A new model for forecasting of land surface subsidence caused by underground extraction of deposits

Deformations forming on the surface due to underground mining pose a significant hazard to buildings and the natural environment in active mining. Correct forecasting of the impact of underground mining is crucial for protection against post-mining damage. This paper presents a new approach to forecasting of continuous deformations of ground surface in an transient phase of the process-the dynamic subsidence troughs. The new proposal is based on the idea of modification of forecast models that utilise the assumption of the so-called influence functions. New model introduces a time variable directly into the classical influence function. With this approach, one obtains a solution, where the value of the influence function increases over time for a given extracted finite element of extraction field, and thus, the value of its integral increases as well. Such alteration of the influence function reflects the process of mining influences migration from the roof of extracted deposit layer through the rock mass to a given point at the land surface level. Survey results of mining subsidence from the last 2 decades indicate the occurrence of so-called immediate influences, manifesting on the surface in a short period of time and delayed influences observed on the surface in a longer period of time. In the presented solution, it has been used a properly parameterised sum of two Rayleigh PDF functions: g(1), describing immediate influences and function g(2), describing delayed influences.

Automated summary

This paper presents a new approach to forecasting the continuous deformations of the ground surface caused by underground mining, which introduces a time variable into the classical influence function. The method successfully captures both immediate and delayed influences, providing a more accurate prediction of the post-mining damage.