Combined ANN prediction model for failure depth of coal seam floors

Failure depth of coal seam floors is one of the important considerations that must be kept in mind when mining is carried out above a confined aquifer. In order to study the factors that affect the failure depth of coal seam floors such as mining depth, coal seam pitch, mining thickness, workface length and faults, we propose a combined artificial neural networks (ANN) prediction model for failure depth of coal seam floors on the basis of existing engineering data by using genetic algorithms to train the ANN. A practical engineering application at the Taoyuan Coal Mine indicates that this method can effectively determine the network struc- ture and training parameters, with the predicted results agreeing with practical measurements. Therefore, this method can be applied to relevant engineering projects with satisfactory results.