Responses of roof and pillars of underground coal mines to vibration induced by adjacent open-pit blasting

Investigations were carried out at seven underground coal mines in India to characterise the responses of roof and pillars of underground workings to the vibrations induced by adjacent open-pit blasting. The roof rocks of the selected underground instrumented panels were having RMR between 36.7 to 57. Monitoring of strata behaviour was carried out before and after blasts. Arrangements were made to mount the transducers of seismographs in roof and pillars to monitor the vibration. Attempts were made to monitor the vibration simultaneously, for a blast, in the pillar and at the junction of the roof or away from the junction in the gallery. 102 sets of such vibration data were recorded in the underground mines. It was observed that the roof of underground roadways vibrated with higher peak particle velocity (PPV) compared to pillars. The amplification of vibration in the roof compared to pillars, away from the junction, was 1.02 to 2.58 times whereas at the junctions, it was 2.04 to 5.57 times.