Numerical and Experimental Study on Pressure Relief Mechanism of Roof Blasting Along Gob-Side Roadway

A combination of theoretical analysis, numerical simulation and physical model experiments is used to explore the mechanism of pressure relief and roof blasting effects along the gob-side roadway. The stress and displacement along the gob-side roadway before and after blasting were investigated using discrete unit code (UDEC) software. The results demonstrated that blasting can effectively decrease the peak stress of the coal seam along the gob-side roadway and transfer it to the depth. The maximum displacement of the roof of the gob-side roadway, the coal pillar and the solid coal was reduced from 9.5, 10.8 and 4 cm to 6.5, 2 and 3 cm, respectively, after roof blasting. The experimental results showed that the movement of the overburden strata showed obvious regional characteristics after blasting which included the height of the caving zone on the broken side being 3.3 times higher than that observed on the unbroken side, while the height of the fractured zone was 0.52 times higher. The field application of roof blasting was controlled by a drilling method, micro-seismic monitoring and stress monitoring. The results showed good application effects. This research provides valuable insights for managing the stability of gob-side entries.