SME Annual Meeting

Feb. 28-Mar. 03, 2010, Phoenix, AZ

Preprint 10-027

EVALUATION OF PHYSICAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF COAL USING ULTRASONIC MEASURE TECHNIQUE AND
NUMERICAL SIMULATION

D. Antonov, Western Australia School of Mines, Perth, WA, Australia

P. Weidong, China Univ. of Mining & Technology, Beijing, China

ABSTRACT discontinuity of coal, and numerical simulation was used to do a detail

research.
The physical and mechanical properties of coal play a important
role in the planing and design of coal mines. However, due to the LABORATORY INVESTIGATION
complexity conditions in situ and the influence of unknown factors, it is
hard for people to evaluate the physical and mechanical properties of To research the caving mechanics of coal underground through
coal directly. In this research, uniaxial compressive stress was used to ultrasonic wave, the acoustic properties of coal must be studied at first.
change the attribute of coal samples, and the ultrasonic measure So we measured the ultrasonic wave parameters of coal samples in the
technique was used to evaluate the physical and mechanical properties laboratory. During the measurement, uniaxial stress was used to
of coal. The results of laboratory test showed that there was a strong change the physical-mechanical properties of coal just as in situ.
relation between uniaxial stress and velocity of ultrasonic wave. Coal samples preparation
Sensitivity analysis with numerical simulation was used to define the Representative coal mass samples were collected from a coal
relation between the physical-mechanical parameters of coal and mine of Henan Mines Ltd. in China. To fit the tests, they were cut into
ultrasonoc wave. With the dynamic analysis module of FLAC, three cube size, which length, width and height are 60mm, and every face of
elastic and plastic models were built to model the coal samples. The each sample was further smoothened by the lathe machine (Figure 1
modeling parameters were changed pro rata, and the correlation of coal (a)). When some of the coal samples were measured by the ultrasonic
and ultrasonic wave properties were summarized and presented. The flaw detector, the others were taken to get the physical-mechanical
result from this research will be base for further analysis of caving parameters of coal through uniaxial and triaxial tests, as shown in table
behavior of coal. 1.
INTRODUCTION
The physical and mechanical properties of rock and coal play a
important role in the planing and design of coal mines. They are also
very important for evaluating the stability of engineering construction
underground. However, due to the complexity conditions in situ and the
influence of unknown factors, it is hard to evaluate the physical and
mechanical properties of rock and coal directly. Ultrasonic measure
technique is one of the indirect but relevant and reliable methods to
evaluate the physical and mechanical properties of rock and coal.
Figure 1. Laboratory test of coal samples with ultrasonic
So far, some researchers have studied the relation between measurement and uniaxial compress. (a) Coal samples after machining;
different physical and mechanical properties of rock and coal and (b) Equipments of laboratory test.
ultrasonic wave velocity and get some significative results. Yasar E.
and Erdogan Y., (2004) studied carbonate rocks of different origins and Table 1. Physical-mechanical properties received from uniaxial and
established a linear relation between density, Young’s modulus and triaxial tests.
uniaxial compressive strength with P-wave velocity. Prasanna Lakshmi Uniaxial Elastic Friction
Density Poisson’s Cohesion Tension
code strength modulus angle
K.J. et al.(2005) had carried out ultrasonic pulse velocity measurements (g/cm3)
(MPa) (GPa)
ratio (MPa)
(Degree)
(MPa)
and uniaxial compressive strength tests on a large number of Sample 1 1.46 27.07 3.8 0.339 3.45 35.8 4.78
sandstone samples in laboratory, and got a linear relationship between Sample 2 1.46 20.94 3.62 0.344 2.73 34.2 4.02
Sample 3 1.46 22.15 5.22 0.337 2.96 36.3 4.03
the engineering properties and P-wave velocity data of sandstones.
Qiuliang Yao and De-hua Han (2008) measured ultrasonic velocities, Sample 4 1.46 18.53 3.17 0.347 2.47 33.7 3.7

