Mechanical characteristics and deformation control of surrounding rock in weakly cemented siltstone

The roof of coal seams are mostly soft rock with weak cementation. To further study the mechanical characteristics and deformation control scheme of the roadway with weakly cemented siltstone as roof, this paper took Linchang coal mine as the research background and adopted field investigation methods, laboratory experiments, and theoretical analysis. Using a scanning electron microscope, it is found that the weakly cemented siltstone is composed of coarse-grained minerals with a high degree of pore development. According to the analysis, the instability factors of weakly cemented siltstone roadway include the late diagenetic age of rock, the low mechanical strength of rock, and the change of surrounding rock properties by pouring water. The selection of grouting reinforcement materials was studied in detail. The test results show that cement-bonded specimens’ strength is lower than that of Marithan polyurethane cement specimens in general. The combined support scheme based on grouting reinforcement is put forward. Field monitoring data show that the designed support scheme can effectively control the surrounding rock deformation of weakly cemented siltstone roadway.