Distant interaction of rock mass clusters around underground opening

Purpose.To experimentally prove the fact of distant interaction between rock clusters during the irreversible displacements of rock mass. Disintegration of the rock mass does not necessarily imply loss in underground working stability. Methods. Telltales were used to monitor rock mass around the underground development working in conditions of intensive rock pressure manifestation. Findings. . This experiment has demonstrated that the boundary of the rock mass failure expands asynchronously by spatially and temporally discrete increments. Such mechanism of the rock failure zone development is the consequence of the minimum entropy production principle according to which dissipative structures can occur in open thermodynamic systems. Originality. Distant interaction of rock clusters has been experimentally detected for the first time, which is important for geomechanics because it reveals the mechanism of the rock mass self-organization. Practical implications. The most efficient special technologies have been selected and quantitatively assessed for the control of rock mass state in conditions of severe rock pressure manifestation.