PONE-D-22-32027Numerical modelling of loose top coal and roof mass movement for a re-mined seam using the top coal caving methodPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Wang,

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Additional Editor Comments:

Please do your best to address the reviewers comments.

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: Review for manuscript: “Numerical modelling of loose top coal and roof mass movement for a re-mined seam using the top coal caving method”

This manuscript has addressed the numerical study of loose coal movement in the field of coal caving re-mined face and has developed coal-rock interface. Also an analytical formula is developed to obtain the time duration of caving operation. The manuscript idea is novel and is recommended for publication in Plos One journal subject to addressing the following comments:

1- On page 5, “Wang used the 3D physical modelling,…” Please paraphrase and improve the grammar of this sentence.

2- Page 5, line 6 “Wang used …” again this sentence needs revision.

3- On page 6 Please explain the “Mt” unit mentioned on line 10

4- On Figure 3 could you include a color bar for velocity as well?

5- Make adjustment to place Figure 8 and its caption on the same page.

6- Could you sketch the parameters in equation 16 in a separate figure?

7- Could you run your numerical model using the specified parameters in the theoretical section for the time duration and compare the outputs?

Reviewer #2: This manuscript developed a numerical model using PFC2D to study the movement of top coal mass and development of coal-rock mass interface at a longwall top coal caving re-mining face. The authors have conducted comprehensive analyses. I recommend the publication of this work after major revision.

1. Almost all the references are published by scholars in China, and some of them are even published in Chinese. I think the authors should refer to recent works of foreign scholars.

2. The numerical model is developed using PFC 2D. However, a realistic coal reservoir should be 3D. Please justify the rationality of this treatment. Why?

3. What are the red, blue, and orange lines in Figure 2? Put what they are in the caption.

4. Figure 3 also has the different colored lines. What are they representing? Put in the caption.

5.Where is the caving window in Fig 4 ,5? Show it in the figures.

Once the above concerns are fully addressed,the manuscript could be accepted for publication in this journal.

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No

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Numerical modelling of loose top coal and roof mass movement for a re-mined seam using the top coal caving method

PONE-D-22-32027R1

Dear Dr. Wang,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

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If your institution or institutions have a press office, please notify them about your upcoming paper to help maximize its impact. If they’ll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team as soon as possible -- no later than 48 hours after receiving the formal acceptance. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information, please contact onepress@plos.org.

Kind regards,

Khalil Abdelrazek Khalil, Ph.D.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #1: All comments have been addressed

Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed

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2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: This grammer and structure of this sentence on page 5 could still be improved : Wang investigated the caving body geometry and interface between coal

and roof mass through the method of the 3D physical, numerical model and field

observations[12].

Reviewer #2: This manuscript developed a numerical model using PFC2D to study the movement of top coal mass and development of coal-rock mass interface at a longwall top coal caving re-mining face. The authors have adequately addressed my comments in the previous review. Comprehensive analyses have been conducted in the manuscript, and the picture in the manuscript is clear and proves the point well. The translation of the argument in the article can be understood by the reader.

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7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No

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