Hydraulic
fracturing (HF) is an effective method to improve the
permeability of coal seams and enhance coalbed methane recovery in
underground coal reservoirs. However, the induced stress and strain
evolution behaviors triggered by HF engineering practice remain unclear,
which hinders our perception and field applications on HF technology.
In this work, an HF field experiment was conducted in a deep buried
coal mine, and a hollow inclusion cell (HI cell) was proposed to investigate
the induced strain and stress evolution behaviors of HF. In addition,
the HF complete evolution process was sectioned and comprehensively
studied. The results showed that the influence range of this HF field
test exceeds 44 m, and the induced strain primarily experiences three
stages when subjected to HF: initial constancy, strain fluctuation,
and later, stability. The induced stress experiences intense variations
when subjected to HF, with the minimum principal stress increment
being the greatest. Principal stress tends to recover to the initial
stress state after HF, but the recovery speed declines with time.
Further, azimuth and dip angle experience intense changes under HF.
The change law is irregular, but they all tend to return to the primary
state. Moreover, combining water flow and pressure, the HF evolution
process can be divided into five stages: prehydraulic fracturing,
unstable crack propagation, stable crack propagation, posthydraulic
fracturing, and pump off stage, which can reflect the real evolution
behaviors accurately. The research results have profound implications
for coalbed methane recovery and coal mine gas governance.