The height of water-conducting fracture zones (WCFZs) is vital for the prevention of water, gas, and roof accidents in coal mines. However, its dynamic evolution law and maximum height are difficult to be obtained by traditional prediction methods, especially for conditions in which there is high overburden caving strength and a thick coal seam. Therefore, taking the 150,313 fully mechanized caving working face in Yingying Coal Mine as a background, according to the principle of optimized processes, a new predicting approach based on the Brillouin optical time-domain reflectometry (BOTDR) is proposed. Firstly, we estimated the height through empirical formula calculation, theoretical analysis, and similar model simulation tests. Secondly, we studied the optimized layout of optical cables in the overburden in detail for predicting the maximum height of the WCFZ and keeping the cables in good performance during field prediction. Thirdly, we researched and optimized the borehole parameters, optical fiber selection, and the special protection measures. Finally, we applied the aforementioned optimized outcomes in the field experiment to dynamically predict the height of the WCFZ. As a result of the field experiment, the distribution characteristics of optical fiber strain, the maximum height, and the evolution law of the WCFZ were obtained through the regular monitoring of fiber strain using BOTDR. The experiment demonstrated that its maximum height is consistent with the results studied indoors. The validation and feasibility of the approach proposed in this paper were verified via the aforementioned studies. The research in this paper has good reference value and important significance for predicting the height of the WCFZ using BOTDR in coal mines with similar geological and productive conditions.

Although it is of great significance to master the height of the water-conducting fracture zone (WCFZ) to prevent coal mine disasters and ensure safe production, the most important thing is to predict the height and range of the WCFZ ahead of the working face design before coal mining. Therefore, the 150313 fully mechanized top-coal caving working face of the Yinying coal mine was taken as the engineering background. The development laws of WCFZ were studied using comprehensive research methods, including similar simulation experiments, key strata theory, the experience formula, the numerical simulation, etc. The results show that the WCFZ evolution stage is “goaf–caving zone–fracture zone” and the developing pattern is in a non-isosceles trapezoid gradually developing upward and forward. The height of the WCFZ in the 150313 working face is 89.36 m, and the fracture/mining ratio is 12.46, which is consistent with the actual production. Apparently, the set of indoor research methods in this paper is feasible to predict the height and scope of the WCFZ. The research results can provide a scientific reference for safe mining of the 15^# coal seam in Shanxi Province and the prevention and control of roof water hazards.

Roof displacement monitoring is an important means to ensure roof stability and prevent roof accidents of Coal Roadways (CRs). In this paper a new sensor of roof settlement displacement (RSD) monitoring of CRs' roof by the pre-stretched optical fiber (PSOF) laid out horizontally at fixed points was proposed. The principle of the sensor is to qualitively and quantitively characterize the RSD by the Fiber Optic Strain (FOS) which is measured based on distributed fiber optic strain measurement. Through theoretical analysis, the mathematical expression for quantifying RSD is derived. The correctness of the sensor is verified by the indoors FOS experiments and the field monitoring of CRs' roof in Yinying Coal Mine. This new sensor can be applied not only to the roof of CRs, but also to the displacement monitoring of other structures with the similar settlement presentation.

Mastering the movement laws of hard overlying rock layers is the foundation of the development of coal mining technology and plays an important role in improving coal mine safety production. Therefore, an indoor similar simulation experiment was conducted based on an actual coal mining face to test the strain variations of the pre-embedded optical fibers in the model using distributed fiber optic sensing. Finally, the fiber optic strain distribution curve was used to characterize the movement form and state of the overlying rock layer and fractured rock blocks. The experimental results showed the following. (1) The strain distribution of horizontally laid optical fibers is characterized by an upward trapezoidal convex platform, reflecting the evolution law of various horizontal movement forms of overlying rock layers: voussoir beam → cantilever beam → reverse cantilever beam → voussoir beam. The strain curve of vertically laid optical fibers is characterized by two levels of right-handed trapezoidal protrusions above and below, representing the motion state of the upper voussoir beam–lower cantilever beam structure of the overburden. (2) In addition, as excavation progresses, the range and height of the failure deformation of the overlying rock layers develop in a stepped shape. (3) In the end, the final vertical development heights of the cantilever beam structure and the voussoir beam structure in the overburden were 90.27 m and 24.99 m, respectively. The experimental results are highly consistent with the UDEC numerical simulation and mandatory calculation formulas, thus verifying the feasibility of the experiment. These research results provide theoretical and experimental support for safe coal mining in practical working faces.