The deformation and failure of a coal–rock system in a deep environment is affected by its own mechanical properties, natural endowments, and geological structures; it is very important to study the energy evolution law of coal–rock systems. For this purpose, a Particle Flow Code in 2 Dimensions (PFC2D) simulation was conducted to assess the coal–rock structure and roadway surrounding rock. The hard roof would produce a rebound “energy supply” phenomenon when the coal was destroyed, and the influence of rock strength on the energy evolution of the coal–rock combination was analyzed. In addition, the energy evolution law of roadway surrounding rock with different roof strength is studied; the energy evolution process of roof and coal seam and deep and shallow coal mass are compared, according to the energy storage characteristics of roadway surrounding rock in different areas; the partition energy storage model of roadway surrounding rock is established preliminarily and the concepts of energy storage area and energy supply area of roadway surrounding rock are proposed; the prevention and control methods of near-field rock burst in deep roadways are discussed, and the research conclusions can provide theoretical reference for the research on the mechanism of rock burst in deep coal mines.

The main functions of a three-dimensional test device for simulating rock formations and surface movement affected by underground coal mining were described in detail, and a series of similar related tests were carried out. The device consisted of an outer frame, a pressurization unit, a pulling unit, and a coal seam simulation portion. Using this test device, supported by monitoring methods such as the three-dimensional laser scanner method, a model test study on the surface subsidence characteristics caused by coal seam mining was carried out. Combined with the field measurements, the transfer law of surface subsidence caused by coal seam mining was revealed, and the whole surface subsidence response process was analyzed. The experimental results show that the subsidence caused by mining disturbances below the coal seam accounts for 79.3% of the total subsidence, which is the dominant factor of the total surface subsidence. After long-term surface observations, surface subsidence can be divided into four stages after coal mining, and the settlement value of the obvious settlement stage accounts for more than 60% of the total settlement value. The above test results fully reflect the feasibility and practicality of the three-dimensional test device to simulate rock strata and surface movement and provide a new experimental research tool that can be used to further study the surface subsidence characteristics and control caused by coal mining.

The stress of rock strata changes under mining action, and the arch structure will be formed around the mining area. The stability study of the arch structure has crucial scientific value for solving the problems of stope pressure and surface subsidence. In this paper, the development process of rock strata arch structure is studied by theoretical analysis and particle flow numerical simulation, and the stability of the arch structure is analyzed. At the same time, based on the rock strata breaking theory, the calculation formulas of the development height and the critical width of the instability of the arch structure are obtained, and the correctness of the formula is verified by numerical simulation. The results show that during the mining stage of the working face, the rock strata arch structure has experienced the process of arching-arch breaking, and the instability of the arch structure is the root cause of increasing surface subsidence damage. The arch structure development height h is the sum of rock strata breaking height H_i and unbroken rock strata arch development height H_ig. The theoretical calculation shows that when the width:depth ratio of the working face is 1.60, the height of the arch structure exceeds the bedrock top, which is consistent with the numerical simulation results and verifies the correctness of the formula. By defining the instability coefficient C of rock strata arch structure, a method to judge the stability of the arch structure is provided. The theoretical calculation shows that the critical width L₀ of the arch structure instability is 134 m, which is not much different from the numerical simulation results of 136 m, and the correctness of the formula is proved. The research results have particular reference value for preventing ground disasters caused by underground coal mining and controlling ground subsidence and provide a reference for the application of the particle flow method in studying rock strata movement.