Deformation Characteristics of Weakly Cemented Overburden in Western Mining Areas: A Case Study of the Yili No. 4 Mine

Deformation Characteristics of Weakly Cemented Overburden in Western Mining Areas: A Case Study of the Yili No. 4 Mine | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Deformation Characteristics of Weakly Cemented Overburden in Western Mining Areas: A Case Study of the Yili No. 4 Mine Guanyu zhang, Haozhen Zhang, Guo Li, Juntao chen, Long Zhao, Guangneng Zhou This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8587004/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 19 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Understanding the deformation behavior of weakly cemented overburden in western coalfields is critical for assessing mining-induced instability and groundwater hazards. In this study, we integrate FLAC3D numerical simulations with field monitoring data to quantify the influence of mining depth and face advance on overburden responses. Results reveal a characteristic “progressive growth–stabilization” evolution of vertical displacement, accompanied by a distinct development of the caving zone, water-conducting fracture zone, and plastic deformation zone. The heights of these zones exhibit strong sensitivity to mining thickness and depth, reflecting the inherent mechanical vulnerability of weakly cemented strata. The close agreement between simulation outputs and in situ measurements confirms the robustness of the modeling framework. Overall, this work provides essential quantitative parameters for water-inrush prevention in western mining areas, offering scientific guidance for designing waterproof coal-pillar heights and predicting fracture-zone propagation during mining operations. Physical sciences/Energy science and technology Physical sciences/Engineering Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences Earth and environmental sciences/Natural hazards Earth and environmental sciences/Solid earth sciences western mining area weakly cemented overburden flac3D deformation evolution three-zone development waterproof coal pillar Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 19 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 06 Feb, 2026 Reviews received at journal 05 Feb, 2026 Reviews received at journal 24 Jan, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 20 Jan, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 20 Jan, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 20 Jan, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 19 Jan, 2026 Editor invited by journal 19 Jan, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 15 Jan, 2026 First submitted to journal 15 Jan, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8587004","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":577484537,"identity":"093819b4-6144-4f4f-b921-82b997b564b7","order_by":0,"name":"Guanyu zhang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Yili Xinkuang Coal Industry Co.Ltd","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Guanyu","middleName":"","lastName":"zhang","suffix":""},{"id":577484538,"identity":"6d9cbd07-a26e-46af-b230-4209e823be3a","order_by":1,"name":"Haozhen Zhang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Shandong University of Science and 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cemented overburden, flac3D, deformation evolution, three-zone development, waterproof coal pillar","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8587004/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8587004/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eUnderstanding the deformation behavior of weakly cemented overburden in western coalfields is critical for assessing mining-induced instability and groundwater hazards. In this study, we integrate FLAC3D numerical simulations with field monitoring data to quantify the influence of mining depth and face advance on overburden responses. Results reveal a characteristic \u0026ldquo;progressive growth\u0026ndash;stabilization\u0026rdquo; evolution of vertical displacement, accompanied by a distinct development of the caving zone, water-conducting fracture zone, and plastic deformation zone. The heights of these zones exhibit strong sensitivity to mining thickness and depth, reflecting the inherent mechanical vulnerability of weakly cemented strata. The close agreement between simulation outputs and in situ measurements confirms the robustness of the modeling framework. Overall, this work provides essential quantitative parameters for water-inrush prevention in western mining areas, offering scientific guidance for designing waterproof coal-pillar heights and predicting fracture-zone propagation during mining operations.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Deformation Characteristics of Weakly Cemented Overburden in Western Mining Areas: A Case Study of the Yili No. 4 Mine","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-01-22 19:58:23","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8587004/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2026-02-06T05:03:09+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-02-05T11:53:54+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-01-25T02:29:12+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"269405581388197386640489280560696020884","date":"2026-01-20T12:47:08+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"281527779678486642166646913368838674272","date":"2026-01-20T11:50:31+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-01-20T11:03:55+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2026-01-20T01:53:28+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2026-01-19T15:33:46+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2026-01-16T01:03:01+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Scientific Reports","date":"2026-01-16T00:58:12+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"f2aa3bf3-57c5-4533-b69e-6be5554ba9c3","owner":[],"postedDate":"January 22nd, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[{"id":61439387,"name":"Physical sciences/Energy science and technology"},{"id":61439388,"name":"Physical sciences/Engineering"},{"id":61439389,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences"},{"id":61439390,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Natural hazards"},{"id":61439391,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Solid earth sciences"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-03-23T16:12:55+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-8587004","link":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-44166-4","journal":{"identity":"scientific-reports","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Scientific Reports"},"publishedOn":"2026-03-19 15:58:05","publishedOnDateReadable":"March 19th, 2026"},"versionCreatedAt":"2026-01-22 19:58:23","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1038/s41598-026-44166-4","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-44166-4","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8587004","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8587004","identity":"rs-8587004","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}