Objective As a common geological structure in coal mining, faults exhibit a high degree of internal fracture development, poor rock mass integrity, and low mechanical strength. The presence of faults causes the discontinuity of continuous strata, resulting in unique deformation and failure characteristics of the hanging wall and footwall under different mining methods. At present, research on fault activation under different mining methods for the hanging wall and footwall of normal faults mainly focuses on the advancing process of the working face, whereas the evolution of fault normal stress, shear stress, and the activation index remains incompletely understood. Therefore, further investigation of the fault activation mechanism under different mining methods remains necessary. Methods FLAC3D numerical simulation software was utilized to simulate and analyze the fault activation behavior under different mining methods in the hanging wall and footwall under fault occurrence conditions. The Mohr-Coulomb criterion was applied to the rock strata, and the weakening assignment method was adopted to simulate the weak mechanical properties of the fault. Displacement and velocity constraints were applied around and at the bottom of the model, and a vertical stress of 9 MPa was applied at the top to simulate the stress environment of a normal fault. The entire process of 15 mining stages in the hanging wall and footwall, together with a cumulative working-face advance of 300 m until fault exposure, was simulated separately. The fault activation tendency index was derived and established, and the relationship between fault activation tendency and the stress environment was analyzed. A stress measurement line and a fault activation measurement surface were established at the center of the fault above the working face. Based on the calculation formulas for fault normal stress, shear stress, and the fault activation tendency index, the evolution of the fault stress environment and the fault activation slip characteristics under mining disturbance were analyzed. The vertical and horizontal displacements of the overlying strata on both sides of the fault, the deformation characteristics of the fault, and the migration direction of the overlying strata were extracted, and the fault activation mechanism under different mining methods was systematically analyzed. Results and Discussions When the hanging wall was mined and the fault was not exposed, the normal stress in the upper part of the fault decreased, the shear stress increased, the fault was activated, the normal stress and shear stress in the lower part of the fault increased, and the lower part of the fault was not activated. When the fault was exposed, most of the normal and shear stresses of the fault increased rapidly, but the shear stress growth rate was greater than the normal stress growth rate, resulting in the overall activation of the fault. During footwall mining, the normal stress in the upper part of the fault decreased, and the shear stress increased during the early stage of mining, and the upper part of the fault was activated. During the later stage of mining, the normal stress and shear stress in the middle and lower parts of the fault decreased sharply, and the fault activation position developed downward. When the hanging wall was mined, the overlying strata rotated toward the goaf, and the degree of extrusion in the upper part of the fault was reduced. However, the overlying strata in front of the hanging wall mining face easily formed a wedge, which produced an extrusion effect on the fault, resulting in a low degree of fault activation when the fault was not exposed. After the fault was exposed, the overlying rock lacked the supporting rock mass because of the cutoff, resulting in the overall activation of the fault as the shear stress exceeded the shear strength. When the footwall was mined, the upper part of the fault experienced a reduced degree of fault extrusion because of the rotation of the overburden rock toward the goaf during the early stage of mining, resulting in a decrease in normal stress, and the upper part of the fault was activated. In the middle and lower parts of the fault, the plastic zone of the overburden rock developed toward the fault, resulting in a loss of the bearing capacity of the overburden rock, and slip activation occurred. After the fault was exposed, the overburden rock lacked the supporting coal and rock mass, and the degree of overburden rock rebound increased, resulting in fault slip activation. Based on the concept of the "fault chain" as the core of fault treatment, a grouting reinforcement method combining regional treatment and local treatment of the fault fracture zone in the coal mining face was proposed, and shallow, medium, and deep static and dynamic grouting technologies were developed to improve the fault properties and inhibit fracture development within the fault zone. Engineering practice for fault treatment was conducted at the 11123 working face of Pan'er Coal Mine. The occurrences of rib spalling and roof leakage were significantly reduced, and the working face successfully passed through the 5# abnormal area. Conclusions Based on the numerical investigation of different mining methods in the hanging wall and footwall under normal fault conditions, the study revealed that the fault activation mechanism is associated with the migration of overlying strata during normal fault mining. The characteristics of fault activation and slip at different stages of hanging wall and footwall mining were also clarified. The research findings are of considerable scientific significance for the safe mining of coal seams within fault-influenced zones, and the proposed grouting reinforcement method for fault fracture zones has substantial potential for practical application.
CaoAnye, DouLinming, BaiXianxi,et al.State-of-the-art occurrence mechanism and hazard control of mining tremors and their challenges in Chinese coal mines[J].Journal of China Coal Society,2023,48(5):1894‒1918.
LiZhenlei, DouLinming, CaiWu,et al.Fault-pillar induced rock burst mechanism of thick coal seam in deep mining[J].Chinese Journal of Rock Mechanics and Engineering,2013,32(2):333‒342.
YanXin, PuZhiguo, DingXiang,et al.Stratified grouting and water plugging and inspection in deep large-angle positive fault[J].Mining Research and Development,2023,43(5):149‒154.
IslamM R, ShinjoR.Mining-induced fault reactivation associated with the main conveyor belt roadway and safety of the Barapukuria Coal Mine in Bangladesh:Constraints from BEM simulations[J].International Journal of Coal Geology,2009,79(4):115‒130. doi:10.1016/j.coal.2009.06.007
[8]
PanYishan, WangLaigui, ZhangMengtao,et al.The theoretical and testing study of fault rockburst[J].Chinese Journal of Rock Mechanics and Engineering,1998,17(6):642‒649.
DaiBofan, JuYang, WanChangbing,et al.Preliminary study on transparent analysis of continuous evolution of mining-induced stress fields in surrounding rocks of faulted roadway[J].Journal of Mining and Strata Control Engineering,2025,7(2):45‒58.
YuWeijian, GuoHanxiao, LiKe,et al.Mechanism of reverse fault activation when mining under the condition of thick and hard roof[J].Coal Science and Technology,2025,53(2):1‒11.
WangTongxu, CaoMinghui, JiangDonghai.Study on law of fault activation,failure and energy release under influence of mining[J].Coal Science and Technology,2022,50(7):75‒83.
RenZheng, ZhangKexue, JiangYaodong.Research on response of stress field in working face during thrust fault activation process under mining disturbance[J].Coal Science and Technology,2021,49(9):61‒68.
YuQiuge.Mechanism of abnormal subsidence induced by fault slipping instability during mining on hanging-wall and foot-wall[J].Journal of Mining & Safety Engineering,2021,38(1):41‒50.
ZhangDingding, LiShujun, ZhangXi,et al.Experimental study on mining fault activation characteristics by a distributed optical fiber system[J].Journal of Mining and Strata Control Engineering,2020,2(1):88‒96.
GuoChangsheng, WangXuebin, XueChengyu,et al.Numerical simulation of spatiotemporal distributions of stresses in vicinity of normal fault due to mining within hanging wall[J].Coal Science and Technology,2023,51(3):61‒67.
XuXiaohui, JinguoLyu, LiuChuang,et al.Influence law of fault activation induced by coal extraction based on characteristic parameters of thrust fault[J].Journal of Chongqing University(Natural Science Edition),2015,38(3):107‒115.
YuChunsheng, ShiYongfeng, WangShen,et al.Stress an-alysis and activation law of normal fault with large drop[J].Mining Research and Development,2023,43(10):126‒132.
LiZhihua.Study on mechanism of coal-rock impact induced by fault slip under the influence of mining[D].Xuzhou:China University of Mining and Technology,2009.
HanKeming, YuQiuge, ZhangHuaxing,et al.Mechanism of fault activation when mining on hanging-wall and foot-wall[J].Journal of China Coal Society,2020,45(4):1327‒1335.
WangHongwei, TianZheng, WangQing,et al.Investigation on the mutation effect induced by the coupled destabilization of fault and overburden rock strata during coal mining[J].Journal of China Coal Society,2023,48(8):2961‒2975.
WangHongwei, WangQing, ShiRuiming,et al.A review on the interaction mechanism between coal bursts and fault structure instability from the perspective of multi-physical field[J].Journal of China Coal Society,2022,47(2):762‒790.
ZhangNingbo, ZhaoShankun, DengZhigang,et al.Mechanical instability mechanism of thrust fault under static and dynamic loading[J].Journal of Mining and Safety Engineering,2019,36(6):1186‒1192.
WangHongyan, HuoXiaoyan, ZhengHuiyun.Research progress and application of ground advanced area exploration and management technology[J].China Mining Magazine,2025,34(S1):635‒640.
ZhangDunxi, YangZhangjie, WangQingniu,et al.Study on advance treatment technology of faults in coal mining face[J].Coal Science and Technology,2021,49(3):30‒36.
DongShuning, LiuZhaoxing, WangHao,et al.Experimental study on serum diffusion mechanism during grouting in water conducting fault fracture zone[J].Journal of Mining and Safety Engineering,2022,39(1):174‒183.
YuQiuge, ZhangHuaxing, DengWeinan,et al.Analysis of fault separation generation and its increasing effect on mining zone[J].Journal of China Coal Society,2018,43(12):3286‒3292.
CaiShenghai.Study and application of the interface and weaken method in FLAC3D fault simulation[D].Xuzhou: China University of Mining and Technology,2016.
[55]
蔡胜海.FLAC3D断层模拟中接触面法与弱化法的研究及应用[D].徐州:中国矿业大学,2016.
[56]
XuJuan.Comprehensive evaluation of roof stability of 10th seam in Luling coal mine[D].Huainan:Anhui University of Science & Technology,2014.