Abstract
Discrete dynamic programming is used for the development of a computer simulation of armoured semiflexible conveyor (AFC) structures used in modern longwall coal mining. The object of the simulation is the investigation of the vertical steering characteristics of face installations, the potential long-term instability of which is a continuing problem underground.
The way in which the AFC structure moulds itself to the undulating floor cut by the coal winning machine (the power-loader) between successive cuts is a crucial factor in the steering behaviour of the entire face system. This, the first of two companion papers, treats the AFC as a chain of loosely coupled piecewise rigid segments (trays) resting on a solid coal floor. Such a model is found not to greatly assist the stability of the multipass longwall process.
An elastic model is examined in the companion paper.
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