Zhuolin Shi

As an indispensable material in construction and engineering, concrete’s mechanical properties and permeability are crucial for structures’ stability and durability. In order to reasonably assess and improve the durability of fracture-containing concrete structures and to enhance the sustainable working life of concrete structures, this research investigated the seepage characteristics of fracture-containing concrete and its mechanical property deterioration under fracture–seepage coupling by testing the permeability and strength of concrete samples before and after water penetration using triaxial seepage test and mechanical strength test. The results show that the fracture–seepage coupling action significantly affects the permeability characteristics and mechanical strength of fracture-containing concrete. In particular, the strength of concrete samples containing a single fracture decreased with increased fracture angle, with a maximum decrease of 32.8%. The fracture–seepage–stress coupling significantly reduced the strength of the fracture-containing concrete samples, which was about twice as much as the strength of the no-fracture concrete samples. Different fracture angles affect the mode of fracture expansion and damage (The fracture angle varies from small to large, and the damage form of concrete changes from tensile damage to tensile–shear composite damage). Moreover, the coupling effect of fracture–seepage–stress will further increase fracture-containing concrete’s fragmentation in the damage process. Therefore, improving the seepage and fracture resistance of concrete plays a vital role in improving the sustainable working life of concrete structures.

In the research on sustainable mining and environmental preservation, understanding the dynamic behaviour of rock formations in deep, high-stress mining environments is essential. In order to acquire the laws of rock dynamic disaster generation from mining in deep, high-stress environments, this research adopts a multistage and multi-cycle triaxial cyclic loading test to obtain the stress–strain curves and macroscopic deformation characteristics of hard sandstone under different surrounding pressures. The results show that the cumulative damage displacement of hard sandstone under cyclic loading at a certain stress level for the first 3–4 cycles is half of the total damage displacement at that cycle stage, and its peak volumetric strain will increase with the increase. The elastic energy density ratio and dissipation energy density ratio of hard sandstone under cyclic loading show a sinusoidal fluctuation trend, and the fluctuation gradually decreases with the increase in the number of cycles and the increase in the cyclic stress level. Under the cyclic loading of different surrounding pressures, the hard sandstone shows brittle damage characteristics, where the damage form is mainly shear damage with a small amount of tensile damage in low surrounding pressure and the damage form is mainly shear damage, tensile damage, and local compression damage in high surrounding pressure. The study reveals the deformation and damage law, energy evolution, and dissipation characteristics of high-strength hard sandstone. It is essential for the development of mining strategies that minimize the impact on the environment, reduce the dynamic hazards generated by mining, and maximize the efficiency of resource extraction

In recent years, the integrity of the gas pipeline in the coal-gas co-mining subsidence area has become a critical problem, restricting the safe and efficient mining of coal resources. This paper establishes a theoretical model for the safety prediction of gas pipelines in mining subsidence areas based on elastic free theory, constructs a 3D model of pipe-sand soil by using ABAQUS simulation software (2021), analyzes the characteristics of ground surface and pipeline settlement combined with the measured data on-site, and reveals the temporal and spatial evolution law of the pipeline load and deformation under the condition of diagonal intersections of the pipeline and high-strength mining working face. The results show that during the mining cycle, the pipe and the sandy soil body experienced the stage of cooperative deformation, the stage of increasing non-cooperative deformation, and the stage of weakening non-cooperative deformation; the pipe body is most vulnerable to yield failure in the circumferential direction of 180°, 45°, 225°, and 0°; the relative deformation rate of the pipe experienced a slow and rapid increase in the stage, and tends to flatten out when the advancement length is about 1.5–2 times the distance at the taken cross-section. The study’s results are conducive to accurately predicting the pipe failure orientation under high-intensity mining conditions in coal seams, improving the diagnostic efficiency of pipes, and optimizing the advancement speed of the working face.

Aiming at the problem of the low reuse rate of mine water due to the high content of heavy metals in mine water, in this research, the microcharacterization means of EDX, XRD, BET, SEM, and FT-IR were used to characterize the nonstick coal in a mine in western China. The effects of solid–liquid ratio, solution pH, solution temperature, adsorption time, and initial concentration of the solution on the adsorption of Fe(II) by the nonstick coal were analyzed. The adsorption performance of nonstick coal on adsorbed Fe(II) was analyzed under different influencing factors. The results showed that the adsorption capacity and unit removal rate of the coal samples gradually decreased with the increase in the solid–liquid ratio; the adsorption amount increased with the increase in pH in an “S” shape, and the adsorption effect was better in the range of pH = 5~7; and the adsorption amount increased linearly with the temperature. The quasi-secondary kinetic model and Langmuir model could fit the adsorption kinetic curve and isothermal adsorption curve better, which indicated that the adsorption of Fe(II) by the nonstick coal was dominated by the chemical adsorption of the monomolecular layer. The quantitative analysis of the FT-IR results showed that the adsorption of Fe(II) was mainly by complexation with -OH detached from the coal samples to produce precipitation.

In the fragile mining areas of western China, the contradiction between coal mining and water resource protection coexists prominently. Facing this issue, it is necessary to understand the dynamic relationship between mining-induced shear stress and groundwater seepage, as well as the fracture morphology of the overlying strata. In this study, the seepage characteristics of rough fractures within the rock mass are thoroughly investigated, with an emphasis on studying the effects of shear stress and seepage erosion. This research is carried out through seepage experiments and 3D fracture morphology scanning, and the research results are mainly as follows: (a) Rocks with higher shear strengths show less fluctuation in changes in fracture morphology and seepage velocity. (b) The permeability of sandstone and concrete fractures is inversely proportional to the shear stress. The layering of coal greatly limits seepage through the fractures and the permeability of coal is about one-tenth of the permeability of sandstone and concrete under the same conditions. (c) The mechanism of erosion damage to the rock by water-force coupling is the result of the shear and extrusion generated by rock fractures and the transport of rock particles. Changes in fracture erosion and seepage characteristics brought about by the damage will mutually promote and intensify the erosive effect of water force. (d) The degree of change in fracture morphology (fracture damage) under the same conditions is coal > concrete > sandstone. There are differences in the response of different types of rock to the shear stress–seepage erosion, but all show obvious changes in fracture damage and seepage characteristics.

Percolation experiments were conducted on coal samples with various fracture lengths and inclination angles under different stress conditions using a gravity-loaded rock percolation test device. The goals of these experiments are (1) to improve the technology for protecting water resources while mining coal and (2) to enhance the research on how the size effects of fracture affect seepage. A three-dimensional seepage model was constructed using COMSOL numerical simulation software for larger fracture lengths ranging from 1 to 30 m to investigate the seepage pattern under the coupling of fracture roughness, fracture width, and other factors. Multiple regression analysis was used to investigate the effects of different factors on seepage from large and small fractures independently. The results show that, under laboratory conditions, for fracture lengths 10–70 mm (small length), permeability increases non-linearly with an increase in fracture length, and the overall increase is approximately 1.8 times. Whereas, for fracture lengths of 1–30 m (large length) in the simulation, permeability decreases and then increases with an increase in fracture length, and the overall change is approximately 0.03 times. The permeability varies in three stages (1–8 m obvious change, 8–23 m stabilization, 23–30 m stability) under different fracture lengths, widths, and roughness conditions. Acritical size was found to exist. The effect of fracture length on large length fracture seepage and small length fracture seepage was further verified by parameter sensitivity. The results of this study further reveal the mechanism of fracture seepage under coupling of fracture geometry size stress.