Head: Khokhlov Boris Valentinovich

phone:+38 (062) 300 27 91 +38 (062) 340 64 36

e-mail: ogd@ranimi.org

Научная степень: Candidate of Technical Sciences

Ученое звание: Senior Researcher

Rewarded with:

- Honorary badge “Miner’s Glory” of the II–III degree (2009, 2011);

– Diploma of Merit of the Ministry of Fuel and Energy of Ukraine (2004);

– Honorary Certificate of the Donetsk Regional Council of People's Deputies (2009);

– Honorary Certificate of the Donetsk Regional State Administration (2011);

– Honorary Certificate of the Ministry of Education and Science of the DPR (2016);

– Honorary Certificate of the of the Ministry of Coal and Energy of the Donetsk People's Republic (2017).

B. V. Khokhlov is a member of the Russian non-governmental organization “Russian Union of Mining Surveyors”, Associate Professor of the Department of Mine Surveying at the State-Funded Educational Institution of Higher Vocational Education “Donetsk National Technical University”, a leading expert in the field of geomechanics, rock movement, protection and maintenance of mine workings, vertical mine shafts and technical wells in coal industry.
The main directions of his scientific activity are: prediction of stability, protection and maintenance of vertical mine shafts, technical wells and other mine workings in complex geological conditions; development of methods and means to control stress and deformation of rock mass. B. V. Khokhlov is the author of 48 scientific works, including 13 publications in domestic and foreign scientific collections of research papers for 2015-2018.


Modern Directions of Scientific and Applied Research of the Department:

- Prediction of the impact of underground and surface working on mine workings, shafts and technical wells;

- Justification for the changes in the sizes and shapes of safety pillars;

- Calculation and selection of mine shaft support and other mine workings, prediction of their stability and working out recommendations for effective measures of their maintenance and protection;

- Guidelines for the optimal parameters of coal-face work at shallow depths, calculation of the size of pillars and chambers;

- Assessment of the effect of hazard rate of old mine workings and liquidated shafts on the useability of the worked-out areas (to be developed according to mining and geological study);

- Recommendations on the parameters for liquidation of vertical mine hafts and other workings;

- Determination of rock strength characteristics;

- Survey and expert assessment of mine workings, including vertical mine shafts and technical wells.


Developments & Scientific Achievements

For more than forty years employees of the department have prepared numerous regulatory documents, received dozens of patents for inventions; hundreds of printed works were published and thousands of expert findings and recommendations for coal industry have been worked out.

The department performs a large amount of both theoretical and experimental work, the results of which are reflected in the solution of many practical issues, especially in the mining industry.

The main directions of scientific activity of the department are:

Protection of mine workings:

– Optimization of the sizes and shapes of bottom pillars, which allows reducing the loss of coal in them by 7-12 %;

– Selection of optimal parameters for support of designed, constructed and operated mine shafts and shaft siding, development of effective measures for their protection;

– Prediction of stability and development of measures for the protection of mine workings;

– Definition of allowable parameters of surface and underground mining;

– Development of methods and means for active control of stress and deformation state of rock mass;

– Ensuring environmental safety of coal mining areas in the process of construction, operation and liquidation of mines;

– Prediction of changes in rock mass and surface deformation fields;

– Identification of potential areas of caving;

– Development of engineering measures for prevention and avoidance of negative consequences after abandonment of mines.

An important application of the department’s work is working out of a set of methods, techniques and calculation provisions to determine the stress and deformation state of rock mass, which are reflected in a number of regulatory and methodological documents regulating the production activities of mining enterprises and environmental safety:

- Design document KD 12.01.01.201-98 Location, protection and maintenance of mine workings in the development of coal seams in the mines. Methodical instructions;

- Design document KD 12.12.005-2001 The rules for liquidation of coal mine shafts;

- Design document DSTU (National Standards of Ukraine) 101.00159226.001-2003 The rules for undermining buildings, structures and natural objects in underground coal winning.

A prototype of small-size device for television monitoring from the surface of the state of support and equipment of technical wells (with a diameter of 0.15 m) and mine shafts was developed. (Read more)

Now the department is engaged in academic research work on demand of the Ministry of Fuel and Energy of the DPR “Development of a regulatory document “Location, Protection and Maintenance of Mine Workings in Coal Mines of the Donets Basin”.

One of the main trends in the development of coal industry in Donbass is constant increase in the depth of development of coal seams: in a number of mines the depth of working of coal beds has already crossed the kilometer mark or approached to it. In these circumstances, even in the virgin rock stresses reach significant values, and under the impact of moving longwall, they increase significantly. All this leads to the fact that those coal seams and their host rocks in the bottom-hole zones are moving to the limit and prohibitive state, which forced to revise and adjust the existing ideas on the nature and parameters of deformation of coal-rock mass and its interaction with roadway supports.

