Xiaokang Liang

Variations in the groundwater chemical environment are a critical factor affecting the mechanical property degradation and structural alteration of coal measure strata. Addressing the engineering challenges commonly encountered in coal mining areas of Northwest China, where groundwater with varying pH leads to difficulties in controlling surrounding rock in underground spaces, this study established a comprehensive experimental methodology integrating mechanical loading, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) quantitative pore analysis, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) microstructural characterization. The study revealed the mechanical degradation mechanisms and microstructural evolution characteristics of coal measure coarse sandstone under groundwater environments with different pH values (6–10). With prolonged immersion time, the peak strength and elastic modulus of the coarse sandstone exhibited exponential decay across all pH environments. NMR analysis revealed that the porosity evolved through a path of “increase–decrease–re-increase,” while the macroscopic mechanical failure mode shifted from brittle to brittle-ductile and finally to ductile characteristics. Micropores continuously transformed into medium and large pores, and the macroscopic failure mode exhibited a transition from brittle to brittle-ductile. The findings indicate that groundwater with varying acidity/alkalinity systematically alters the integrity and load-bearing capacity of coal measure coarse sandstone through the complex mechanism of “mineral dissolution (acidic H⁺ corrosion, alkaline OH⁻ hydrolysis)—structural damage—pore/fracture evolution—mechanical degradation.” This mechanism not only reveals the essence of progressive rock damage in weak acid to moderately strong alkaline environments but also provides important insights for the integrity, sealing capacity, and permeability modification of various underground engineering applications, such as CO₂ geological storage, unconventional natural gas development, and underground space utilization.

Deep mining has started in the Huaibei mining area, and the serious threat of high confined water on the floor to the coal seam is gradually increasing. Based on the deep confined water mining project at working face II633 of the Hengyuan coal mine, this paper theoretically analyzes the damage depth of the floor and the risk of water inrush from the floor. The best proportion of grouting materials was quantitatively optimized by indoor experiments, and an industrial field test was conducted to judge the grouting effect. The results show that the failure depth of the bottom plate calculated by theoretical analysis is 31.73 m; a single factor test and a response surface optimization design method determined the best value of each index: water cement ratio 0.8, bentonite 2%, water reducer 0.6%, sodium silicate 2%. The damage depth of the bottom plate after grouting is 18.83~20 m, according to the field monitoring by the strain method. The optimized slurry significantly reduces the damage depth of the floor, ensures the safe and efficient mining of the coal seam above the high–pressure water, and has a high reference value for the safe mining of the coal seam under similar geological conditions.