Roof Failure Mechanism and Control Technology of Large Section Open-Off Cut in Soft Rock Strata with Thin Thickness

The open-off cut is used for equipment installation of working face before underground mining, and its sectional size is larger than that of the mining roadway. Therefore, the stability of open-off cut surrounding rock determines whether the panel can be put into operation. To solve the roof instability of open-off cut in the Wanli No.1 coal mine, the roof failure mechanism of open-off cut under weak composite rock strata with thin thickness was studied by field monitoring, theoretical analysis, and numerical simulation. First, the characteristics of surrounding rock and the basic law of strata behaviors were obtained by detailed field monitoring. Afterward, FLAC3D numerical simulation and mechanical analysis were used to obtain the main mechanical control parameters of surrounding rock instability, and the existence of a soft interlayer above the roof is the main cause of roof instability. Based on this, the supporting parameters of the open-off cut were optimized and adjusted. The optimized parameters were applied to the adjacent 31207 open-off cut. The engineering practice showed that the optimized supporting parameters have an ideal control effect on roof stability.