Strength Degradation and Fracture Propagation of Repeatedly Immersed Artificial Dam Samples under Uniaxial Cyclic Loading-Unloading.

The use of underground reservoirs is a critical technique for achieving sustainable coal and water resources in many ecologically fragile mines in western China. Concrete samples subject to repeated water immersion and cyclic loading-unloading (CLU) operations were obtained from an underground artificial reservoir dam in Chahasu Colliery to study their strength damage and fracture propagation behavior. The variation in water content of the samples according to immersion times were divided into the rapid growth stage (0-10 h), slow growth stage (10-60 h), and stable stage (>60 h).

Evolution of Hydraulic Conductivity of Unsaturated Compacted Na-Bentonite under Confined Condition-Including the Microstructure Effects.

Compacted bentonite is envisaged as engineering buffer/backfill material in geological disposal for high-level radioactive waste. In particular, Na-bentonite is characterised by lower hydraulic conductivity and higher swelling competence and cation exchange capacity, compared with other clays. A solid understanding of the hydraulic behaviour of compacted bentonite remains challenging because of the microstructure expansion of the pore system over the confined wetting path.

The sustainable development of coal mines by new cutting roof technology.

China consumes more than 3.6 billion tons of coal every year. In the meanwhile, coal accounts for over 60% of the energy consumption sector.