Large-scale goafs are left after coal seam mining. Due to the low-lying terrain, the goaf will be filled and soaked by groundwater, which may lead to instability of the remaining coal pillars in the goaf and cause uneven settlement of the overlying rock. Consequently, there may be overlying rock movement and surface subsidence, which endangers the safety of the building (structure) above the goaf. Considering the strip goaf of Dai Zhuang coal pillar as an example, this study investigated the evolution of instability and deformation of surrounding rocks affected by water immersion using the similar material simulation test method. The results of the study reveal that under the effect of prolonged water immersion in the goaf, the damage to the coal pillar in the strip underwent a stagewise evolution process of several instances of creep damage at the edge of coal pillar followed by overall destabilization damage, and the overburden movement revealed stage characteristics of small step subsidence several times followed by sudden large subsidence. Furthermore, based on Wilson’s coal pillar instability theory, the instability mechanism of the strip coal pillar under the action of water immersion was found to be triggered by the reduced strength of the coal pillar from the effect of water immersion, the continuous creep damage to the strip coal pillar from outside to inside, and the continuous shortening of the elastic zone of the coal pillar until its bearing capacity was lower than the load it was carrying. The research results are expected to serve as theoretical guidance for the study of coal pillar stability and the development and utilization of surface construction above goafs.

In order to study the dynamic change law of the porosity of the compacted broken coal under different axial stress loading, based on the environment of the broken and compacted coal in the gob, aiming at the influence of the porosity on the spontaneous combustion of the coal, combined with the fractal theory, the fractal model of the porosity of the broken coal is established. A self‐designed “testing device for permeability evolution and spontaneous combustion characteristics of crushed coal under pressure” is used to carry out axial loading test on selected coal samples in the gob. By comparing and analyzing the calculated results of void dynamic evolution model and experimental data, it is found that the relative error of void dynamic evolution model is between 2.8% and 6.2%, which meets the engineering needs. According to the stress‐strain curve, initial accumulation state parameters, fractal dimension of initial crushing, and particle size distribution, the change of porosity under different compacted conditions can be predicted by the model, which has certain significance for identifying the change of compacted broken coal porosity and analyzing the process of coal spontaneous combustion and oxidation.

Gob is one of the most serious areas of coal spontaneous combustion. With the continuous increase of mining depth, the residual coal in gob bears increased axial stress, the rise of ground temperature, and the degree of fragmentation of mining coal and rock continues to increase, the external water in the mining process changes the water content of broken residual coal, under the influence of multiple factors, the prevention and control situation of coal spontaneous combustion in gob is becoming more serious. Based on the actual accumulation environment of residual coal in gob, this paper carried out the oxidation and temperature rise experiment of broken coal under the condition of water bearing and pressure. The variation laws of oxidation characteristic parameters such as outlet oxygen concentration, oxidation derived gas, oxygen consumption rate and heat release intensity were obtained. It is found that with the increase of water content of coal sample, the water content first promotes and then inhibits the oxidation process of coal. It is found that after water molecules form a relatively stable hydrogen bond with oxygen-containing functional groups, the total energy of the two-phase materials decreases, and the reason for the decrease of wetting heat release is analyzed. The influence mechanism of axial stress loading on coal spontaneous combustion oxidation process is studied. It is found that the increase of axial stress first promotes and then inhibits the process of coal spontaneous combustion.