6  106 N/m. The distributive load over the
gob mainly depends on the self-weight of hard roof,
q2 ¼ 0:2  106 N/m. f c2 ¼ 15:8  106 N/m. xc1 ¼ 6 m, and
xc2 ¼ 3:5 m. Assuming the distance between the location of peak
load and coal face, l ¼ 8 m. P0 ¼ 2  106 N/m, P k ¼ 3  106 N/m,
and face width l3 ¼ 4 m. The coal seam foundation coefficient
C ¼ 0:65 GPa. According to the Eqs. (15) and (20)–(28), the deflec-
tion, bending moment, bending strain energy density of hard roof
25
1: l 2 =0 m
Fig. 5 shows the front abutment pressure and front supporting
resistance in front of the face under different yield zone widths.
All front pressures tend to level out and approach the distributed
load q1 ¼ 10  106 N/m at xh ¼ 38 m. The front abutment pres-
sure vanishes before xh . The influence width of front abutment is
ð25Þ 46 m in front of the faceline. The peak front abutment pressure is
located at elasto-yield critical point xc . The distance between the
ð26Þ peak point and faceline is equal to the yield zone width
l2 ¼ l  xc . These results conform to Fig. 2. The peak front pressure
Pc is given in column 2 of Table 1. The peak front abutment pres-
sure moves forward and increases continuously as the yield zone
width increases. This trend is similar to the findings got by Shen
et al. on the measured coal pillar abutment pressure distribution
[16]. When yield zone vanishes, all the coal seam foundations are
elastic ones and the mechanical model of roof is similar to that pro-
posed by Pan et al. [10]. The peak front abutment pressure appears
at the faceline. All curves intersect at the location 17.5 m from the
ð27Þ face.
The variation of bending moment curves of hard roof with the
yield zone width is shown in Fig. 6. In general, all of the moment
curves vanish at the section x 6 45 m and midspan, which satis-
fies the nineteenth continuity condition in Eq. (14). The peak point
position of these bending moment curves in front of the faceline is
marked as xp , while the distance between faceline and peak point
xp , is as follows:
l p ¼ l  xp ð29Þ
As shown in column 3 and 4 of Table 1, when the yield zone
vanishes, the curve reaches its peak moment
Mðxp Þ ¼ 1:07  108 Nm at 1.8 m in front of the face. As the yield
zone width increase from 0 to 6 m, the peak bending moment
becomes Mðxp Þ ¼ 2:04  108 Nm, and the distance between the
peak point xp and faceline reaches 6.9 m. These trends indicate that
both the peak bending moment and the distance between its peak
point and faceline increase with yield zone width. The failure loca-
tion of hard roof will move far from the face by the maximum ten-
sile strength criterion. All bending moment curves intersect near
xc ¼ 22:6 m. All bending moment curves merge in the section
between the face and free end of rock beam, because the bending
moment is only dependent on the force in that section, but inde-
pendent of the forces in front of the face.
Assuming the downward deflection is positive, Fig. 7 shows the
deflection curves of rock beam corresponding to Fig. 6. All of the
curves are close to horizontal when x 6 50 m, which satisfies
the second continuity condition, y011 ð1Þ  0. All of the curves
xc y11 ð50Þ  y11 ð1Þ ¼ 15:4 mm are only related to distributed
7 load, q1 , and the constant C, but independent of yield zone width
6
l2 . As shown in Fig. 1 and columns 5 and 6 of Table 1, without con-
Front abutment

20 5
2: l 2 =1 m 4
pressure

3: l 2 =2 m
3 sideration of yield zone width (yield zone width is zero), the
P (x) (MN/m)

15 4: l 2 =3 m deflection at coal face (y(l)) and midspan ðyðl þ LÞÞ are 24.9 and
xh 2 41.4 mm. As the yield zone width increases from 0 to 6 m, the
1
10 deflections at the face and midspan increase to 51.5 and
5: l 2 =4 m Intersection 103.5 mm, or increase by an increment of 26.6 and 62.1 mm
5 6: l 2 =5 m respectively. These phenomena indicate that the deflection of hard
7: l 2 =6 m
roof at the face and midspan increases with yield zone width. All
0 curves intersect at the location 17.5 m from the face, which is iden-
-40 -30 -20 -10 0 10
tical to the front abutment pressure curves, because the front pres-
x (m)
sure is linearly proportion to deflection within the elastic zone as
Fig. 5. Effects of yield zone width on front abutment pressure. shown by Eqs. (25) and (26).
180 Haijun Jiang et al. / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 26 (2016) 175–181

Table 1
Salient features of example case.
 
l2 (m) P c (N/m) Mðxp Þ (N m) lp (m) yðlÞ (mm) yðl þ LÞ (mm) dU xp =dx (J/m) dU ðxa Þ=dx (J/m) U (J)

0 6 8 1.8 24.9 41.4 5317 72 27,913

16:2  10 1:065  10
1 17:4  106 1:187  108 2.5 27.9 49.2 6607 66 40,344
2 18:6  106 1:320  108 3.2 31.3 57.8 8162 61 58,737
3 19:6  106 1:465  108 4.0 35.3 67.3 10,063 59 84,596
4 20:7  106 1:630  108 4.8 39.9 78.0 12,447 59 119,916
5 21:6  106 1:821  108 5.8 45.3 90.2 15,544 65 167,352
6 22:5  106 2:043  108 6.9 51.5 103.5 19,563 77 228,038

2.4 2.5
xp
2.0 1: l 2 =0 m xp
2: l 2 =1 m 7 2.0
Faceline 1: l 2 =0 m
1.6 3: l 2 =2 m 6 2: l 2 =1 m

dU/dx (10 4 N·m)

M (x ) (10 8 N·m)

4: l 2 =3 m 5 1.5 3: l 2 =2 m
1.2
5: l 2 =4 m 4 7
4: l 2 =3 m
6: l 2 =5 m 5: l 2 =4 m 6
0.8 1.0
7: l 2 =6 m Faceline
3 6: l 2 =5 m 5
0.4 xa 7: l 2 =6 m 4
2
0.5 3
0 1 2
xa 1
-0.4 0
-50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 -30 -20 -10 0 10
x (m) x (m)

Fig. 6. Effects of yield zone width on bending moment of rock beam. Fig. 8. Relationship between yield zone width and distribution curves of bending
strain energy density.