densities and porosities for a set of coal and surrounding rock samples
in laboratory, and predicted the velocity and anisotropy of coal were
sensitive to water saturation and temperature change. Manoj
Khandelwal and T.N. Singh (2009) found a strong coefficient of
determination between P-wave velocity and physico-mechanical
properties of the tested coal measures rocks.
However, there are two problems about present research work
which have been done. One problem is that most of the tests and
researches are about the rocks, and only a few for the coal; another
problem is that laboratory test is a tedious and time-consuming job, and
is also limited and unrepeatable. A more simple method, such as
numerical simulation, should be used to do a deep analysis.
In this paper, the study is aimed on relation between the different
physical and mechanical properties of coal and ultrasonic wave
parameters. Uniaxial compressive stress was applied to change the
average 1.46 22.17 3.95 0.34 2.9 35 4.13
Ultrasonic wave measurement
The measurement is aimed on researching the behavior of
ultrasonic wave in the coal with different uniaxial stress. At first, we
choose four cube samples of coal, and put one of them on the uniaxial
test machine. The two opposite faces of coal sample were connected
with two transducers of ultrasonic flaw detector respectively. Grease
was taken as couplant and was put between the transducers and
sample faces. Second, the initial parameters of ultrasonic wave in the
coal, without uniaxial stress, were recorded by the ultrasonic flaw
detector. Third, the uniaxial stress were applied on the coal sample. The
uniaxial stress was increasing from 1MPa to 30MPa, and the
parameters of ultrasonic wave in the coal were recorded along with the
change of uniaxial stress (Figure 1 (b)). Finally, the other three coal

1 Copyright © 2010 by SME


samples were measured in the same way.
Figure 2. Correlation between uniaxial stress and ultrasonic wave
velocity in the coal samples.
As shown in Figure 2, the velocities of ultrasonic wave changed
along with the uniaxial stress in the similar rules, but the extent of
varieties were different. For example, when the uniaxial stress
increased from 0 to 10 MPa, the velocity of ultrasonic wave in coal
sample 1 rised gradually. It showed that the original cracks in the coal
were closed. When the uniaxial stress increased from 11 to 13 MPa, the
velocity of ultrasonic wave decreased as a result of the new cracks
which were produced by uniaxial stress. When the uniaxial stress
increased to 14 MPa, the coal sample was fractured and the velocity
decreased to a very low point.
NUMERICAL SIMULATION
To define the relation between ultrasonic wave and different
physical-mechanical parameters of coal, we use numercal models
inbedded in two dimensional finite difference code, FLAC2D (Itasca
Consulting Group, Inc). In this research, FLAC2D was chose for
following reasons:
 FLAC is a widely used numerical software for dymanic analysis in
both rock and coal. And there were successful examples of
modeling the wave transmission ( Yang-Soo Jeona, et al., 2006;
Zhang Y., 2008).
 The P-wave of ultrasonic transmits in one dimension, and the
S-wave transmits in two dimensions. Hence, the FLAC2D can
correctly present the problems. Preliminary numerical simulation
shows that the results for ultrasonic wave presented by FLAC3D
and FLAC 2D are similar, but the FLAC3D is more time
consuming.
We built the modelings of coal samples respectively in elastic,
transversely isotropic model, Mohr-Coulomb model and ubiquitous-joint
model. All laboratory tests were simulated and the numerical and
laboratory test results were compared. The best model for numerical
simulation in our research was defined by the comparation of these
results.
Grid generation
In the dynamic analysis of FLAC, there is a requirement for the
type of grid: the spatial element size, l , must be smaller than
approximately one-tenth of the wavelength associated with the highest
frequency component of the input wave (after Itasca Consulting Group,
Inc. user’s mannual of FLAC 6.0). After calculating with the real
parameters of coal and ultrasonic wave (table 2), it was defined that the
spatial element size should be: l  0.004 m. After comparing the
2 Copyright © 2010 by SME
SME Annual Meeting
Feb. 28-Mar. 03, 2010, Phoenix, AZ
Presentation of laboratory test results
The test results of four coal samples were presented in Figure 2.
models with different zone sizes, it was found that a model with a grid
consisting of 20 × 20 zones ( l  0.003 m) would produce the
most accurate results. Models with meshes finer than that mesh
produced similar results, but required longer running time for the
simulation.
Constitutive model parameters
To select the most appropriate model of coal sample for dynamic
analysis, we respectively simulated the coal sample in elastic,
transversely isotropic model, Mohr-Coulomb model, and
Ubiquitous-joint model. For the present research, the following values of
models parameters were defined.

