Investigation of the Deformation Failure Occurring When Extracting Minerals via Underground Mining: A Case Study

Metal mines mined using the sublevel caving method often exhibit various environmental problems on the ground surface. This can affect the safety of the production process in the mining area. A numerical model using Universal Distinct Element Code has been established to investigate deformation failure giving rise to this underground mining. The calculations are combined with in-situ monitoring data collected over a period of 10 years. The results indicate that the strata movement in the footwall can be divided into two stages: an arch caving development stage and post arch caving development stage. Mining disturbance is the main cause of caving in the arch caving development stage. The overlying strata experience ‘caving–stability–caving’, leading to the formation of an ‘arch-shaped’ caving pattern. In the post arch caving development stage, flexural-toppling deformation occurs in the strata in the direction of the collapse pit due to the tectonic stress present and high dip angles of the discontinuities. Through-going failure surface has been analyzed by studying the plastic state and displacement of elements. The formation of through-going failure surface is related to the flexural-toppling deformation and stress concentration caused by mining activities. Based on the different failure mechanisms, an efficient partition has been proposed such that the footwall can be divided into a stable zone, flexural-toppling failure zone, compression and slipping-toppling failure zone, and shear-slipping failure zone. The results are a useful reference when applied to the Chengchao Iron Mine and other similar metal mines