Therefore, one of the promising areas of research of our Institute is to establish the mechanism and features of deformation of coal-rock mass in current environment of underground mining of coal deposits in order to ensure stability of objects falling into the zone of mining impact. The establishment of such mechanisms and features will allow developing effective ways and means of controlling the process of deformation of rock mass and ensuring the operational state of production facilities under the conditions of today.


The History of the Department

VNIMI (TSNIMB) began its research in the field of rock pressure in 1932. Since then and till present, the study of the influence of geomechanical processes on mine working support is one of the main activities of the Ukrainian Branch of VNIMI, carried out by the laboratory of rock pressure.

Laboratory of rock pressure of the Ukrainian Branch of VNIMI is formed on the basis of the thematic group of protection of development workings, organized and attached to the laboratory of strata movement in the Ukrainian Bbranch of VNIMI in 1952, the team Leader was a graduate of DPI engineer Shushkov, A. M. (later from 1969 to 1973 – head of the laboratory), and it consisted of graduates from LMI: S. G. Andrushkevich (later – Аssociate Рrofessor in DPI) and V. A. Pirugin. Over the years of its existence, the group grew steadily, and in 1963 it was transformed into a laboratory of rock pressure of the Ukrainian Branch of VNIMI, the head of which was appointed V. M. Polyakov, who had extensive practical experience as the chief surveyor of the trust “Donetskugol”. The main topics of the laboratory at that time were research into deformations of coal seams, development and permanent mine workings during their under - and overworking.

Later the thematic group of protective seams (the head – I. A. Novichikhin) was included in the laboratory. In 1973 it was separated and became an independent division.

In 1966 a topic group of powered roof supports was organized in the laboratory. It was engaged in research into rock pressure manifestations in the development of steep seams in mines of Donbass employing АЩ, АНЩ, АДК-type header units. The staff of the group consisted of such well-known experts as Yu. N. Sapunkov, (team leader), I. A. Yuzhanin, Ye. I. Pitalenko, Ye. N. Pasishnichenko and others.

In the 70-s the laboratory of rock pressure, led by V. M. Kuleshov, Cand.Sc. (Tech.) used in their developments the results of scientific research of such well-known their natives as V. I. Chernyaev, D.Sc. (Tech.), V. Ya., Bailinov, V. F. Vodyanov, E. Sh. Felix., Cand.Sc. (Tech.), V. S. Pikhovkin, Cand.Sc. (Tech.), V. B. Bokiy, I. K. Bloshenko and others. Technicians T. N Afonicheva (Serenko), T. A. Chabanova and V. V. Malygina took active participation in technical support of the research

Topic group for protection and maintenance of vertical mine shafts was organized in the laboratory of rock pressure in 1980. It consisted of I. A. Yuzhanin, S. B. Kulibaba and P. M. Kovalenko. In the 80-s the laboratory was supplemented by professionals such as V. A. Driban, (1982), S. V. Goldin, A. M. Terletsky, I. A. Koldunov, A. I. and B. V. Khokhlov (1984-1988).

From 1987 to 1992, the laboratory was headed by I. A. Yuzhanin, Cand.Sc. (Tech.), under whose leadership a significant amount of research was carried out, the emphasis in which was placed on the study of geomechanical processes in the shaft bottom rock mass at large depth. The results of these studies have been protected by a number of copyright certificates.

From 1992, the laboratory of rock pressure under command of Victor Alexandrovich Driban conducted research in such areas as stress-and deformation state of rock mass; protection, maintenance and efficient location of the entire complex of mine workings; optimization of the parameters for abandonment of vertical shafts in the process of closing them; deformation processes of the surface over the old mine workings at shallow depth. The laboratory has developed regulatory and methodological documents currently in force in coal mining industry.

From 2004 the laboratory has been reorganized into Strata Control Investigation Department (the department of rock pressure).

On the basis of the research conducted by the staff of the department B. V. Khokhlov, M. D. Rozhko, I. A. Koldunov defended their PhD theses, and V. A. Driban and S. B. Kulibaba defended their theses for doctor’s degree.

In 2012 the Department of rock pressure was headed by doctor of technical Sciences, Professor Sergey Kulibaba, D.Sc. (Tech.) – a leading expert in the field of geomechanics and rock movement. Under his command, studies of the processes occurring in deformed rock mass and their impact on mining were continued. The theoretical basis for assessing the stability of heterogeneous structures was developed and ways to improve stability of rock mass in mining were developed.

Since 2016, the head of the department is Boris Valentinovich Khokhlov, C.Sc. (Tech.), senior researcher. The department continued the continuity of activities in the study of deformation processes of rock mass and their impact on underground structures in underground mining of coal deposits. The principles of control of rock mass conditions and properties are developed for the purpose of ensuring stability of underground constructions in a zone of influence of mining.