Density ( ). Density of coal samples is equal to the weight of
each coal sample divided by volume. For this research, we took the
average value of density, 1460 kg/m3, from laboratory tests in table 1.
Elastic modulus ( E ), Poisson’s ratio (
 ), bulk modulus
( K ) and shear modulus ( G ). The values of elastic modulus and
Poisson’s ratio were defined with laboratory uniaxial test, and we took
the average values, 3.95 GPa and 0.34, as the initial values of
numerical modeling. The bulk modulus and shear modulus were
calculated through equations:
K  E 3(1  2 )
&
G  E 2(1   )
which results were 4.11 GPa and 1.47 GPa.
Five parameters of elastic, transversely isotropic model.
There are five parameters of elastic, transversely isotropic model. The
angle between planes of elastic anoisotropy and the x-axis, changes
from 0 to 90 degree, but was usually accepted as 0 degree in the coal.
The relation of elastic modulus in plane of isotropy (xmod) and elastic
modulus in plane of anisotropy (ymod), and the relation of Poisson’s
ratio of isotropy (nuyx) and Poisson’s ratio of anisotropy (nuyx), were
analysed by R.D. Kriz and W.W. Stinchcomb (2006), Li Zhengchuan
(2008). The results showed that ymod value was 45% or 50% of the
xmod velue, and nuyx was almost equal to nuzx. For this research,
considering the unixial test results, the initial values of xmod (3.95 GPa),
ymod (1.98 GPa), nuyx (0.34) and nuzx (0.34) were accepted.
Cohesion ( c ), friction angle (  ), dilation angle (  ), tension
(  ) and joint parameters.
In Mohr-Coulomb model and
ubiquitous-joint model of coal, the values of cohesion and friction anlge
can be got through triaxial test in the laboratory. According to the
Mohr-Coulomb criterion, the maximum tensile strengths are equal to
minor principal stress and is expressed by the equation as follows:
 max  c tan  ................................................................... (1)
Where:
 max = uniaxial tensile strength, (MPa).
c = cohesion, (MPa).
 = friction angle.
Qian M.G.. (2003) defined that the initial dilation angle of coal is 10
degree, and increases to 20 degree with increasing the volumetric
plastic strain. For this research the initial value of 15 degree is accepted.
Joint parameters, joint angle (30 degree), joint cohesion (69 KPa), joint
friction angle (30 degree), joint dilation angle (15 degree), and joint
tension (119.5 KPa), were selected on the base of the available data
provided by other researchers (Qian M.G. and Shi P.W., 2003; Li T.L.,
2004).
k k
Normal stiffness ( n ) and shear stiffness ( s ) of interface.
Discontinuity widely existed in the coal, and directly influence the
 SME Annual Meeting
Feb. 28-Mar. 03, 2010, Phoenix, AZ

