Experimental Investigation on the Influence of Water Content on the Mechanical Properties of Coal under Conventional Triaxial Compression

Abstract EN

The presence of water is one of the most important factors in coal mining, and it has a dual influence on the mechanical behavior of rock.

To study the influence of water content on the mechanical properties of coal under complicated stress conditions, dry coal specimens and wet coal specimens with water contents of 1.8% and 3.6% were conducted by uniaxial and conventional triaxial compression tests.

The relations between the uniaxial compressive strength, deformation, and water content were observed.

The reductions in the strength and elastic modulus under different confining pressures were obtained.

The mechanical properties of coal specimens with different water contents under triaxial compression were studied.

The influences of water content on the microstructure, clay minerals, internal friction angle, and cohesive force of coal were discussed.

The results show that the strengths and elastic moduli of wet specimens are clearly lower than those of dry specimens under different confining pressures.

The water content has a significant influence on the postfailure mechanical behavior of coal.

The loss rates of strength and elastic modulus decrease with increasing confining pressure.

The water content has almost no effect on the internal friction angle, while the cohesive force of the saturated specimens is 36.5% lower than that of the dry specimens.

The results can provide a reference for inhibiting the occurrence of disasters during coal mining and exploiting coal efficiently.