A Novel Caving Model of Overburden Strata Movement Induced by Coal Mining

The broken pattern of the overburden strata induced by mining has a non-ignorable effect on overlying strata movement, failure, and safety in mining production. To study the caving pattern of overlying strata and determine the calculation method of fracture pathway parameters due to roof caving induced by coal mining, the trapezoidal broken models were developed to explain and prevent water leakage, and even water inrush, during the mining process. By incorporating the variation of the volume expansion coefficient, a connection among the parameters of the fracture pathways and fracture angles, face width, and mining height could be established, which shows that the larger the degree of the fracture angle is, the smaller the value of the volume expansion coefficient and face width is with a relatively larger mining height. This relationship was also used to determine the eventual evolution configuration of the trapezoidal broken model. The presented approaches may help us to better understand the movement of overburden strata and provide an idea to help settle conflicts related to fracture space calculations induced by coal mining.