Abstract: Rockburst is a frontier issue in the field of rock mechanics and engineering worldwide and a safety challenge that restricts the implementation of deep mining strategies in China. The key to rockburst prevention and control lies in the study of its mechanism,and the stiffness theory is an important aspect of this study. By reviewing a large number of study papers on rockburst stiffness theory,this paper systematically summarizes the development history of the stiffness theory,the experimental methods and typical experimental results,the rockburst body-surrounding rock system model,and the rockburst criteria. The study results show that:① The stiffness theory originated from the energy theory and has been enriched and developed,but it is still difficult to fully explain the mechanism of rockburst;② The evolution of the stiffness testing machine has driven the stiffness theory experiments to shift from controlling the stiffness of the rock sample to controlling the stiffness of the testing machine. The necessary condition for rockburst occurrence is that the stiffness of the testing machine is lower than that of the rock sample,and the intensity of rockburst increases with the increase of the stiffness difference between the two;③ The rockburst stiffness system model regards the rockburst body and the surrounding rock as an elastic-plastic composite body,and the system model considering the energy storage capacity of the rock sample is more in line with the actual situation;④ The existing stiffness calculation methods mainly focus on indoor rock samples and testing machines,and the rockburst criteria based on the stiffness theory are still limited to determining whether rockburst occurs. By analyzing the existing problems in the stiffness theory study,this paper looks forward to further study directions such as dynamic variable stiffness tests,stiffness theory criteria for different grades of rockburst,and in-situ rockburst stiffness theory study based on engineering cases. The analysis results can provide reference for the theoretical study and engineering application of rockburst stiffness. 

Key words: rockburst,stiffness theory,rigidity test,system model,criteria