## 7 Conclusions  
The damage to buried gas pipelines caused by mining activities has been critically reported. A scaled model testing the mechanical response of buried pipelines under the influence of coal seam mining is discussed in this paper, and the primary findings are summarized as follows:  
1. When the mining ratio increased in a room-and-pillar mining condition, there was only slight migration in the initial stage. Until the mining rate reached 50%, the overlying strata moved rapidly and drastically. The overlying strata of a shallow horizontal coal seam appeared as a \"strip zone\", a \"trapezoidal zone\", and an \"inverted funnel zone\". When the main key layer has not broken, the overlying strata formed a \"trapezoidal zone\" at the bottom of the main key layer. After the failure of the main key layer, the \"trapezoidal zone\" at the top edge evolved into an \"inverted funnel zone\". 2. Based on the distributed optical fiber strain analyzer, the pipeline deformation curve was obtained through the pipeline shape reconstruction algorithm. This curve reveals separation between the pipeline and the surrounding soil, with the maximum relative settlement between them occurring in the center of the mining area, reaching 5.95 mm, which led to the formation of a soil-arching effect. The pipeline experienced failure at three critical sections: at the edge of the subsidence area, buckling failure occurred, while in the center, shear failure was observed along the fracture surface. 3. The concentration of pipeline stress and soil pressure around the pipeline is closely related to the movement of overlying strata in mining areas. In the initial stage, the mining activities did not have a significant impact on the pipeline. With the dramatic movement of overlying strata in the middle stage, the soil-arching effect caused soil pressure and pipeline stress concentrations to reach 15.58 kPa and 1908.41 kPa, respectively. In the last stage, pipeline failure occurred, leading to a weakness in the soil-arching effect. Consequently, both stress concentration in the pipeline and soil pressure decreased. 4. By applying fracture angle correction to the probability integral method, a theoretical surface subsidence value closer to the experimental results was obtained. This study found that the maximum curvature points at the edges of the subsidence area led to buckling failure in the pipeline, where tensile stress at the top caused plastic failure, while the bottom remained stable. In the center of the subsidence area, opposing tensile and compressive stresses led to shear failure. The soil-arching effect intensified stress concentration, making the maximum curvature points the most prone to buckling or shear failure. 5. Future research should explore the effects of different soil types on soil-pipeline interaction and investigate the long-term impacts of loading and creep in mining-affectedareas. Protective methods like fill mining and grouting should also be considered. For monitoring, the focus should be on the maximum curvature points of surface settlement, which are most prone to deformation. Continuous real-time monitoring using fiber optic sensors, strain gauges, and pressure transducers is recommended, along with ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to detect subsurface anomalies. Integrating these methods with predictive models will help assess pipeline performance over time and improve maintenance strategies. Conceptualization, J.H. and Z.M. ; methodology, J.H. ; formal analysis, J.H. and M.X. ; writing--original draft, J.H. ; writing--review and editing, J.H., Z.M. and T.S. ; visualization, J.H., M.X. and C.C. ; supervision, J.S., P.G. and P.Y. ; project administration, Z.M. ; funding acquisition, Z.M. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.