Field trial demonstrates that pulse hydraulic fracturing increases excavation efficiency by 156% in hard rock roadways, indicating substantial benefits for mechanical mining and dust control.
To address the challenge of low rock-breaking efficiency in hard rock roadway, this paper proposes a method of pulse hydraulic fracturing to assist the rock breaking. First, fracture network by pulse hydraulic fracturing is formed in the hard rock. The rock is divided into rock blocks that can pass through the scraper conveyor, and damage occurs inside the rock block. Next, the cutting action of the roadheader’s cutter is employed to cause the rock blocks to easily break off. Additionally, by constructing observing borehole, the propagation range of the fracture network is controlled, so as to prevent the fracture network from causing great damage to the surrounding rock of the roadway. On-site trials were conducted in a mine's comprehensive excavation working face. Prior to pulse hydraulic fracturing, rock was ground into powder. After pulse hydraulic fracturing, rock could be cleaved along the fracture network, resulting in blocky rock fragments. The length and width of the rock blocks generally ranged between 10 and 90 cm. Dense microcracks appeared inside the rock block, with an average crack length of 3 mm, an average spacing of 22 mm, and an average opening of 81 μm. The number of fractures increased by approximately 46%. The uniaxial compressive strength of the rock block decreased by 41%. The efficiency of the roadheader in breaking rocks has increased by 156%. Additionally, after pulse hydraulic fracturing, and visibility increased by 17%, demonstrating the effectiveness of pulse hydraulic fracturing in reducing dust at the source.
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Huang et al. (2026) studied this question.
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