Crack Propagation and AE/EMR Response Characteristics of Pre-Holed Coal Specimens under Uniaxial Compression

Abstract

Drainage boreholes in soft coal seams are prone to deformation and failure under the action of in situ stress and mining stress, which has a significant impact on gas drainage in coal mines. To simulate the development and propagation of cracks around the shaft wall caused by in situ stress, the crack propagation of coals with different diameters and strengths during the failure process, and the acoustic emission (AE) and electromagnetic radiation (EMR) law and response characteristics are explored. The results show that: The failure process of coal with pores is divided into four stages: initial compaction stage (OA), elastic deformation stage (AB), yield deformation stage (BC), and macroscopic crack development stage (CD). The crack propagation develops significantly in the post-load peak stage, the coal body damage is aggravated, and the coal body is unstable and fractured. For the pre-holed coal specimens with the same diameter, as the coal becomes softer, the peak stress decreases significantly (from 15.73 to 10.05 MPa). The cumulative value of AE counts of hard coal samples increased from 2.3 × 105 to 3.6 × 105 with increasing diameters. The Digital Image Correlation system (DIC) strain cloud diagram found that there are ‘I’-type cracks around the axial direction of the prefabricated holes. Coal samples with smaller hole have shorter cracks, indicating that the diameter of the holes significantly changes the axial loading limit. The research results have a certain reference significance for understanding the crack propagation of coal under static loads and evaluating the deformation characteristic and spatiotemporal stability of gas drainage in soft coal seams.