Numerical analysis of the destruction of water-resisting strata in a coal seam floor in mining above aquifers

With the increase in mining depth many mining areas in China have entered a period necessitating mining above aquifers. Production safety in coal mines in northern China is under serious threat from Ordovician karst water on coal seam floors. In order to analyze the destruction of water-resisting strata in floors of coal seams being mined and to achieve safe mining above deep aquifers, we established a numerical model of water-resisting strata, considering the structural characteristics and mechanical properties of a floor layered with hard and soft rock. We simulated the distribution characteristics of deformation, failure and seepage using the analytical module of fluid–structure interaction of FLAC. We also obtained the corresponding stress distribution, deformation and flow vectors. Our results indicate that: (1) the advance of the working face causes water-resisting strata in goaf floors to form a deep double-clamped beam, subject to homogeneous loading at the bottom; (2) the two sides of the rock beam are subject to shear failure; (3) both sides of the rock seam at the bottom of the water-resisting strata are subject to tension and the greater the working face advance, the more serious the failure; (4) the original balance of the stress and seepage fields are broken and redistributed due to mining activities, especially the interaction of the abutment pressure in both sides of the goaf; the lateral pressure on the goaf floor and the water pressure on the floor of the aquifer promote floor heave and shear failure on both sides of the floor, forming a water-inrush passage. Our study results can provide references for the mechanism of water-inrush on mine floors.