Experimental Investigation on the Mechanical Response of Coals to Uniaxial Compression and Low-Speed Dynamic Loading

The surrounding rock of roadways in underground coal mines will lose its stability or even collapse under gas explosions, especially roadways surrounded by coals. The dynamic mechanical properties of coals were tested in order to investigate the dynamic response of coals under gas explosions. The static mechanical properties of coals were also tested as comparison. It is found that the dynamic stress-strain curves showed no obvious pore compaction stage comparing with uniaxial loading. The dynamic compression strength and the elastic modulus are obviously larger than those obtained in the static mechanical properties test, and the dynamic strain shows an obvious hysteresis phenomenon. The ultimate strain and absorbed energy increased linearly with increase of the strain rate. With the increase of dynamic loading, the fragment size of coal cores decreased obviously. The results could provide a reference for the antiexplosion design of the coal roadway.