Investigation of Top Coal Cavability and Roof Behavior by Ground Response Curves

Investigation of Top Coal Cavability and Roof Behavior by Ground Response Curves

Longwall top coal caving mines are commonly operated at a depth of 100-400m in Soma Coal Basin located at western part of Turkey. Mining activities will move to a depth greater than 700m in the near future together with the progress in the mine plan. 800m deep and 16m thick coal seam is considered in this study and cavability character of top coal and roof behavior were examined by numerical modelling incorporated to ground response curves in addition to empirical approach. 400m and 800m deep mining activities are compared by utilizing vertical stress distributions, displacements, and ground response curves representing each case.