• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.345-359
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• 2016

In order to investigate the influence of the interfacial angel on failure characteristics and mechanism of combined coal-rock mass, 35 uniaxial/biaxial compressive simulation tests with 5 different interfacial angels of combined coal-rock samples were conducted by PFC2D software. The following conclusions are drawn: (1) The compressive strength and cohesion decrease with the increase of interfacial angle, which is defined as the angle between structure plane and the exterior normal of maximum principal plane, while the changes of elastic modulus and internal friction angle are not obvious; (2) The impact energy index $K_E$ decreases with the increase of interfacial angle, and the slip failure of the interface can be predicted based on whether the number of acoustic emission (AE) hits has multiple peaks or not; (3) There are four typical failure patterns for combined coal-rock samples including I (V-shaped shear failure of coal), II (single-fracture shear failure of coal), III (shear failure of rock and coal), and IV (slip rupture of interface); and (4) A positive correlation between interfacial angle and interface effect is shown obviously, and the interfacial angle can be divided into weak-influencing scope ($0-15^{\circ}$), moderate-influencing scope ($15-45^{\circ}$), and strong-influencing scope (> $45^{\circ}$), respectively. However, the confining pressure has a certain constraint effect on the interface effect.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.1173-1182
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• 2018

The coal wall, gob-side backfill, and gangues in goaf, constitute the support system for Gob-side entry retaining (GER) in coal mines. Reasonably allocating and utilizing their bearing capacities are key scientific and technical issues for the safety and economic benefits of the GER technology. At first, a mechanical model of GER was established and a governing equation for coordinated bearing of the coal-backfill-gangue support system was derived to reveal the coordinated bearing mechanism. Then, considering the bearing characteristics of the coal wall, gob-side backfill and gangues in goaf, their quantitative design methods were proposed, respectively. Next, taking the No. 2201 haulage roadway serving the No. 7 coal seam in Jiangjiawan Mine, China, as an example, the design calculations showed that the strains of both the coal wall and gob-side backfill were larger than their allowable strains and the rotational angle of the lateral main roof was larger than its allowable rotational angle. Finally, flexible-rigid composite supporting technology and roof cutting technology were designed and used. In situ investigations showed that the deformation and failure of surrounding rocks were well controlled and both the coal wall and gob-side backfill remained stable. Taking the coal wall, gob-side backfill and gangues in goaf as a whole system, this research takes full consideration of their bearing properties and provides a quantitative basis for design of the support system.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.499-511
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• 2019

The reliability of reinforced concrete structures is frequently compromised by the deterioration caused by reinforcement corrosion. Evaluating the effect caused by reinforcement corrosion on structural behaviour of corrosion damaged concrete structures is essential for effective and reliable infrastructure management. In lifecycle management of corrosion affected reinforced concrete structures, it is difficult to correctly assess the lifecycle performance due to the uncertainties associated with structural resistance deterioration. This paper presents a stochastic deterioration modelling approach to evaluate the performance deterioration of corroded concrete structures during their service life. The flexural strength deterioration is analytically predicted on the basis of bond strength evolution caused by reinforcement corrosion, which is examined by the experimental and field data available. An assessment criterion is defined to evaluate the flexural strength deterioration for the time-dependent reliability analysis. The results from the worked examples show that the proposed approach is capable of evaluating the structural reliability of corrosion damaged concrete structures.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.61-69
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• 2020

The uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) of rock is a basic parameter in underground engineering design. The disadvantages of this commonly employed laboratory testing method are untimely testing, difficulty in performing core testing of broken rock mass and long and complicated onsite testing processes. Therefore, the development of a fast and simple in situ rock UCS testing method for field use is urgent. In this study, a multi-function digital rock drilling and testing system and a digital core bit dedicated to the system are independently developed and employed in digital drilling tests on rock specimens with different strengths. The energy analysis is performed during rock cutting to estimate the energy consumed by the drill bit to remove a unit volume of rock. Two quantitative relationship models of energy analysis-based core drilling parameters (ECD) and rock UCS (ECD-UCS models) are established in this manuscript by the methods of regression analysis and support vector machine (SVM). The predictive abilities of the two models are comparatively analysed. The results show that the mean value of relative difference between the predicted rock UCS values and the UCS values measured by the laboratory uniaxial compression test in the prediction set are 3.76 MPa and 4.30 MPa, respectively, and the standard deviations are 2.08 MPa and 4.14 MPa, respectively. The regression analysis-based ECD-UCS model has a more stable predictive ability. The energy analysis-based rock drilling method for the prediction of UCS is proposed. This method realized the quick and convenient in situ test of rock UCS.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.107-113
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• 2018

