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Mechanical Failure Modes and Fractal Characteristics of Coal Samples under Repeated Drying–Saturation Conditions

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Abstract

The ecology of arid mining areas in western China is facing serious problems because underground coal mining destroys overlying aquifers, causing groundwater to shift along fracture zones and groundwater levels to drop. Therefore, it is important to construct strategically coal mine goafs as underground water reservoirs to store and utilize mining-affected water resources. During the long-term operation of underground water reservoirs, the stability of coal pillar dams is affected by the repeated rise and fall of mine water levels. To understand the repeated effects of water, nondestructive water immersion, ultrasonic velocity, uniaxial compression, and acoustic emission (AE) tests were performed to study the mechanical properties and damage mechanisms of coal samples under repeated drying–saturation conditions. The ultrasonic velocity test mainly achieved two functions: selecting consistent coal samples and providing evidence of changes after each drying and saturation process. Coal samples were grouped according to the number of drying–saturation processes (DSPs) to investigate and compare the mechanical and AE parameters. The post-peak phases of full stress–strain curves present perpendicular, L-shaped, and stepped forms, among which the latter two show obvious residual strength. The AE count, cumulative AE count, and stress can jointly determine the various stages and stress thresholds of the sample failure process (or crack development process), except the boundary between elastic stage and stable crack growth stage. Multiple immersions in water reduces the fractal dimension of broken blocks; that is, the degree of fragmentation decreases and the quantity and mass of large-size blocks increase.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the Assistance Program for Future Outstanding Talents of China University of Mining and Technology (2020WLJCRCZL004), the Postgraduate Research & Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province (KYCX20_2060), and National Natural Science Foundation of China (51674248, 51874283). The first author also recognizes the financial support provided by the China Scholarship Council (CSC).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Deep Coal Resource Mining, Ministry of Education of China, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, China

    Chuanjin Tang, Qiangling Yao, Qiang Xu, Changhao Shan, Hao Han & Haotian Guo

  2. School of Mines, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, China

    Chuanjin Tang, Qiangling Yao, Qiang Xu, Changhao Shan, Hao Han & Haotian Guo

  3. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK

    Chuanjin Tang

  4. Institute of Geotechnical Engineering, School of Transportation, Southeast University, Nanjing, 211189, China

    Jingmin Xu

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  1. Chuanjin Tang
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Correspondence to Qiangling Yao.

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Tang, C., Yao, Q., Xu, Q. et al. Mechanical Failure Modes and Fractal Characteristics of Coal Samples under Repeated Drying–Saturation Conditions. Nat Resour Res 30, 4439–4456 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11053-021-09905-6

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