0
Intersection
Faceline 2.5
20

2.0 Energy
40 1: l 2 =0 m 1
2
y (x) (mm)

2: l 2 =1 m
3 1.5
U (105J)

60 3: l 2 =2 m
4
4: l 2 =3 m
80 5 1.0
5: l 2 =4 m
6: l 2 =5 m 6
100 7: l 2 =6 m 0.5
7

120
-50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
x (m) l 2 (m)

Fig. 7. Effects of yield zone width on deflection of rock beam. Fig. 9. Effects of yield zone width on accumulated energy of rock beam.

5.2. Effects of yield zone width on elastic energy of hard roof As shown in Fig. 8, the bending strain energy density curves
intersect near xa , and vanish beyond that point. Therefore the dis-
When the hard roof caves in front of the face during periodic tance between xa and faceline ðl  xa Þ ¼ 30:6 m is assumed to be
weighting, it releases a large amount of energy. The amount of the distribution zone of bending strain energy density curves,
energy released depends on the stored elastic energy and that after which is less than that of the front abutment pressure. As shown
caving. In this paper the relationship between the bending strain in Fig. 8, the area enclosed by dUðxÞ=dx and x axis is the accumu-
energy density, accumulated energy of hard roof before periodic lated elastic energy of rock beam before periodic weighting U.
weighting and yield zone width is analyzed in details.
Fig. 8 presents the different bending strain energy density Z xa
dUðxÞ
curves in front of the coal face corresponding to different yield U¼ dx ð30Þ
zone widths. All curves merge at the face and intersect at xa before 0 dx
the peak point. This trend is the same as the bending moment The area in the distribution zone of bending strain energy den-
curves, as shown in Fig. 6. Because there exists a relationship sity curves (Fig. 8) can be determined by using the origin software
between bending strain energy density and bending moment, as as shown in column 9 of Table 1 and Fig. 9. As the yield zone width
shown in Eq. (28). As the yield zone width increases, the peak increases from 0 to 6 m, the elastic energy increases from 27,913 J
bending strain energy density, dUðxp Þ=dx gradually increases, as to 228,038 J, or by 7 times.
shown in column 7 of Table 1. The distance between peak point In summary, as the distance between the peak front abutment
and faceline also increases with increasing yield zone width. This pressure and face increases, the peak front abutment increases,
is similar to that shown in Fig. 6. Therefore, as the yield zone width the area of stored elastic energy moves far away from the face,
increases, the strain energy in bending increases and moves away and the accumulated elastic energy increases rapidly. Conse-
from the face. quently more elastic energy can be released during periodic caving.
 Haijun Jiang et al. / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 26 (2016) 175–181
6. Conclusions
The main characteristics of front abutment pressure can best be
depicted by using the location of peak front abutment pressure as
the dividing point to classify the coal seam foundation into two
parts along the direction of mining, yield zone and elastic zone.
The mechanical model of unit width hard roof at the panel center
before periodic weighting consisting of five parts including yield
zone was established. All constants, c1 to c6 and d1  d6 for the
deflection equations for all five parts, satisfy all the continuity con-
ditions and natural boundary conditions. All constants are
obtained by the auxiliary Matlab software. The continuous front
abutment pressures are obtained through iterative approximation
method for different yield zone widths, and the corresponding
deflections, bending moments, bending strain energy density dis-
tributions and accumulated elastic energies of hard roof are
determined.
The peak front abutment pressure increases with increase in
yield zone width; the distance between the peak point coal face
is equal to the yield zone width; the front abutment pressure curve
gradually disappears at 46 m from the face; the peak bending
moment in front of the faceline, and the distance between the peak
moment location and face of hard roof increases with the increase
in yield zone width; and the deflection of hard roof at the face and
midspan also increases with increase in yield zone width. When
the yield zone width vanishes, the whole coal foundation can be
considered as an elastic foundation, in which the peak front abut-
ment pressure occurs at the face.
The peak bending strain energy density increases with increase
in yield zone width, and its peak point moves far away from the
faceline, and the distance between them is equal to the distance
between peak bending moment and faceline for a given yield zone
width. The bending strain energy density curve gradually disap-
pears when the distance to the face exceeds 30.6 m. Its zone of dis-
tribution is less than that of the front abutment pressure. As the
yield zone width increases continuously, the core of the accumu-
lated elastic energy moves away from the face, and the accumu-
lated elastic energy increases rapidly, resulting in more elastic
energy being released during periodic caving.
181
Acknowledgments
This study was supported jointly by the National Basic Research
Program of China (No. 2015CB251603), the National Natural
Science of China (No. 51374197), and the Independent Project of
State Key Laboratory of Coal Resources and Safe Mining (CUMT)
of China (No. SKLCRSM12X06).
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