This article focuses on the difficulties in ensuring longwall stability resulting from the wrong geometric form of the structure of powered support sections. The authors proved, based on the in-situ measurements and numerical calculations, that proper cooperation of the support with the rock mass requires correct determination of the support point for the hydraulic legs along the length of the canopy (ratio), as well as the inclination of the shield support of the section of the powered roof support. The lack of these two fundamental elements may lead to roof drops that directly impact the production results and safety of the people working underground. Another matter arising from the incorrect geometric form of the construction are the values of forces created in the node connecting the canopy with the caving shield, which can make a major contribution to limit the practical range of the operational height of the powered roof support (due to interaction of powered support with rockmass) in terms of the operating range offered by the manufacturer of the powered support. The operating of the powered roof support in some height ranges may hinder, or even in certain cases prevent, the operator of powered support, moving the shields and placing them with the proper geometry (ensuring parallelism between the canopy and the floor bases of the section).

The use of computer techniques at the design stage of industrial facilities is essential in modern times. The ability to shorten the time required to develop a project and assess the safety of the use of assumptions, often enables the reduction of the costs incurred in the future. The possibility to skip expensive prototype tests by using 3D prototyping is why it is currently the prevailing model in the design of industrial facilities, including in the mining industry. In the case of a longwall working, its stability requires the maintenance of the geometric continuity of floor rocks in cooperation with a powered roof support.

The paper investigates the problem of longwall working stability under the influence of roof properties, coal properties, shield loading and the roof-floor interaction. The longwall working stability is represented by an index, factor of safety (FOS), and is correlated with a previously proposed roof capacity index ‘g‘. The topic of the paper does address an issue of potential interest.

The assessment of the stability of the roof in longwalls was based on the numerical analysis of the factor of safety (FOS), using the Mohr-Coulomb stress criterion. The Mohr-Coulomb stress criterion enables the prediction of the occurrence of failures when the connection of the maximum tensile principal stress σ1 and the minimum compressive principal stress σ3 exceed relevant stress limits. The criterion is used for materials which indicates distinct tensile and compressive characteristics. The numerical method presented in the paper can be utilized in evaluating the mining natural hazards through predicting the parameters, which determine the roof maintenance in the longwall working.

One of the purposes of the numerical analysis was to draw attention to the possibilities that are currently created by specialized software as an important element accompanying the modern design process, which forms part of intelligent underground mining 4.0.