Fractal characteristics of surface crack evolution in the process of gas-containing coal extrusion

Abstract In this paper, simulated experiment device of coal and gas outburst was employed to perform the experiment on gas-containing coal extrusion. In the experiment, coal surface cracks were observed with a high-speed camera and then the images were processed by sketch. Based on the above description, the paper studied the fractal dimension values from different positions of coal surface as well as their changing laws with time. The results show that there is a growing parabola trend of crack dimension value in the process of coal extrusion. Accordingly, we drew the conclusion that extruded coal crack evolution is a process of fractal dimension value increase. On the basis of fractal dimension values taken from different parts of coal masses, a fractal dimension of the contour map was drawn. Thus, it is clear that the contour map involves different crack fractal dimension values from different positions. To be specific, where there are complicated force and violent movement in coal mass, there are higher fractal dimension values, i.e., the further the middle of observation surface is from the exit of coal mass, and the lower the fractal dimension value is. In line with fractal geometry and energy theory of coal and gas outburst, this study presents the relation between fractal dimension and energy in the process of extruding. In conclusion, the evolution of crack fractal dimension value can signify that of energy, which has laid a solid foundation for the quantification research on the mechanism of gas-containing coal extrusion.