strength and fracture forms of coal. Normal stiffness and shear stiffness results of physical tests.
of fractures’ interfaces represents the ratio between, respectively,
normal stress and displacement, and shear stress and displacement.
The Itasca consulting group recommended (2008) that the lowest
stiffness, consistent with small interface deformation, be used. It is
suggested that ( k n ) and ( k s ) should be set to ten times the equivalent
stiffness of the stiffest neighboring zone. The apparent stiffness
(expressed in stress-per-distance units) of zone in the normal direction
is:
 ( K  4G 3) 
max   .........................................................(2)
 Z min 
Where:
Figure 3. Different boundary and initial conditions of model. (a)
K = bulk modulus, GPa. ultrasonic wave model, (b) uniaxial stress model.
G = shear modulus, GPa. The simulation process was arranged in several steps. For
Z min = the smallest width of an adjoining zone in the example, in Mohr-Coulomb model, at first, we built the initial model of
coal sample using the parameters of Mohr-Coulomb model, which had
normal direction. been defined in previous research. Second, we applied the uniaxial
stress on the initial model, and measured the velocity of ultrasonic wave
Following the above guidance, the value of 6.3 GPa for normal
by applying the dynamic boundary conditions. Third, we applied the
stiffness and 8.5 GPa for shear stiffness were accepted.
uniaxial stress in a different value (from 0 to 30 MPa), and measured
The correlative parameters were presented in table 2. the velocity of ultrasonic wave again.

Table 2. Design parameters of coal sample modelling. In this numerical modelling, the uniaxial stress was applied by a
Elastic, transversely isotropic Mohr- Coulomb model & vertical velocity from both of the bottom and the top of the model. The
model Ubiquitous-joint model relation between vertical stress and vertical displacement was obtained
Angle 0 degree Desity 1460 kg/m3 from the uniaxial test model and shown in Figure 4. Because the
Desity 1460 kg/m3 Bulk 4.11 GPa vertical stress is compressive stress, the value of vertical stress is
Nuyx 0.34 Shear 1.47 GPa negative. It is obvious that the max uniaxial compressive strength of
Nuzx 0.34 Cohesion 2.9 MPa modelling is 24.2 MPa. Based on the relation between stress and
Shear_mod 1.47 GPa Friction 35 degree displacement, the stress-strain curve of coal sample model was
Xmod 3.95 GPa Dilation 15 degree calculated and the result is presented in Figure 5.
Ymod 1.98 GPa Tension 4.13 MPa
Ubiquitous-joint model Interface
Joint-angle 30 degree Normal stiffness 6.3 GPa
Joint-cohesion 69 KPa Shear stiffness 8.5 GPa
Joint-friction 30 degree
Joint-dilation 15 degree
Joint-tension 119.5 KPa

Boundary and initial conditions

To simulate the whole process of laboratory tests in the previous
chapter, different boundary and initial conditions were assigned
respectively in two situations.
Uniaxial stress modeling. Uniaxial stress was applied on the
model by applying a initial stress in the minus direction of y-axis. Hence,
the bottom of the model was fixed in y-direction to prevent coal sample
models moving. The value of initial stress was changed from 1 to 30
MPa to simulate the uniaxial stress in laboratory test(Figure 3 (a)).
Ultrasonic wave modeling. For present research, the ultrasonic Figure 4. Vertical stress (syy) versus vertical displacement in the
wave was simulated by applying a x-direction stress on the boundary of uniaxial compress modeling
coal sample model. Hence, all the gridpoints were fixed in y-direction to
get the displacement in x-direction only. At the same time, to decrease First, coal sample model was built and gravity was applied. The
the disturbing of reflection, quiet boundary conditions were applied on result shows that this model is in balance. The vertical stress
the left and right boundaries of model, which were used to transmit and distribution of the model was presented in Figure 6. In this moment, the
receive ultrasonic wave(Figure 3 (b)). behaviour of ultrasonic wave was presented by a horizontal velocity in
the right-hand boundary of model. As shown in Figure 7, the gridpoint
Appropriate model selection velocity was began with 24.7  s and changed smoothly along with
In theory, all of the elastic, transversely isotropic model, the dynamic time. The maximum value of gridpoint velocity is 0.8 m/s,
Mohr-Coulomb model and ubiquitous-joint model could be used to and decreased gradually after each period. The velocity of ultrasonic
simulate the physical and mechanical behavior of coal samples. For wave can be calculated by:
present research, to find the most appropriate elastic or plastic model
which presents correctly behavior of coal, we built three coal sample L
models respectively using the parameters of the elastic, transversely CP  ............................................................................... (3)
isotropic model, Mohr-Coulomb model and ubiquitous-joint model. We t
simulated the ultrasonic wave measurement and uniaxial compressive
stress, and compared the results of numerical simulation with the Where:
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Feb. 28-Mar. 03, 2010, Phoenix, AZ

