Rock bursts remain an important problem in longwall coal
mining. These bursts are due to a sudden and severe failure of rocks
from a high stress concentration in deep underground excavations
that occur with the instantaneous release of strain energy stored
in the rocks. They can potentially cause irrecoverable damage to
equipment and personnel, thus accurate rock burst prediction and
control is expected to be carried out by the mine design engineer.
As a result, this can constitute major challenges for said engineer.
In this paper, forensic engineering has been used to evaluate
the possibility and extent of rock bursts in deep coal mining.
For this purpose, established mining engineering principles,
including factors influencing the severity of rock bursts, have been
incorporated in the forensic engineering technique. The analyses
took place in five steps:
• Assessment of regional and local conditions prior to the event
• Assessment of conditions after the event
• Hypothesize plausible ways in which pre-event conditions can
become post-event ones
• Search for evidence that either denies or supports
various hypotheses
• Apply engineering knowledge to relate the various facts
and evidence into a cohesive scenario of how the event may
have occurred.
The paper concludes by demonstrating a method for predicting
rock bursts and preventing their re-occurrence. The methodology
used in this paper, together with the results obtained, can serve
as useful tools for the coal mine design engineer in the primary
evaluation of rock burst potential in underground coal mines.