Numerical Analysis on Top Coal Caving of 2# Coal Seam in First Mine of Chagannaoer

In first mine of Chagannaoer, 2# coal seam, the mainly mined out layer, was 22.00m thickness in average. In order to meet the requirements of production ability, the mine was planned to apply mining technology of fully mechanized caving. Good or bad of top coal’s caving was an important prerequisite which decided the mining technology of top coal caving could be chosen or not. Due to lack of producing mines in this region and no experience to refer, we simulated the mining process of 2# coal seam using numerical software of FLAC3D, and gained evolution laws of stress and displacement of top coal and overlying strata and expansion laws of plastic zone. Through analysis, we got that the top coal damaged seriously and the top coal could be caved smoothly. Relying on the geological conditions of site, we verified the simulated results with method of fuzzy comprehensive evaluation. Combined with the research results, we decided that 2# coal seam’s caving was better and was convenient for top coal caving, so it was suitable for caving mining in 2# coal seam in first mine of Chagannaoer.