applied on the model at different steps intervals (50, 100, 150 and 200
CP = Velocity of ultrasonic wave, m/s.
steps) to defined the relation between the ultrasonic wave and the
L = Length of model, m. physical –mechanical coal property under different vertical stresses.
t = Consumed time when ultrasonic wave Transmitting After cycling 50 steps with the uniaxial stress, the maximum
in model, s. displacement of one boundary is 5.898×10-5 m (Figure 8). The strain of
model was calculated by:

l
 .................................................................................. (4)
L
Where:
 = Strain.
l = Vertical displacement, m.
L = the height of model, m.

Figure 5. Stress-strain curve obtained from uniaxial test modelling.

Figure 8. Plasticity behaviour of model after cycling 50 steps with

uniaxial stress.
Both, the top and bottom boundary of model have the same
velocity value, therefore the vertical displacement is equal to two times
of the maximum displacement, which is 11.8×10-5 m. The height of the
model is 0.06 m. The strain can be calculated by formula (4), and the
value is 0.002. Through the stress-strain curve obtained in Figure 5, the
stress value is 13 MPa when the strain equal to 0.002. The plasticity
behaviour in Figure 8 showed that the four corners of model first yield
and later fail under the uniaxial stress.
The behaviour of ultrasonic wave in the model was presented in
Figure 9. As shown in Figure 9, the ultrasonic wave was received at
33.1  s . Based on the width of the coal sample model, the wave
Figure 6. Vertical stress distribution of stable modeling after cycling
with gravity.
velocity was defined to be 1812 m/s. Comparing with the results in
Figure 7, the maximum gridpoint velocity decreased to 0.37 m/s. This
result showed that the more energy of ultrasonic wave was consumed
by the new discontinuities produced by uniaxial stress.

Figure 7. Ultrasonic wave behaviour of stable model without uniaxial

stress.
In this moment, the velocity value of ultrasonic wave is 2429 m/s.
Second the uniaxial stress was applied on the model to change Figure 9. Ultrasonic wave behaviour of model after cycling 50 steps
the mechanical properties of the coal. Next the ultrasonic wave were with uniaxial stress.

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After cycling 100 steps with the uniaxial stress, the results were
presented in Figure 10 and Figure 11. As shown in Figure 10, the
left-hand side and the right-hand side of the model have yielded in
shear or volume, and fracture direction trended to the middle part of the
model. The maximum displacement of boundary is 1.337×10-4 m, and
the uniaxial stress is 17 MPa. In figure 11, the receiving time of
ultrasonic wave was put off to 36.5  s , in which moment, the velocity
value of ultrasonic wave is 1643 m/s. The gridpoint velocity is decreased
to 0.3 m/s.

Figure 12. Plasticity behavior of model after cycling 150 steps with
uniaxial stress.

Figure 10. Plasticity behaviour of model after cycling 100 steps with
uniaxial stress.

Figure 13. Ultrasonic wave behaviour of model after cycling 150

steps with uniaxial stress.

