This work discusses the damage and failure effect of
a hydraulic
electric pulse and the law of crack growth on coal. The impact and
failure effect of a water shock wave and the mechanism of crack initiation,
propagation, and arrest were studied by numerical simulation and the
fracturing test of coal, combined with CT scanning, PCAS software,
and Mimics 3D reconstruction technology. The results show that a high
voltage electric pulse that increases permeability is an effective
artificial crack making technology. The crack spreads radially along
the borehole, and the damage degree, number, and complexity were positively
correlated with the discharge voltage and discharge times. The crack
area, volume, damage factor, and other parameters increased steadily.
The cracks in the coal first start from two symmetrical angles, and
finally distribute in a 360 deg circumferential direction, forming
a multiangle crack spatial network structure. The fractal dimension
of the crack group increases, the number of microcracks and the roughness
of the crack group increases, the overall fractal dimension of the
specimen decreases, and the roughness between cracks weakens. The
cracks then form a smooth coal-bed methane migration channel. The
research results can provide some theoretical guidance for the evaluation
of crack damage propagation and the effect of electric pulse fracturing
in water.