This study, performed during the ORCHYD European project, devoted to drilling deep geothermal boreholes, has many potential applications to mechanical studies. It gathers geological descriptions of three outcropping granites from Scandinavia (Kuru Grey and Red Bohus) and from the South of France (Sidobre). Microstructural investigations include optical microscopy and X-ray tomography. The three granites chosen contain grain sizes that cover all the common ranges for granites: fine, medium and coarse. As the mineral phase volume fractions are similar in each, the grain defects and grain boundaries are carefully studied in an attempt to understand the physical and mechanical properties of the three granite rock samples measured at laboratory specimen scale. The rocks are tested for UCS, BTS and triaxial compressive strength with confining pressures up to 225 MPa or/and high strain-rates up to 103/s. The micro-structural parameters influencing the mechanical behaviour are highlighted. Test results show that the effect of confining pressure and strain-rate on compressive strength are uncoupled. These effects are then estimated independently, and a fracture criterion in compression accounting for both variables is proposed for the family of very hard granites. This criterion takes as a single reference strength measure for each rock the deviatoric stress at failure under 20 MPa confining stress in the quasi-static regime. It is then compared with existing datasets for which both quasi-static and dynamic regime data are available. This complete data set on these three very hard granites (UCS ∼ 200 MPa), together with a synthesis for failure prediction, has the potential to inform numerous rock engineering projects and be of value to the scientific community.
To uncover the mechanism of energy dissipation in coal samples when subjected to both water and dynamic load, the damage patterns and energy absorption properties of coal samples in their natural and saturated states were investigated and analyzed through Hopkinson impact experiments. The results of the study show that the mass and wave velocity of the natural coal samples show an increasing trend when they are saturated with water. And the mass and wave velocity increase by 6.35 % and 21.42 % respectively. The coal sample's level of fragmentation and dynamic strength exhibited a positive correlation with the velocity (1 m/s-5.69 m/s) of impact. When subjected to dynamic loads, both natural and water-saturated coal samples primarily undergo splitting, fracturing, and crushing. Compared with natural coal samples, saturated water coal samples show greater degree of crushing and lower mechanical strength. The dynamic strength of saturated coal sample at 5.25 m/s (15.66 MPa) decreased by 33.86 % compared with that at 5.69 m/s (23.68 MPa). The mean size of particles in coal samples, both in their natural state and when saturated with water, had an linear reduction relationship with impact speed. Conversely, the fractal dimension, which represents dissipation, had a direct relationship with impact speed. The fractal dimensions of dry and saturated coal samples are distributed in the ranges of 1.56–2.08 and 1.65–2.1, respectively. And the dissipative energy of natural coal samples between 1.09 m/s and 5.67 m/s is about 0.039 J/cm3-0.175 J/cm3, and that of saturated coal samples between 1 m/s and 5.25 m/s is about 0.034 J/cm3-0.088 J/cm3. The surface energy of coal samples was analysed and calculated, and an energy consumption prediction model was proposed to predict the energy consumption of coal samples after dynamic crushing.