In longwall coal exploitation, problems with the proper functioning of the powered shield support often occur. In many cases, it results from the insufficient load-bearing capacity of the ground (floor) and the inability to achieve the set or yield pressure of the shield support. The improper functioning of the shield support may also result from its construction and the lack of optimisation to work effectively on a weak mine floor. This paper presents an attempt to optimise the operating conditions of the base of two-legged shield support based on the field observations and results of the PFC3D numerical calculation. In the framework of the numerical calculations, the impact of the width of the base and the location of the hydraulic legs on the working conditions of shield support on a weak floor were analysed.

A novel type of an axial, piston-driven high pressure hydraulic pump with variable capacity marks a significant improvement in the area of the hydraulic machinery design. Total discharge from hydrostatic forces eliminates a need for a servomechanism, thus simplifying operation, reducing weight and introducing the possibility of the pump displacement control by computer. PWK-type pumps, invented in the Gdansk University of Technology, offer high efficiency for pressure levels up to 55 MPa, ability to work self sucking even at high speed. However, the heart of the new invention, the commutation unit, creates harmful pressure peaks. Those peaks can be mitigated by the introduction of a compensation chamber with elastic walls. Owing to the dynamic character of events taking place in the pump, a need for computer simulation arouse in order to understand phenomena leading to the occurrence of pressure peaks and choose compensation chamber parameters accordingly. A CFD package alone would not be sufficient to reliably represent the interaction between the compensation chamber wall and the working fluid. This paper presents Fluid Structure Interaction approach comparing 3 different models: 2 simplified models of the pump and a full pump model.