Figure 11. Ultrasonic wave behaviour of model after cycling 100

steps with uniaxial stress.
After cycling 150 steps with the uniaxial stress, the uniaxial
compressive stress has increased to 21 MPa. In this moment, a majority
of zones in model yield in shear or volume and are in plastic state. Only
some zones in the middle part of model are in elasticity state (Figure
12). Comparing the results of gridpoint velocity behaviour in Figure 11
and Figure 13, the receiving moment of ultrasonic wave in Figure 13
was 0.9  s later, and the velocity of ultrasonic wave was decreased to
1604 m/s.
Figure 14. Plasticity behaviour of model after cycling 200 steps with
After cycling 200 steps with the uniaxial stress, the uniaxial uniaxial stress.
compressive stress has reached the highest value, 24.2 MPa. In this
moment, the zones of yielded in shear or volume almost extended all In Figure 16 (a), the numerical simulation results showed that the
over the model (Figure 14). In Figure 15, the time when ultrasonic wave velocity behavior of ultrasonic wave in elastic, transversely isotropic
travel through the model was increased to 38.4  s , and the velocity of model was quite different from the laboratory test results in Figure 16
(b). In Figure 16 (a), the velocity in ubiquitous-joint model increased
ultrasonic wave was 1562 m/s. The maximum gridpoint velocity in
from 2700 to 1600 m/s when the uniaxial stress changed from 0 to 25
frontal three periods was only 0.2 m/s, which showed that the energy of
MPa, which was different from the velocity behavior of laboratory test
ultrasonic wave consumed in a large value when transmitting in the coal
results in Figure 16 (b). In Figure 16 (a), the velocity in Mohr-Coulomb
sample model.
model rised from 2500 to 1600 m/s when the uniaxial stress changed
The same procedures were applied for the elastic, transversely from 0 to 24 MPa. Comparing with the laboratory test results in Figure
isotropic model and ubiquitous-joint model. The numerical simulation 16 (b), the trend line of velocity in Mohr-Coulomb model was most
results were presented on figure 16. similar with the laboratory test results. Hence, the Mohr-Coulomb model
was the appropriate model, which presented correctly behavior of coal
sample in our research.

