Mechanical Properties and Damage in Lignite under Combined Cyclic Compression and Shear Loading

In this paper, uniaxial cyclic compression and shear test was carried out for lignite samples. The effects of inclination angle (theta) and upper limit of cyclic stress (sigma(max)) on mechanical properties of coal samples were analyzed, and the damage variables of coal samples were studied based on energy dissipation theory. The results show that the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) of coal samples after uniaxial cyclic compression and shear tests decreases with the increase of the upper limit of cyclic stress and inclination angle. The shear stress component generated by the increase of inclination angle can effectively reduce the UCS and increase the damage degree of coal samples. With the increase of inclination angle, the failure mode of coal samples is changed from tensile failure (theta = 0 degrees), the combined tensile failure and shear failure (theta = 5 degrees) to shear failure (theta = 10 degrees). The peak axial and radial strain of coal samples first increases rapidly and then stagnates. The peak volume strain rapid increases and then stagnates (theta = 0 degrees and theta = 5 degrees). When the inclination angle is 10 degrees, the peak volume strain first decreases rapidly and then stagnates. Even if the upper limit of cyclic stress is lower than its UCS, it will still promote the propagation of micro cracks and the generation of new cracks and increase the internal damage of coal samples. With the increase of the cycle number, damage variables of coal samples after uniaxial cyclic compression and shear tests nonlinearly increase, and the growth rate decreases gradually.