Experimental Study of Mechanical Characteristics of Cobalt-Rich Crusts Under Different Temperatures

Experimental study of mechanical characteristics of Cobalt-Rich Crusts was conducted by MTS815 rock mechanical testing system and MTS615 environmental chamber under temperatures of 0–150 DEG C. The relationships between temperature and peak force, peak strain, elastic modulus and other parameters are analyzed systematically. Results show that there are different mechanical properties for Cobalt-Rich Crusts under different temperatures. With the increasing of temperature, the peak force and peak strain also are gradually reduced, and the changing amplitude is not a strict linear relationship, with the changing of temperature, the amplitude of the changing is or more or less nonlinear. When the temperature is 0 or 25 DEG C, the elastic modulus of Cobalt-Rich Crusts is nearly equal, but when the temperature changes from 25 to 150 DEG C, the elastic modulus increases with the increasing of temperature. Therefore, the researching work can provide a new idea for deep-sea mining engineering, and also be a theoretical basis for deep-sea mining. © 2016, Springer International Publishing Switzerland.