Influence of Section Shape and Buried Depth on Rock Loosening Zone around Underground Roadway in Coal Mine

[Image: see text] Owing to differences in deformation characteristics of roadways with different section shapes and depths, it is difficult to determine the support form and grouting depth of a roadway, which can cause serious deformation to the roadway. To address the challenges in determining the shape and grouting depth of a roadway section when the mine depth is known, the loose zone range of the roadway was tested using the acoustic method, and the loose zone evolution law under different conditions was performed by numerical simulations. The research results revealed that when the ratio of the maximum principal stress to the minimum principal stress is η > 3, the distribution of the rock loosening zone under different cross-sectional shapes was roughly “butterfly-shaped”, and the “smoother” the cross section in the design of the roadway, the smaller the range of the rock loosening zone. With the increase of burial depth, the rock loosening zone and sealing depth also increase; the rock loosening zone and burial depth have a power function relationship the rock loosening zone range = a·burial depth(b); the sealing depth and burial depth have a linear relationship R = aH + b.