In order to analyze the law of unloading instability of deep rock mass, the unloading experiment of sandstone under different confining pressures was carried out, and the mechanical properties and acoustic emission characteristics of sandstone unloading failure under high stress were obtained. The results demonstrate that before unloading, the sandstone under low stress shows compression and elastic deformation, whereas that under high stress shows elastic deformation and plastic deformation. Moreover, the unloading behavior of sandstone under low stress is ductile, whereas that under high stress is brittle. Poisson’s ratio and elastic modulus have negative and positive correlation with initial confining pressure, respectively. During unloading, the higher the initial confining pressure is, the earlier the rock sample damage occurs. Prior to the accelerated damage stage, the unloading amount and AE cumulative count are inversely proportional and directly proportional to the initial confining pressure, respectively. The simultaneous occurrence of UHF, HF, MF, and LF in the AE power spectrum, as well as a steep increase in fractal dimension followed by a decrease, can be used as precursors to unloading instability in sandstone.

In order to explore the failure characteristics of sandstone under unloading conditions in deep zone with high stress, constant axial pressure and unloading confining pressure tests were conducted on a yellow sandstone sample under different initial confining pressures using the French ROCK600‐50 triaxial tester, and the mechanical properties, energy conversion characteristics, and damage evolution law of sandstone failure under unloading conditions were obtained. The test results showed that the axial deformation, the confining pressure for failure, and the shear fracture energy during the failure process of sandstone under the unloading state were positively correlated with the initial confining pressure; the dilatancy amount and speed and the radial deformation were negatively correlated with the initial confining pressure, exhibiting the characteristics of dilatancy under low confining pressure and compression under high confining pressure. Before the unloading point, almost all the energy absorbed by the rock under low initial confining pressure was converted into elastic energy, while part of the energy absorbed under high initial confining pressure was converted into dissipated energy, and the higher the confining pressure, the greater the proportion of the dissipated energy converted. The higher the initial confining pressure, the greater the elastic energy, radial deformation energy, and dissipated energy at the rock fracture point. The larger the unloading confining pressure, the greater the postpeak failure energy and surplus energy of sandstone, and the greater the increase in the proportion of elastic energy converted into surplus energy. The higher the confining pressure, the larger the damage value at the unloading point; the damage speed in the unloading stage was significantly greater than that in the loading stage.

The dip angle, length, spacing, and fracture distance of rock fissure affect the morphology of roadway after collapse. The numerical simulation software CDEM is used to simulate the morphology of roadway collapse. The Monte Carlo model is used to simulate different types of crack models in two-dimensional plane and generate different crack models. The effects of crack angle, crack length, fracture distance, and spacing on the deformation of surrounding rock are analyzed. The influence of different rock burst on the failure strap-fall modes of fissure roadway and roadway in different sections is analyzed, and the stability law of roadway is studied. Under the condition of high stress, the roadway shape has little influence on the distribution of the principal stress difference of surrounding rock, but the equivalent excavation radius determines the distribution of the plastic zone of surrounding rock. The larger the ineffective reinforcement zone is, the larger the deformation around the roadway will be. The decrease of the angle between the structural plane and the vertical stress increases the failure range of the roadway under the gravity burst pressure. Under the horizontal tectonic stress type rock burst, when the structural plane inclination angle is 0°, the two-sided caving body fills the roadway and the roof caving range becomes smaller.

This paper examines the effects of borehole arrangement on the failure process of coal-like materials based on its energy conversion and acoustic characteristics from the perspectives of energy, AE energy, AE spectrum, and frequency band. Findings from the study revealed that the presence of borehole can significantly reduce the conversion ratio and growth rate of elastic energy during the loading of coal-like material sample and delay the release of internal energy of the sample. Also, it can reduce the frequency band energy of the main frequency of acoustic emission signal but has little effect on the size and richness of the peak frequency of acoustic emission signal. The practice that makes drilling diameter and depth increase stepwise can minimize the elastic energy conversion ratio, the growth rate, and the main frequency band energy of acoustic emission signal of coal-like material sample and postpone the internal energy release of the sample to the greatest extent, so as to enrich the richness of the secondary frequency of acoustic emission signal. The results of this study have certain guiding significance for the layout of pressure relief boreholes in the production process of coal mines.

For the rapid construction of a rescue channel in the process of underground emergency rescue, a method for the expanded rescue channel in the collapse body is proposed and verified by a model test and a numerical simulation experiment. The motion characteristics and motion law of the expanded collapse body are analyzed on the basis of the mechanics of granular media, and a comparative simulation study on the main influencing factors of the collapse body motion is carried out. The results show that: (1) When the collapse body is expanded for a rescue channel, it will form three types of six relative slip planes. According to the position of the slip plane and the distribution of displacement, the collapse body can be divided into a direct displacement region, a stable region, and an indirect displacement region. (2) The expansion process can be divided into the initial start-up stage, the uplift stage, and the collapse stage, according to the formation time of the slip plane and the displacement law of the collapse body. (3) The results of the numerical simulation and the theoretical analysis of the granular media show that the dip angle of the slip plane is determined by the internal friction angle of the collapse particles, and the dip angles of the three slip planes are below ${\theta }_1=90°-\phi$, ${\theta }_2=45°+\phi /2$, and ${\theta }_3=90°+\phi /2$. (4) The transverse scope and longitudinal distance is brought by the expansion increase with the increase in the expansion size, and the simulated dip angles of the slip plane are larger than the theoretical values due to the size effect. (5) In the expansion process, the strong force chain in the collapse body is concentrated in the stress arch above the expander device, and the failure and reconstruction laws of the stress arch at each stage are consistent with the formation of the slip plane and the uplift and instability law of the collapse body.

Aiming at the problem that the roof of the soft-hard interbedded coal seam is prone to delamination and caving without warning during coal mining, taking the No. 2201 working face of a certain mine as the engineering background, a numerical simulation was carried out to study the mine pressure laws and fracture characteristics of the working face with soft-hard interbedded roof. The results show that: when the working face advances 32 m, the roof undergoes the first caving. The fracture angles of the rock formations on the working face side and the open-off cut side are 50° and 47° respectively, and a stable three-hinged arch structure is formed between the roof and the two sidewalls. The roof rock formations are mainly damaged by tension, and then it evolves into vertical stress of mutual extrusion. The overall fracture and the development of cracks are irregular, resulting in large-amplitude, high-frequency and long-time fluctuations in the working resistance of the supports. The tangential tension of the cracks in the soft rock layer induces the failure of the hard rock layer, and the fracture of the hard rock layer intensifies the damage of the soft rock layer in the reverse direction. The two form a mutual feedback mechanism of failure, making the overall strength of the interbedded roof significantly lower than that of a single hard rock layer. This study reveals the disaster-causing mechanism of the coordinated fracture of the soft-hard interbedded roof, which can provide a theoretical basis for roof control.