Deformation characteristics and stability control of a gateroad in fully mechanized mining with large mining height

The gateroad cross-section is large, and the surrounding rock has a low strength in the fully mechanized coal mining face with a large mining height of 6.7m. Moreover, under extremely high support pressure in the fully mechanized coal mining face, the gateroad deformation is usually considerable, and a series of accidents such as roof falling disaster occurred in the coal face with conventional low-prestressed anchorage support and advanced support utilizing a single hydraulic prop. Large deformation of a gateroad at the excavation and extraction of the fully mechanized coal mining face with a large mining height as well as difficulty in maintenance are the key problems facing the Wangzhuang Coal Mine. We performed numerical simulation of stress evolution and deformation characteristics of surrounding rocks in the gateroad using FLAC(3D). The scheme of surrounding rock control that combines high prestressed anchorage structure and the self-motion advanced hydraulic support is proposed. The staged supporting strategy and relevant parameters are presented. Finally, the staged supporting strategy was verified by the field application and effective stability control of the gateroad-surrounding rocks was achieved.