Mechanical Behaviors and Precursory Characteristics of Coal-Burst in Deep Coal Mining for Safety-Sustainable Operations: Insights from Experimental Analysis

Xiaoran Wang, Jinhua Wang (), Xin Zhou (), Xiaofei Liu and Shuxin Liu
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Xiaoran Wang: State Key Laboratory for Fine Exploration and Intelligent Development of Coal Resources, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China
Jinhua Wang: School of Safety Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China
Xin Zhou: School of Safety Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China
Xiaofei Liu: School of Safety Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China
Shuxin Liu: School of Safety Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 5, 1-20

Abstract: Coalburst, a frequent and severe dynamic disaster, poses significant challenges to the safety and sustainable development of coal mines during deep excavation. To investigate the mechanical behaviors and precursory characteristics of coalburst subjected to in situ stress conditions, multiaxial cyclic loading experiments were conducted on cubic coal specimens, and the effects of different confining pressures on the mechanical parameters and energy evolution were analyzed. Acoustic emission (AE) technology was utilized to study the accumulation process of stress-induced damage and identify the source modes of microcracks. Then, nonlinear fractal theory and critical slowing theory were used to investigate the time-varying precursory characteristics of catastrophic failure in coalburst. The results show that as the confining pressure increases, the coal samples exhibit higher levels of elastic strain energy and dissipative energy, indicating an enhancement of plasticity. The AE count and accumulated energy show a strong correlation with cyclic loads. With an increasing number of cycles, the AE Felicity ratio gradually decreases, indicating a progressive increase in irreversible damage. Shear-mode microcracks also become more prominent with applied stress and confining pressures, as supported by varying AF/RA values of AE signals. The AE signals also follow the Hurst statistical law, and increasing applied stress and confining pressure strengthen this statistical pattern with a higher Hurst index. Throughout the cyclic loading process, certain AE varying trends were observed: the autocorrelation coefficient increased, the fractal dimension gradually decreased, and the variance suddenly increased. These trends serve as early, middle, and short–imminent warning signals, respectively, for the catastrophic failure of the loaded coal sample. These research findings contribute to a deeper understanding of coal failure evolution and provide a basis for early detection and warning of coalburst disasters, which are also essential for promoting the safe and sustainable development of deep coal mining operations.

Keywords: coalburst disaster; in-site mining cyclic loads; energy evolution; AE varying characteristics; early warning precursor; safe and sustainable mining (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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