Abstract: To address the buckling failure observed in the thinly layered surrounding rock of deep roadways at the Sishanling iron mine, a comprehensive approach encompassing field investigation, in situ monitoring, and theoretical analysis was adopted. This study summarized the characteristics of buckling failure, elucidated the control effects and mechanisms of stress and structural factors on such failure, and proposed corresponding prevention and control strategies. The results indicate that the buckling failure evolution process can be summarized into four stages, including crack initiation, slab formation through splitting, rock slab buckling, and ultimate fracturing accompanied by collapse. During excavation, an increased stress differential in the surrounding rock facilitates crack propagation and eventual coalescence within the rock mass, thereby forming multilayer rock slabs. These slabs subsequently undergo bending and fracturing toward the free face under multidirectional loading. Buckling failure is a stress-structure controlled failure mode, wherein both lateral stress and normal stress contribute to the bending and fracturing of rock slabs. Due to stress gradient distribution, rock slab fracturing preferentially occurs in the high-stress concentration areas within the surrounding rock. Moreover, a smaller included angle between the bedding plane strike and roadway axis promotes crack propagation along bedding planes. It is recommended to adopt the cracking suppression concept to control the buckling failure through two measures: strengthening the support and optimizing the stope layout direction. This study contributes to ensuring safe and efficient mining at Sishanling iron mine and provides a reference for failure analysis and the prevention of similar layered rock mass engineering.

Key words: deep roadway, thinly layered surrounding rock, buckling failure, mechanical mechanism