Influence of temperature and humidity on similar material and its control measures

Similar-material simulation is generally used in mining engineering. The properties of a similar material vary over time in a certain environment. Due to the time-varying characteristics of the material strength, the model and prototype is dissimilar in dynamics and kinematics, which may affect the reliability of simulation results. The present paper conducts block experiments that investigate the time-varying characteristics of the material strength. The paper further investigates methods of reducing the effects of time-varying characteristics of material strength on simulation results and extends the effective monitoring time of the similar-material model in a natural environment and an environment having constant temperature and humidity. The following results are obtained: (1) The strength and moisture content of the similar material have an exponential relationship, which can be divided into three phases. (2) When a similar-material model is laid in a natural environment, sampling and homemade monitoring equipment can be adopted to control the similar-material model’s strength. Meanwhile, homemade monitoring equipment for the relative humidity of the similar material can be used to monitor a critical change in the similar material’s moisture content. (3) An environment having constant temperature and humidity can extend the effective monitoring time of the similar-material model. (4) High humidity can extend the effective monitoring time while high temperature can decrease the effective monitoring time. In an experiment, the temperature and humidity under the environment of constant temperature and humidity and monitoring time of the model should both be set reasonably. