International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 22 (2012) 613–617

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International Journal of Mining Science and Technology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijmst

A new cable truss support system for coal roadways affected by dynamic pressure
Hong Yan a,⇑, Fulian He a,b
a
College of Resources & Safety Engineering, China University of Mining & Technology, Beijing 100083, China
b
State Key Laboratory of Coal Resources and Safe Mining, Beijing 100083, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The support of coal roadways is seriously affected by intense dynamic pressures. This can lead to prob-
Received 14 December 2011 lems with large deformation of the roof and the two side walls of coal roadways. Rapid convergence of
Received in revised form 26 January 2012 the walls and roof, a high damage rate to the bolts and cables, or even abrupt roof collapse or rib spalling
Accepted 28 February 2012
can occur during the service period of these coal roadways. Analyzing the main support measures used in
Available online 13 September 2012
China leads to a proposed new cable truss supporting system. Thorough study of the entire structure
shows the superiority of this design for roadways suffering under dynamic pressure. A corresponding
Keywords:
mechanical model of the rock surrounding the cable truss system is described in this paper and formulas
Dynamic pressure
Roof collapse
for calculating pre-tightening forces of the truss cable, and the minimum anchoring forces, were deduced.
Cable truss The new support system was applied to a typical roadway affected by intensive dynamic pressure that is
Pre-tightening force located in the Xinyuan Coal Mine. The results show that the largest subsidence of the roof was 97 mm, the
convergence of the two sides was less than 248 mm, and the average depth of the loose, fractured layer
was only 6.12 mm. This proves that the new support system is feasible and effective.
Ó 2012 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of China University of Mining & Technology.

1. Introduction
The total coal production in 2010 was 3.25 billion tons in China.
This is 2.35 times as much as that in 2001 and 1.09 times that pro-
duced in 2009. Although this increasing production ensures the
growth of the national economy it is difficult for many coal mines
to balance between mining and excavation activity. This is espe-
cially true for supporting roadways affected by dynamic pressure
two or more times [1–4]. The common characteristics of deforma-
tion in these roadways include rapid breaking, large roof subsi-
dence, convergence of both side walls, and frequent damage of
conventional bolt and cable supports. As time passes, the roadway
is prone to abrupt caving or rib spalling accidents [5,6], as illus-
trated in Fig. 1a. This directly threatens the safety of the workers
and renders subsequent repair of the roof collapse difficult and un-
safe because of the large area involved, see Fig. 1b.
The support measures applied to mining gateways repeatedly
affected by dynamic pressure consist of: (1) Combining supports
with bolts, cables, and U-shaped steel; (2) Lengthened resin an-
chors and supports together with high strength bolts and cables;
(3) Excavation of unconventional roadway sections and grouting
for reinforcement of the cables; (4) And, highly pre-stressing the
entire short cable support around the cross-section [7–12].
Although these support methods have been used in the coal
fields, the first and third methods are so trivial in their results that
adopting U-shape steel supports or additional grouting just
decreases the excavation speed and then changes the balance of ef-
fort between actual mining and ancillary excavation.
Intensive dynamic pressure on the roadway when the second
method is used leads to results that are far from universally suc-
cessful. For instance, many roadways are affected by dynamic pres-
sure in the Xinyuan Coal Mine and suffer large deformation and
damage. This includes some steel bands breaking up, serious roof
subsidence, bolts pulling out, and supporting plates dropping down,
among other things. Despite all these deformations the roadways
are still brought to a passive situation by immediate repairing after
excavation. Occasionally a cycle of excavation and repair results.
Comprehensive consideration of these support measures sug-
gests the last has the best effect on roadways affected by dynamic
pressure, especially for many intensive coal roadways.
From the viewpoint of support economics, however, the costs
are significantly increased and this method is difficult to put into
practice in a wide range of situations.
A new cable truss support system is proposed and analyzed
herein that will safeguard the security of a roadway affected by
intensive dynamic pressure and will reduce the cost of support.
These facts will make it widely applicable.
2. A new cable truss support system
2.1. Key structure and supports

⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 13426073906. Fig. 2 shows the supporting structures including the cable truss
E-mail address: cumtbyh@foxmail.com (Y. Hong). system, bolt truss system, and a simple form of cable truss system

2095-2686/$ - see front matter Ó 2012 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of China University of Mining & Technology.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmst.2012.08.003
614 Y. Hong, H. Fulian / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 22 (2012) 613–617

Fig. 1. Broken roadway and subsequent treatment.

with joint steel [13–18]. Pre-tightening forces have been increased
from no pre-tightening force to a low pre-tightening force, then to
a high pre-tightening force. The new cable truss support system in-
cludes highly pre-stressed cables of a relatively small diameter, re-
sin anchors, connectors, and lock sets. The cables in this system go
through the roof obliquely and are then anchored with a suitable
resin bonding agent. About one and a half hour later the outside
cable should be immediately locked with an arc connector after
applying the high pre-tightening force.
The superiority of the new cable truss support system can be
generalized as follows. The force is applied in two directions, pro-
viding a long and relatively soft linear shearing force along with
firm bolting points locked along with roof deformation. Salient
points are:
 The support system reinforces both in the vertical and horizon-
tal directions, which switches the stress from two directions
into a balanced stress state;
 The cable is much longer than a conventional bolt so the sup-
ported region is also larger. Meanwhile, the superior extension
provides a powerful shearing assistance;
 The linear contact between the outer section of the cable and
the roof provides a uniform force on the shallow surrounding
rock;
 The bolt points are located in regions deep in the roof and coal
sides so spalling can be prevented and the roof is stabilized;
 As the support system deforms it will gradually lock and, thus,
can control larger roof displacements.
The main support styles using bolts or cables in the coal fields in
China are listed, compared, and analyzed in detail in Table 1.
In conclusion, the cable truss is superior compared to the con-
ventional cable and the bolt truss. The conventional cable has a lar-
ger support range, which could harmonize the shallow and deep
stratum during excavation and service periods. Bolt trusses tie
the roof to the support structure in a horizontal direction as roof
subsidence occurs, which can control roof deformation to a degree.
The cable truss system replaces the bolt and bar with the cable and
the connector respectively. This allows larger pre-stress to be
applied than in the bolt and truss method and results in a higher
strength for the whole system. Hence, the cable truss system pro-
vides greater supporting to complex roadways than can the con-
ventional cable and bolt truss.
2.2. A mechanical model of the rock surrounding a cable truss support
The friction forces between the outer section of the cable and
the shallow surrounding rock of the roof, and between the inner
section of the cable and deep surrounding rock, are small after
applying pre-tightening force in the cable truss support system.
These forces can be omitted during calculations and analysis. How-
ever, the intersection between the cable and the intermediate roof
bears a considerable force. The locally effective stress on the roof is
included in the mechanical model of the surrounding rock and
cable truss support as shown in Fig. 3. The calculations of anchor-
ing and pre-tightening forces in the support designed for field
applications are given by Eq. (1).

P p
6 F 1  cos b  ð1Þ
2 2
P1 ¼ P2 ¼ P=2 ¼ q0 a=2 ð2Þ
where P is a vertical force, N; F1 the friction force inside the inclined
cable, N; b the obtuse angle between the horizontal and the inclined
cable; and q0 the uniform stress, N/m2.
Furthermore, following Fig. 4, the relationship between the pre-
tightening force, F, and the friction force, F1, is obtained from:
b
F 1 ¼ F  j  2F cos ð3Þ
2
where j is the friction coefficient.
Then, substituting F1 from Eq. (3) gives:
P
FP     ð4Þ
2 1  2j cos 2b cos b  p2
Now suppose the rock inside the cable truss is under a uniform
load. Then the pre-tightening force should exceed the horizontal
force that arises from the combed effects of the ground stress
and the vertical load:

(a) Bolt truss (b) Simple cable truss with joist steel (c) Conventional type of cable truss

Fig. 2. Schematic diagrams showing bolt or cable truss systems.

 Y. Hong, H. Fulian / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 22 (2012) 613–617 615

Table 1
A comparison of support methods using bolts or cables.

Support style comparison
index
Adaptive production and
geological condition
Position of bolting points
Connection pattern
Fastener to connect two
cables
Pre-tightening force and
corresponding direction
Contact style between
support system and
anchoring surrounding
rock
Structural property
Control region and roof
anti-shear deformation
Stress state of surrounding
rock in the region of
anchoring
Cable truss support
Intensive dynamic pressure
effect, large cross-section,
complex surrounding rock
Above coal sides in deep and
compressive rock strata
Flexible connection
Arc connection and locking
device
Large, horizontal and vertical
upward directions
Linear contact, continuous
transmission
Equal strength, locking, large
structure
Long, wide, high, strong
Significantly improves stress
state of the roof in horizontal
and vertical direction
Bolt truss support
General dynamic pressure effect,
relatively large cross-section,
simple surrounding rock
Nearby the coal sides in shallow
rock strata
Rigid connection
Horizontal threadbar, truss
bracket, tightening nut
Small, horizontal and vertical
upward directions
Nonlinear contact, discontinuous
transmission
Unequal strength, small structure
Long, narrow, low, weak
Improves stress state of the roof in
horizontal and vertical direction
Single cable support
General dynamic pressure
effect, small cross-section,
simple surrounding rock
Above the roadway, easily
affected
Connect without the
horizontal direction
Large support plate, lock set
Large, vertical upward
direction
Point to point contact
No structure
Short, wide, high, without
effect
Unable to improve stress state
of the roof in the horizontal
direction
Simple cable truss support
General dynamic pressure
effect, large cross-section,
complex surrounding rock
Above coal sides in deep and
compressive rock strata
Flexible connection
Support plate, lock set
Small, horizontal and vertical
upward directions
Linear contact, discontinuous
transmission
Unequal strength, small
structure
Long, wide, low, weak
Improves stress state of the
roof in horizontal and vertical
direction

q0
and 3.0 m high and the roof rock stratum is composed of multiple
mudstone layers. A section of the immediate roof of the extracting
roadway contains 2# coal in a thickness from 0 to 0.1 m.
In addition, each roof layer has a great deal of developed cracks.
The layer thickness is from 0.1 to 0.5 m and the crack spacing is
F1
from 0.1 to 0.5 m. Hence splitting of the roof rock can occur and
this might extend to final caving once the support system for the
A B
roadway is weakened and unable to adapt to the local deformation.
P1 F P2
These results from the intensive dynamic pressure developed after
installing supports.
Fig. 3. Mechanical model for calculations.

3.1. Deformation of analogous roadways

Y
A large number of roadways having analogous geometric and
production conditions show general trends described below.
F1
Deformation accompanies the driving of the roadway and mining
of a nearby work face is present in all these roadways.
In this situation most of the steel bands become broken because
F β
of intensive shearing forces, a number of the anchor bolts in the
O X surrounding roof rock fail to support the large split layer, especially
for shallower bolts. The surrounding rock that is in contact with
the air and is supported by a combined bolt, cable, and metal net
Fig. 4. Mechanical relationship between F1 and F in the cable. method is so cracked that there is little actual support for sur-
rounding rock itself. The roof and coal sides move to the inside
of the roadway.
F P k1  q0  a ð5Þ
Moreover, the damaged floor rock in these roadways squeezes
where k1 is the ratio of horizontal load to vertical load; and a the upward, which has a serious influence on ventilation, walking,
width of the roadway, m. haulage, and safety. Deformation and breaking reduced the
Finally, combining Eqs. (4) and (5) gives the applied calculation breadth and height of the roadway to less than 1.5 m, which makes
formulas for the pre-tightening force and the anchoring force: it very difficult for workers to walk and must be repaired either
( ) once or perhaps many times.
q0  a
F ¼ max     ; k1  q0  a ð6Þ
2 1  2j cos 2b cos b  p2 3.2. Initial treatment to roadways affected by dynamic pressure
F A ¼ k2  F 1 ¼ k2 ð1  2j cos b=2ÞF ð7Þ
Bolt and cable supports are proposed as a supplemental treat-
ment for roadways with complex geological and production condi-
3. Application of the new cable truss supports in a typical tions. Dynamic pressure affects some roadways in the Xinyuan
roadway Coal Mine and increasing the wood pillars for additional support,
raising the density of support bolts or cables, and the adoption of
A 3# coal is mined at the field trial location in the Xinyuan Coal stronger cables has been practiced. However, the serious deforma-
Mine. Here the coal is soft and fluffy. The roadway is 4.5 m wide tion of these roadways fails to change, in essence, and production
616 Y. Hong, H. Fulian / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 22 (2012) 613–617

Conventional cable costs of the roadway; (3) a reduction in accident treatment costs;
Cable truss (4) A speed up of the fully mechanized coal face. The social benefits
consist of three parts: (1) An improvement in the support velocity
and the relationship between excavation and mining; (2) A reduc-
tion in the working intensity of the miners; (3) A strengthening of
the ability of the support system to ensure safe work.
10° 20°
250 250 4. Conclusions
1000 1000 1000 1000
300
(1) The main support methods for coal roadways affected by
10° 1200 2100 1200 intensive dynamic pressures have been studied and ana-
800

800 800 800

10°
lyzed in detail. The characteristics of the surrounding rock
Connector
1200

deformation suggest a new pattern of cable and truss sup-

ports. The support construction, and its advantages, in com-
5°
plex roadways were studied.
1000

(2) The mechanical relationship between the roof surrounding

2250 rock and the cable truss support system was studied by
4500
use of a mechanical model. Calculations and analysis gave
a theoretical formula for the pre-tightening force required
Fig. 5. Support scheme with a cable truss system (mm).
for the truss cables. The lowest anchoring force between
the roof surrounding rock and the cable were deduced.
Table 2
(3) A trial application to an extensively damaged roadway in the
Parameters of the cable truss. Xinyuan Coal Mine showed that the displacements of both
the roof and the coal side walls were small and that the loose
Each single cable Cable truss support system
fractured layer was well controlled. This proves the effec-
Length Diameter Angle Anchoring Pre- Row Distance tiveness of this support system and the reasonable parame-
(m) (mm) (°) length (m) tightening spacing between
ters adopted for the scheme.
force (kN) (m) two
drills (m)
9.4 17.8 20 1.2 160 1.6 2.1
Acknowledgments

Financial support for this work, provided by the National Basic

cannot normally continue. This breaks the balance between exca-
vating and mining and leads to repeated repairs.
3.3. Combined control scheme with a new cable truss support system
Research Program of China (No. 2010CB226802), the Fundamental
Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 2010YZ02), and
the State Key Laboratory of Coal Resources and Safe Mining (No.
SKLCRSM 10B08), are gratefully acknowledged.

The cable truss support system combined with conventional

bolts and cables gives a final control system designed by theoreti-
cal calculations, numerical simulations, and field observations. The
properties of the 1  19, high strength cable made from high
extension rate steel strands includes a diameter of 17.8 mm and
a length of 4.3 m.
The resin anchor used in the roof is 1200 mm long with a gen-
eral solidification rate. The acute angle between the inclined cables
nearby each coal side and the vertical is 10°. The pre-tightening
force of all the conventional cables should be no less than
160 kN. The support scheme is shown in Fig. 5. The main parame-
ters of the truss cable are shown in Table 2.
3.4. Monitoring the support
Once the new support pattern was installed in the trial roadway
monitoring of deformation in the surrounding rock began. The
observations show that the roof subsidence was 97 mm, the con-
vergence between the coal sides was no more than 248 mm, the
broken layer in the shallow rock stratum was 9 mm, and the aver-
age broken layer was just 6.12 mm. All these observations suggest
the different roof layers are maintained in a relatively integrated
state. Both the field observations and the measured data prove that
the cable truss support system plays an important role in safe-
guarding the roadway and that it achieves the expected target.
Adopting the cable truss support system has provided good eco-
nomic benefits including: (1) A decrease in the support material
and roadway excavation costs; (2) A reduction in maintenance
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