Study on the inhibitory effect and patterns of backfilling salt caverns with waste alkali slag on surface subsidence in mining areas
Abstract
The excellent physical and mechanical properties of rock salt have led to the rapid development of salt mine exploitation, giving rise to various types of salt cavern energy storage facilities. However, the geological hazards and environmental issues associated with this development cannot be ignored. This study focuses on 16 pairs of brine extraction caverns in a real salt mine in China. Based on the engineering geological conditions of the mine, existing drilling and geophysical data, salt mining activities, sonar cavern measurements and other relevant data, a three-dimensional dynamic analysis model for subsidence in salt mining areas was proposed. By fully considering the influence of dynamic backfilling with alkali slag on surface subsidence, subsidence predictions for the next 50 years and long-term stability evaluations were conducted, clarifying the subsidence deformation patterns and the development trend of the subsidence center. These results are generally consistent with the mining plan of the salt mine. The study shows that the proposed model can accurately reflect the inhibitive effect of backfill alkali slag on salt cavern creep shrinkage and reproduce the subsidence patterns of the strata and surrounding buildings (with an error margin within 15%), demonstrating good applicability and accuracy. The overall subsidence in the target mine area presents a large-scale, slow, uniform, and gradually converging trend over time. The subsidence difference and tilt rate also meet the requirements of standards in China, ensuring long-term stability. The findings of this study provide analytical insights for surface subsidence prediction and ground stability analysis in salt mining areas, offering valuable references and guidance for subsidence control in similar engineering projects.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46690/gs.2026.01.05Keywords:
Rock salt, Surface subsidence control and prediction, Backfill alkali slag, Long-term stability analysis, Solution miningReferences
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