Coal samples with different joints morphology were subjected to uniaxial compression experiments, cracks evolution was recorded by Nikon D5300 and acoustic emission (AE) energy signals were collected by AEwin Test for Express-8.0. During loading process, coal samples deformed elastically with no obvious cracks changes, then they expanded gradually along the trace of the original cracks, accompanied by the formation of secondary cracks, and eventually produced a large-scale fracture. It was more interesting that the failure mode of samples were all shear shape, whatever the original cracks morphology was. With cracks and damage evolution, AE energy radiated regularly. At the early loading stage, micro damage and small scale fracture events only induced a few AE events with less energy, while large scale fracture leaded to a number of AE events with more energy at the later stage. Based on the multifractal theory, the multifractal spectrum could explain AE energy signals frequency responses and the causes of AE events with load. Multifractal spectrum width (${\Delta}{\alpha}$), could reflect the differences between the large and small AE energy signals. And another parameter (${\Delta}f$) could reflect the relationship between the frequency of the least and greatest signals in the AE energy time series. This research is helpful for us to understand cracks evolution and AE energy signals causes.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.375-383
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• 2019

In underground retreating longwall coal mining, hard roof collapse is one of the most challenging safety problems for mined-out areas. Identifying precursors for hard roof collapse is of great importance for the development of warning systems related to collapse geohazards and ground control. In this case study, the Xinhe mine was chosen because it is a standard mine and the minable coal seam usually lies beneath hard strata. Real-time monitoring of hard roof collapse was performed in longwall face 5301 of the Xinhe mine using support resistance and microseismic (MS) monitoring; five hard roof collapse cases were identified. To reveal the characteristics of MS activity during hard roof collapse development and to identify its precursors, the change in MS parameters, such as MS event rate, energy release, bursting strain energy, b value and the relationships with hard roof collapse, were studied. This research indicates that some MS parameters showed irregularity before hard roof collapse. For the Xinhe coalmine, a substantial decrease in b value and a rapid increase in MS event rate were reliable hard roof collapse precursors. It is suggested that the b value has the highest predictive sensitivity, and the MS event rate has the second highest.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.11-20
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• 2019

The use of electrokinetic dissipation method to study the fluid flow law in micro-pores is of great significance to reservoir rock microfluidics. In this paper, the micro-capillary theory was combined with the coupling model of the seepage field and the current field under the excitation of the harmonic signal, and the coupling theory of the electrokinetic effect under the first-order approximation condition was derived. The dissipation equation of electrokinetic dissipation and viscous resistance dissipation and its solution were established by using Green's function method. The physical and mathematical models for the electrokinetic dissipation of reservoir rocks were constructed. The microscopic mechanism of the electrokinetic dissipation of reservoir rock were theoretically clarified. The influencing factors of the electrokinetic dissipation frequency of the reservoir rock were analyzed quantitatively. The results show that the electrokinetic effect transforms the fluid flow profile in the pores of the reservoir from parabolic to wavy; under low-frequency conditions, the apparent viscosity coefficient is greater that one and is basically unchanged. The apparent viscosity coefficient gradually approaches 1 as the frequency increases further. The viscous resistance dissipation is two orders of magnitude higher than the electrokinetic effect dissipation. When the concentration of the electrolyte exceeds 0.1mol/L, the electrokinetic dissipation can be neglected, while for the electrolyte solution (<$10^{-2}M$) in low concentration, the electrokinetic dissipation is very significant and cannot be ignored.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.519-529
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• 2021

