Energy release and disaster-causing mechanism of ore-pillar combination

• The strength of the C-R-A combination is mainly determined by the weak coal seam . • In the case of failure of the C-R-A combination, fractures mainly occur in the coal seam . • The damage and fracturing evolution of the C-R-A structure is most significantly influenced by the rock stratum. • The burst proneness of the C-R-A combination is negatively correlated with the rock stratum. Coal and other mineral resources are also commonly found in bauxite mining. The process of bauxite mining is usually affected by retained ore pillars in other strata, which leads to the formation of combinations composed of different strata. Once these combinations become unstable, they can cause serious disasters that threaten production safety. Aiming at the safe mining of co-associated resources in the overlying coal seams of bauxite mines, in this paper, the strength, fracture development, and energy evolution of the coal-rock-aluminum (C-R-A) combination under varying thickness proportions of coal, rock, and aluminum were studied by means of particle flow code (PFC) numerical simulation, SPSS statistical analysis, and other methods. The results indicate that the strength of the combination is significantly negatively correlated with the thickness of the soft coal seam and remarkably positively correlated with the thickness of the hard aluminum layer. Under the same stress conditions, fractures in the combination mainly occur in the coal seam. As the thickness proportion of the coal seam in the overall structure increases, the number of fractures there grows correspondingly. Under a larger thickness proportion of the rock stratum, the combination releases its elastic energy faster after instability, and the fractures develop more intensely. As the thickness proportion of the rock stratum decreases, the elastic energy index ( W ET ) in the C-R-A combination rises, and the burst proneness strengthens. Areas where the thickness proportions of coal, rock, and aluminum lie in the ranges of 30%–60%, 10%–20%, and 30%–60% respectively are considered high-risk zones, and rock burst accidents are most likely to occur when the thickness ratio of coal, rock, and aluminum is 4: 1: 5. These research findings can provide guidance for the safe mining of similar coal and aluminum associated resources.