Goaf instability in an open pit iron mine triggered by dynamics disturbance: a large-scale similar simulation

ABSTRACTABSTRACTThe stability of concealed goafs in open-pit mines under the influence of blasting disturbances is directly related to successful mining production. Based on large-scale similar simulations, this study steadily analyses the evolution of full-stress/strain and acoustic emission response information relevant to the instability and failure of the concealed goaf under multiple blasting disturbances in an open-pit iron mine. The results show that after three blasting disturbances, a tension-shear dislocation area is formed at the side corner of the goaf. The goaf roof’s vertical displacement exhibits a ‘two-stage increase’ before roof caving. In contrast, the axial stress on the side wall undergoes ‘two-stage pressure relief’ before roof caving. The stress pattern of ‘stretch-unload-compression-shear’ is observed near the free surface of the side angle before roof caving, while ‘two-stage pressurisation’ is observed at the far end of the free surface. This paper delivers a new way of exploring goaf stability under blasting disturbances.KEYWORDS: Goafsimilar simulationblasting disturbancefailurestability AcknowledgmentsThis work is funded by the National Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. U1906208, 52204128, and 52204153), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2021MD703874, 2021M702015). These supports are gratefully acknowledged.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).CRediT authorship contribution statementBaoxu Yan: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Writing -original draft. Hanwen Jia: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Writing – review & editing, Supervision. Zhen Yang: Data curation, Investigation. Erol Yilmaz: Investigation, Review & editing, Validation. Honglei Liu: Review & editing.Data availability statementAll data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.Correction StatementThis article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.