Study on Size Design of Shaft Protection Rock/Coal Pillars in Thick Soil and Thin Rock Strata

To prevent serious shaft deflection disasters under asymmetric mining conditions, it is urgent to solve the problem of designing shaft protection rock pillar (SPRP) sizes in thick soil and thin rock strata. In this paper, based on the parallel mining model and the perpendicular mining model, a dynamic prediction model that can describe the horizontal movement of the shaft was established by the probability integration method and the Knothe time function. Next, according to the measured data of the shaft deflection in the Guotun Coal Mine, a back analysis was used to calculate the prediction parameters that were suitable for the deep soil strata. Based on the mining model, the variation law of the horizontal deflection displacement of the shaft and SPRP size was obtained. The results showed that the final displacements of the shaft under the two ideal mining models were equal, while the parallel mining model was superior to the perpendicular mining model at the initial stage of mining. The horizontal displacement of the shaft head had a nonlinear negative correlation with the SPRP, and the SPRP size in thick soil and thin rock strata calculated by the parallel mining model was more reasonable. For the Guotun Coal Mine, when the soil movement angle was 57.8% of the actual value, the horizontal displacement of the main shaft head was reduced by 87%. The results have important theoretical and practical value in preventing shaft deflection in thick soil and thin rock strata.