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Figure 15. Ultrasonic wave behavior of model after cycling 200 steps
with uniaxial stress.
Figure 16. Comparing the numerical simulation results with the
laboratory test results. (a) numerical simulation results; (b) laboratory
test results.
Sensitivity analysis
In the previous research, it is obvious that the different physical
and mechanical properties of coal influence the behaviours of ultrasonic
wave. To find the parameters influence the wave and how to influence,
sensitivity analysis of numerical model parameters was performed.
During the sensitivity analysis, seven Mohr-Coulomb parameters
of coal sample model and two parameters of interface were chosen as
variables. First, the value ranges of these parameters were defined on
the basis of the available data provided by other researchers. Second,
the value of each parameter was changed and the velocity behaviour of
ultrasonic wave was recorded. Finally, the relations between different
physical and mechanical parameters of coal and the velocity of
ultrasonic wave were presented and evaluated.
Density. Generally, the density of coal is between soil and rock.
For this research, the density value of coal we measured is 1460 kg/m3,
and we chosed normal values of density from 500 to 3000 kg/m3. When
we changed the density of coal from 500 to 3000 kg/m3 and recorded
the velocity change of ultrasonic wave, which was presented in Figure
17. As shown in Figure 6, it was obvious that when the density changed
from 500 to 2000 kg/m3, the velocity of ultrasonic decreased 50 %. But
when the density increased over 2600 kg/m3, the velocity did not
increase. The result showed that the density change of materials can
influence the velocity of ultrasonic wave, but when the velue of density
is bigger than 2600 kg/m3, the velocity of ultrasonic wave remains the
same.
Bulk modulus and shear modulus. In the coal, the value
ranges of Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio are respectively from 9.8
to 19.6 GPa and from 0.1 to 0.45 (Qian M.G. and Shi P.W., 2003).
Based on the relationship between bulk modulus, shear modulus and
Young’s modulus, Poisson’s ratio, we can calculate that the value range
of bulk modulus is from 4 to 60 GPa and shear modulus changes from 3
to 10 GPa. For this research, the value ranges of bulk modulus from 1 to
100 GPa and shear modulus from 1 to 50 GPa were accepted. The
corresponding results of velocity of ultrasonic wave in connection with
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the bulk and shear modulus were presented in Figure 18. The velocity
of ultrasonic wave increased from 1500 to 7000 km/s when the bulk
modulus changed from 1 to 50 GPa, and the velocity increased to 9000
km/s when the bulk modulus changed from 50 to 100 GPa. The extent
of increasing was smaller. The same results were received when the
bulk modulus changed from 1 to 50 GPa. Basically, the velocity varieties
of simulation results almost followed the equation (Graff K.G., 1991):
CP  ( K  4 3G )  (5)
Where:
CP = velocity of P-wave, m/s;
K = bulk modulus, Pa;
G = shear modulus, Pa;
 = density, kg/m3.
Figure 17. Correlation between density and velocity of ultrasonic
wave.
Figure 18. Sensitivity analysis results of bulk and shear modulus. (a)
Correlation between bulk modulus and velocity of ultrasonic wave; (b)
Correlation between shear modulus and velocity of ultrasonic wave.
Friction angle and dilation angle. Generally, the friction angle
and dilation angle of coal are not more than 45 degree (Qian M.G. and
Shi P.W., 2003). In this research, both friction angle and dilation angle of
the coal sample model were changed from 0 to 45 degree. As shown in
Figure 19, the changes of friction angle and dilation angle did not
influence the velocity of ultrasonic wave.
Cohesion and tension. Generally, the cohesion value range of
coal is from 1 to 10 MPa, and the tension value range of coal is from 1
to 20 MPa (Qian M.G. and Shi P.W., 2003). In this research, when we
changed the cohesion value of model, the velocity of ultrasonic wave
remained the same. But it was found that the cohesion value of model
influenced the velocity amplitude of particles of coal when ultrasonic
wave transmitted in the coal sample. As shown in Figure 20 (a), when
we change the cohesion value from 1 to 2 MPa, the velocity amplitude
was increased from 0.4 to 0.8 m/s. When cohesion value changed from
2 to 10 MPa, the velocity amplitude did not increased anymore. The
similar results were received when we changed the tension value of
model. As shown in Figure 20 (b), the velocity amplitude increased from
0.1 to 0.8 m/s when the tension value changed from 1 to 3 MPa. When
the tension value was over 3 MPa, the velocity amplitude didn’t
 SME Annual Meeting
Feb. 28-Mar. 03, 2010, Phoenix, AZ

