Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of clay minerals and other minerals. The water-shale interaction plays an important role in the borehole drilling and hydraulic fracturing during the process of shale gas exploitation. In this study, laboratory experiments, including water absorption experiments and uniaxial compression tests, were used to investigate the mechanical behaviours of the water-absorbing shale specimens. From the laboratory experiments, the following statements can be drawn: a) the water-absorbing shale specimens experience longer compaction and crack closure stages than the natural shale specimen; b) the mechanical properties of the water-absorbing shale specimens, such as uniaxial compressive strength, Young's modulus and peak strain, are less than those of the natural shale specimens; c) the apertures of the failure cracks in the water-absorbing shale specimens are greater than those in the natural shale specimens under uniaxial compression loading. The acoustic emission technique was also used to capture the acoustic emission events of the shale specimens during the uniaxial compression tests. By the acoustic emission analysis, it is concluded that the water absorption stimulates the AE events in the shale specimens.

页岩是由粘土矿物和其他矿物组成的细粒碎屑沉积岩。在页岩气开采过程中，水页岩相互作用在钻孔和水力压裂中起着重要作用。在这项研究中，实验室实验，包括吸水实验和单轴压缩试验，被用来研究吸水页岩样品的力学行为。从实验室实验可以得出以下结论：a）吸水页岩样品比天然页岩样品经历更长的压实和裂缝封闭阶段；b）吸水页岩样品的机械性能，如单轴抗压强度，杨氏模量和峰值应变，均小于天然页岩样品的力学性能；c）在单轴压缩载荷下，吸水页岩试件的破坏裂缝的孔径要大于天然页岩试件的破坏裂纹的孔径。声发射技术还用于捕获单轴压缩测试期间页岩样品的声发射事件。通过声发射分析，可以得出结论，吸水会刺激页岩样品中的AE事件。