Abstract
Although the mechanism and influence of fault water inrush have been widely studied, there are still few studies on the migration of filling particles and the evolution process of seepage characteristics within faults. In this work, the coupling effects of water flow, particle migration, and permeability evolution are considered synthetically, and the evolution model of seepage characteristics with multifield coupling is established. This model was used to investigate the evolution process of water inrush within faults and the effects of water pressure, initial effective porosity, and initial permeability on water flow rate. The results show that the evolution of seepage characteristics can be divided into three phases: (i) low velocity seepage, (ii) drastic changes with substantial particle migration, and (iii) steady-state water flow. The multifield coupling causes the effective porosity, permeability, flow velocity, and particle concentration to accelerate each other during the dramatic phase. Moreover, the increases in initial water pressure, initial porosity, and initial permeability have different degrees of promotion on the water flow rate. Finally, the simulation results are approximately the same as the data of water inrush in the mining area, which verifies the correctness of the evolution model established in this work. This work provides new approaches to the evolution process and prevention of water inrush in faults.
Highlights
Affected by complex geological and hydrological conditions, water inrush disaster has been a serious challenge in underground engineering such as coal mines in China [1,2,3]
Fault structure is the main factor leading to water inrush in the mine pits
The 9101 working face in the Yangzhuang coal mine of the Feicheng Mining Bureau was between two walking faults, and the fault structures communicated the mining floor with the Xujiazhuang limestone aquifer and Ordovician limestone aquifer, which led to the occurrence of water inrush in the working face two times
Summary
Affected by complex geological and hydrological conditions, water inrush disaster has been a serious challenge in underground engineering such as coal mines in China [1,2,3]. Using digital image processing technology, Zhao et al [18] developed MATLAB function for threshold segmentation of the section image of broken rock mass and established a threedimensional digital analysis model Based on these models, interconnected networks of spatial structures and spatial distribution features of stress, seepage, and speed are identified for cataclastic rock masses. The results showed that the inverse velocity theory was capable of predicting the occurrences of water inrush under different conditions, and the time of water inrush had a power relationship with the rock heterogeneity, water pressure, and initial particle concentration. The heterogeneity of rocks in faults will be determined using the Weibull distribution, and the evolutionary feature of seepage characteristics, including effective porosity, permeability, particle concentration, and seepage velocity, will be obtained . The evolution process of the seepage characteristics will be simulated and investigated, and the mechanism of water inrush from the perspective of multiple coupled system movement will be revealed
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