Three-Dimensional Air Velocity Distributions in the Vicinity of a Mine Heading’s Sidewall

The presented paper describes the results of an experiment determining the instantaneous values of velocity vector components of the air stream at selected spots of the boundary layer formed at the sidewalls of the mine heading in the ŁP type steel arch support.The experiment was carried out in a mine heading in an active hard coal mine.A 3-axis thermoanemometric probe was used to obtain three-dimensional distributions of the velocity and turbulent values, such as turbulence intensity and turbulent kinetic energy of the flowing ventilation air stream.The analysis of the measurement results was aided by a numerical solution of the discussed case of flow.The research results presented in this paper provide a basis for extensive studies of the description of velocity distribution and other turbulent quantities within the near-sidewall structures of a mine heading.The objective of these tasks is to improve the accuracy and reliability of numerical calculations relating to air flow in mine headings.