In coal mining activities, the abutment stress of the coal has to undergo cyclic loading and unloading, affecting the strength and seepage characteristics of coal; additionally, it can cause dynamic disasters, posing a major challenge for the safety of coal mine production. To improve the understanding of the dynamic disaster mechanism of gas outburst and rock burst coupling, triaxial devices are applied to axial pressure cyclic loading-unloading tests under different axial stress peaks and different pore pressures. The existing empirical formula is use to perform a non-linear regression fitting on the relationship between stress and permeability, and the damage rate of permeability is introduced to analyze the change in permeability. The results show that the permeability curve obtained had "memory", and the peak stress was lower than the conventional loading path. The permeability curve and the volume strain curve show a clear symmetrical relationship, being the former in the form of a negative power function. Owing to the influence of irreversible deformation, the permeability difference and the damage of permeability mainly occur in the initial stage of loading-unloading, and both decrease as the number of cycles of loading-unloading increase. At the end of the first cycle and the second cycle, the permeability decreased in the range of 5.777 - 8.421 % and 4.311-8.713 %, respectively. The permeability decreases with an increase in the axial stress peak, and the damage rate shows the opposite trend. Under the same conditions, the permeability of methane is always lower than that of helium, and it shows a V-shape change trend with increasing methane pressures, and the permeability of the specimen was 3 MPa > 1 MPa > 2 MPa.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.99-111
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• 2022

Instability of bolted rock mass has been a major hazard in the underground coal mining industry for decades. Developing effective support guidelines requires understanding of complex bolted rock mass failure mechanisms. In this study, the dynamic failure behavior, mechanical behavior, and energy evolution of a laboratory-scale bolted specimens is studied by conducting laboratory static-dynamic coupled loading tests. The results showed that: (1) Under static-dynamic coupled loading, the stress-strain curve of the bolted rock mass has a significant impact velocity (strain rate) correlation, and the stress-strain curve shows rebound characteristics after the peak; (2) There is a critical strain rate in a rock mass under static-dynamic coupled loading, and it decreases exponentially with increasing pre-static load level. Bolting can significantly improve the critical strain rate of a rock mass; (3) Compared with a no-bolt rock mass, the dissipation energy ratio of the bolted rock mass decreases exponentially with increasing pre-static load level, the ultimate dynamic impact energy and dissipation energy of the bolted rock mass increase significantly, and the increasing index of the ratio of dissipation energy increases linearly with the pre-static load; (4) Based on laboratory testing and on-site microseismic and stress monitoring, a design method is proposed for a roadway bolt support against dynamic load disturbance, which provides guidance for the design of deep underground roadway anchorage supports. The research results provide new ideas for explaining the failure behavior of anchorage supports and adopting reasonable design and construction practices.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.103-113
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• 2023

This study focused on understanding the relationship between the design of a tunnel boring machine disc cutter ring and its rock-breaking efficiency, as well as the applicable conditions of different cutter ring types. The discrete element method was used to establish a numerical model of the rock-breaking process using disc cutters with different ring types to reveal the development of rock damage cracks and variation in cutter penetration load. The calculation results indicate that a sharp-edged (V-shaped) disc cutter penetrates a rock mass to a given depth with the lowest load, resulting in more intermediate cracks and few lateral cracks, which leads to difficulty in crack combination. Furthermore, the poor wear resistance of a conventional V-shaped cutter can lead to an exponential increase in the penetration load after cutter ring wear. In contrast, constant-cross-section (CCS) disc cutters have the highest quantity of crack extensions after penetrating rock, but also require the highest penetration loads. An arch-edged (U-shaped) disc cutter is more moderate than the aforementioned types with sufficient intermediate and lateral crack propagation after cutting into rock under a suitable penetration load. Additionally, we found that the cutter ring wedge angle and edge width heavily influence cutter rock-breaking efficiency and that a disc cutter with a 16 to 22 mm edge width and 20° to 30° wedge angle exhibits high performance. Compared to V-shaped and U-shaped cutters, the CCS cutter is more suitable for soft or medium-strength rocks, where the penetration load is relatively small. Additionally, two typical case studies were selected to verify that replacing a CCS cutter with a U-shaped or optimized V-shaped disc cutter can increase cutting efficiency when encountering hard rocks.