Research on Fault Activation and Its Influencing Factors on the Barrier Effect of Rock Mass Movement Induced by Mining

For the study of the driving forces behind fault activation and its influencing factors on the barrier effect of rock mass movement under the influence of mining, the discrete element numerical simulation software 3DEC was used for the analysis of the impact on the distance to mining area from fault, the buried depth of the upper boundary of the fault, the dip angle of fault, the size of the mining area and the thickness of the fault zone respectively. The results show that the mining areas are closer to the fault as distances decrease, the burial depth of the upper boundary of the fault increases, and the size of the mining area increases, the fault is easier to activate, and fault activation has a stronger barrier impact on displacement field and stress field propagation. When the fault is cut into the goaf, the difference of rock displacement in both directions of the fault increases when the dip of the fault increases, and the fault is more susceptible to instability and activation. The barrier strength grows with the increase of the thickness of the fault fracture zone. The results of this study have important implications for the guard against and control of deep mining-related fault activation disasters.

Automated summary

The study uses the discrete element numerical simulation software 3DEC to analyze the driving forces and influencing factors of fault activation and its barrier effect on rock mass movement under the influence of mining. The results show that the distance between mining areas and faults, the buried depth of the upper boundary of the fault, the size of the mining area, and the thickness of the fault zone all have impacts on fault activation and its barrier effect.