The concept of modification and analysis of the strength of steel roadway supports for coal mines in the Soma Basin in Turkey

The article presents a comparison of the roadway supports currently used in mines in the Soma basin in Turkey with new one proposed by Huta Labedy and Central Mining Institute (GIG) in terms of resistance parameters and work in conditions of specific loads. The strength analysis of the frame was carried out using the finite element method, using the COSMOS/M program, based on the methodology developed and applied in GIG. The frame models were built corresponding to their geometry and cross-sectional parameters of the sections used. Beam elements (BEAM3D) were used for building models, which were given cross-sectional parameters of the V36 section. This resulted in three frame models that were loaded in three ways (three load variants). The first option included roof load, acting on the roof bar in a uniform manner, at a length of about 3.0 m. In the second variant, the same load was adopted but the resistance of the side wall was omitted. However, in the third variant, the same roof load was assumed in addition to a side load, acting on the sliding arch, at a length of about 3.0 m, a value corresponding to half the load of the roof. As a result of the calculations carried out, the distribution of reduced stresses in the analysed frames and the maximum load values were obtained. The proposed roadway supports retain the functionality of the previously used frames in terms of width, height, cross-sectional area of the support and the number of elements. They are characterised by the same weight and at the same time, they have up to 24% more load capacity because of the replacement of straight sections of curved side sections. This treatment was possible by forming individual elements of the arch with two bending radii. The additional load increase was obtained by using S550W steel.