The effects of micro- and meso-scale characteristics on the mechanical properties of coal-bearing sandstone

Studying the effects of the micro- and meso-scale characteristics of coal-bearing sandstone on its mechanical properties can provide basic data and accumulated experience for the development of technology for the in situ testing of the strength of rock masses. In this paper, the micro- and meso-structures, mineral composition, and elemental contents of 16 kinds of sandstone from three coal mines were studied through X-ray diffraction and polarizing microscope analysis. The stress–strain evolutional characteristics of different sandstone samples were obtained through uniaxial compression, tension, and shear tests under acoustic emission monitoring, and the effect of various micro- and meso-characteristics on the mechanical properties and failure characteristics of the sandstones was investigated. The results show that the strength, elastic modulus, cohesion, and friction coefficient all increase with increasing quartz content and degree of particle contact, and decrease with increasing plagioclase and clay mineral content, especially kaolinite content. The failure mode of sandstone samples is mainly shear failure during uniaxial compression, the larger the particles and the lower the quartz content, the higher the RA value generated near the peak, indicating that more tensile failure occurs. Furthermore, the strength damage model and damage constitutive model are established by acoustic emission measurement data. These results could provide useful reference for the development of intelligent systems for the in situ testing of the mechanical properties of coal and rock masses.