increase. physical mechanical properties of coal, and the regression analysis

results were presented in table 3.
Table 3. Regression analysis results.
Parameters Value range Regression equation R2 value
500-3000
Density CP*=0.003x2-2.0222x+4640 0.9553
kg/m3
Bulk modulus 1-100 GPa CP=1556.4 x0.3741 0.9819
Shear
1-50 GPa CP=2053 x0.3319 0.9708
modulus
Cohesion 1-10 MPa A**=0.1463 ln(x)+0.5861 0.5366
Tension 1-20 MPa A=0.2105 ln(x)+0.3298 0.6739
Fracture
0-90 degree CP=-0.2251x2+39.28x+537.75 0.9453
anlge
number of
1-4 CP=-508.84x+2727.1 0.9929
Fractures
Figure 19. Correlation between friction and dilation angle of coal and CP*—velocity of ultrasonic wave;
velocity of ultrasonic wave A**—velocity amplitude of particles.
CONCLUSIONS
In this study, during the laboratory test, ultrasonic measure
technique was used to evaluate the physical and mechanical properties
of coal, and unixial compressive stress was used to change the
discontinuity of coal samples. The results showed a good relation
between the ultrasonic wave velocity and uniaxial stress.
In the simulation research, elastic, transversely isotropic model,
Figure 20. Sensitivity analysis results of cohesion and tension. (a) Mohr-Coulomb model and ubiquitous-joint model were respectively
Correlation between cohesion and velocity amplitude of particles when used to present the plasticity behavior of model and the velocity
ultrasonic wave transmitted; (b) Correlation between tension and behavior of ultrasonic wave under the uniaxial stress. FLAC2D
velocity amplitude of particles when ultrasonic wave transmitted. Mohr-Coulomb model show the similar result with the laboratory test.
Therefore, Mohr-Coulomb model was chosen to simulate the physical
Fracture angle and number of fractures. Fracture angle was and mechanical properties of coal and their relation with ultrasonic
defined as the angle between fracture planes and x-axis. To research wave parameters.
the correlation of fractures in the coal and velocity of ultrasonic wave,
we applied the fractures in the model. We chose fracture angle and The sensitivity analysis showed strong relation between the
number of fractures as two variables, which value ranges, fracture angle velocity of ultrasonic wave and physical and mechanical properties of
from 0 to 90 degree and number of fractures from 1 to 4, were accepted coal, as density, bulk modulus, shear modulus, fracture angle and
in this research. number of fractures. The values of cohesion and tension influenced the
velocity amplitude of particles of coal. The friction angle and dilation
As shown in Figure 21 (a), when we changed the fracture angle angle did not influenced the ultrasonic wave. The relations between
from 0 to 90 degree in the model, the velocity of ultrasonic wave physical and mechanical properties of coal and ultrasonic wave
increased from 1400 to 2100 m/s. parameters are:
Velocity =0.003density2-2.0222density+4640
R2=0.9553 ................................................................................. (6)
Velocity =1556.4 bulk modulus0.3741
R2=0.9819 ................................................................................. (7)
Velocity=2053 shear modulus0.3319
R2=0.9708 ................................................................................. (8)
Figure 21. Sensitivity analysis results of fracture parameters. (a)
Correlation between fracture angle and velocity of ultrasonic wave; (b) Amplitude=0.1463 ln(cohesion)+0.5861
Correlation between number of fractures and velocity of ultrasonic
wave. R2=0.5366 ............................................................................... (9)

As shown in Figure 21 (b), when we changed the number of Amplitude=0.2105 ln(tension)+0.3298

fractures from 1 to 4, the velocity of ultrasonic wave decreased from
2200 to 700 m/s. It was obvious that there was a linear relation between
number of fractures and velocity of ultrasonic wave.
During the numerical simulation research, a very strong correlation
between ultrasonic wave velocity and physical-mechanical properties of
coal was found. Only the friction angle and dilation angle didn’t
influence the velocity behavior of ultrasonic wave. The results of
ultrasonic wave properties with other seven physical mechanical
parameters of coal, density, bulk modulus, shear modulus, cohesion,
tension, fracture angle and number of fractures, were analyzed using
the least square regression method. The equation of best fit line and
coefficient of determination (R2) were determined for each regression.
The velocity values of ultrasonic wave were correlated with the static
R2=0.6739 ............................................................................... (10)
Velocity=-0.2251fracture-angle2+39.28f-angle+537.75
R2=0.9453 ............................................................................... (11)
Velocity=-508.84number of fracture+2727.1
R2=0.9929 ............................................................................... (12)
These correlations are practical and accurate to apply for the use
in general practice to evaluate the important physical-mechanical
properties of coal by ultrasonic wave. The results of this research are an
important part of our research on caving mechanics of coal.

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 SME Annual Meeting
Feb. 28-Mar. 03, 2010, Phoenix, AZ

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The coal mass used in this study were provided by Dr. Wang
Jiachen in China University of Mining and Technology, Beijing. We also
thanks West Australia School of Mines for providing us the dynamic
analysis software.
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