A review of mechanism and prevention technologies of coal bumps in China

Abstract Coal bump refers to a sudden catastrophic failure of coal seam and usually can cause serious damages to underground mining facilities and staff. In this circumstance, this paper focuses on the recent achievements in the mechanism and prevention techniques of coal bumps over the past five years in China. Based on theoretical analysis, laboratory experiment, numerical simulation and field test, the characteristics of coal bumps occurrence in China's coal mines were described, and the difference between coal bumps and rockbursts was also discussed. In addition, three categories of coal bumps induced by “material failure” were introduced, i.e. hard roof, floor strata and tectonic structures, in which the mechanism of coal bumps induced by geological structures was analyzed. This involves the bump liability and microstructure effects on bump-prone coal failure, the mechanism of coal bumps in response to fault reactivation, island face mining or hard roof failure. Next, the achievements in the monitoring and controlling methods of coal bumps were reviewed. These methods involve the incorporated prediction system of micro-seismicity and mining-induced pressure, the distributed micro-seismic monitoring system, energy absorption support system, bolts with constant resistance and large elongation, and the “multi-stage” high-performance support. Finally, an optimal mining design is desirable for the purpose of coal bump mitigation.