Direct tensile mechanical properties and damage fracture mechanisms of thermally damaged coal measures sandstone under high strain rate loading

The direct tensile mechanical properties of highly thermally damaged rock under high strain rate loads are a key basic mechanical problem that must be solved for the stability and effective control of surrounding rock stability in the combustion control area of an underground coal gasification project. In this paper, a two-dimensional equivalent grain-based model (GBM) unit and Split Hopkinson Tension Bar (SHTB) numerical model for thermally damaged coal-measures sandstone were constructed using particle flow code (PFC). The comparison with the experimental results shows that the numerical method can accurately describe the dynamic direct tensile behavior of thermally damaged sandstone. The following conclusions are drawn: The dynamic tensile strength of thermally damaged sandstone shows a significant strain rate-strengthening effect. With the increase in thermal damage temperature, the dynamic tensile strength of sandstone increases first and then decreases. The generation and development of hot cracks in a high-temperature environment is the fundamental reason for the change in macroscopic mechanical properties. The dynamic tensile failure process of thermally damaged sandstone can be divided into four stages: the dynamic damage initiation, the dynamic damage development, the damage crack penetration, and the sample dynamic fracture. With the increase in impact velocity, the initial kinetic energy, elastic strain energy, dissipated energy, and elastic strain energy ratio in the failure process of thermally damaged sandstone gradually increase. In contrast, the dissipated energy ratio gradually decreases. As the heat treatment temperature increases, the elastic strain energy and the ratio of elastic strain energy increase first and then decrease