Coal and rock dynamic disasters occur frequently in deep coal mining. The loading rate affects the mechanical properties and behaviors. Uniaxial compression acoustic emission (AE) tests of bump-prone coal under various loading rates were carried out, and the mechanical properties, AE spatiotemporal evolution, and spatial fractal characteristics were analyzed. The experimental results indicate that the uniaxial compressive strength is positively related to the loading rate, and the elastic modulus increases before decreasing with the loading rate. The failure strain is positively related to the loading rate, and the percentage of the compaction phase relative to the pre-peak phase decreases with the loading rate. The hit rate, absolute energy, AE events, and amplitude evolution of coal samples under various loading rates are the same, and the maximum of AE absolute energy and hit rate is positively related to the loading rate. The spatial evolution of AE events of coal samples under various loading rates is the same, showing a “slow increase → slow increase → fast increase → rapid increase → slow increase” trend. The spatial fractal dimension ranges from 2.1 to 2.9, and the evolution of coal samples under various loading rates is the same, exhibiting a downward trend.

Thermal insulation gunite (TIG) in roadways is an effective method for regional thermal hazard control in mines. The development of mine TIG materials is the foundation of thermal insulation technique. However, some conventional and advanced insulation materials are inapplicable to deep mines which are rather humid with high in situ stress and high geo‐temperature. In this study, a kind of fly ash‐inorganic mineral TIG material was developed and applied to the modelling of a high geo‐temperature roadway. Moreover, the thermal insulation effect of the TIG layer was analyzed, and the temperature field characteristics of the TIG surrounding rock were discussed. Results reveal that (1) the TIG layer has a significant impact on the heat release of the wall and stability of the surrounding rock temperature field; (2) the initial temperature disturbance times, temperature disturbance ranges, and temperature drop rates differ with whether a TIG layer exists or not; (3) after the TIG roadway starts to be ventilated, the thermal flux densities tend to be consistent, which indicates the end of temperature disturbance; besides, the dimensionless temperature shares an exponential relation with the dimensionless radius; and (4) the characteristics of temperature drops vary with the radial positions of the surrounding rock. The research results provide a certain reference for thermal hazard control, temperature prediction, and ventilation network adjustment.

In underground coal mines, shear-induced changes in regional fluid flow are a major factor causing water inrushes from faults into working faces. Shear slip along preexisting fractures tends to be activated during hydraulic fracturing, and this movement can either enhance or diminish hydraulic fracturing efficiency. To prevent water inrush disasters and further hydraulic fracturing, understanding the evolution of shear-induced permeability in fractures in sedimentary rock is very important. In this study, the evolution of shear-induced permeability in saw-cut sandstone fractures with three different types of surface roughness was investigated by conducting triaxial shear tests and examining the 3-D topography of the unsheared and sheared fracture surfaces. The results allow several important conclusions to be drawn. (1) The permeability of fractures follows a three-stage shear-displacement-dependent evolution. The permeability remains unchanged in the first stable stage. After that, permeability decreases sharply with increasing shear displacement. Finally, the permeability enters a second stable stage. (2) The shear stress versus shear-displacement curves can also be divided into three stages, namely, a stress adjustment stage, a stage of increasing stress, and a stable stage. During the experiments, the fractures always experienced stick-slip shear in the stable stage. The oscillations of the shear stress in the stick-slip stage had a higher frequency for fractures with rougher surfaces. In addition, the rougher surfaces exhibited a greater permeability drop after shearing than that shown by smoother fracture surfaces. (3) The 3-D scanning results imply that the coupled effects of grinding (plus scraping) and sealing lead to decreased permeability. During shearing, the fracture walls grind and scrape against each other resulting in partial flattening of the fracture surface and the production of fault gouge in the fracture. This leads in turn to the flow pathways being partially sealed by crushed mineral grains.

The mechanical properties and permeability evolution of sand-infilled rock joints during the shear process is an important issue in rock engineering, such as it pertains to hydraulic fractures filled with proppant. Shear can disrupt the preexisting hydraulic and mechanical equilibrium conditions, thus affecting fluid flow. In this study, we simulate the shear behavior of rock joints with variable roughness and sand infilling thickness using the discrete element code PFC2D. Rock joint roughness is evaluated by the joint roughness coefficient (JRC), and sand infilling thickness is evaluated by a thickness ratio (i.e., ratio of infill thickness to rock height) ranging from 0.02 to 0.20. The results show that peak shear strength decreases with the thickness ratio in a relation that can be expressed by a hyperbolic function. We also measure the permeability evolution during shearing and find that the permeability of infilled rock joints increases with both the thickness ratio and JRC.

Underground coal mining of CH₄ gas-rich tectonic coal seams often induces methane outburst disasters. Investigating gas permeability evolution in pores of the tectonic coal is vital to understanding the mechanism of gas outburst disasters. In this study, the triaxial loading–unloading stresses induced gas permeability evolutions in the briquette tectonic coal samples, which were studied by employing the triaxial-loading–gas-seepage test system. Specifically, effects of loading paths and initial gas pressures on the gas permeability of coal samples were analyzed. The results showed the following: (1) The gas permeability evolution of coal samples was correlated with the volumetric strain change during triaxial compression scenarios. In the initial compaction and elastic deformation stages, pores and cracks in the coal were compacted, resulting in a reduction in gas permeability in the coal body. However, after the yield stage, the gas permeability could be enhanced due to sample failure. (2) The gas permeability of the tectonic coal decreased as a negative exponential function with the increase in initial gas pressure, in which the permeability was decreased by 67.32% as the initial gas pressure increased from 0.3 MPa to 1.5 MPa. (3) Coal samples underwent a period of strain development before they began to fail during confining pressure releasing. After the stress releasing-induced yield stage, the coal sample was deformed and cracked, resulting in a quickly increase in gas permeability. With a further releasing process, failure of the sample occurred, and thus induced rapidly increasing gas permeability. These obtained results could provide foundations for gas outburst prevention in mining gas-rich tectonic coal seams.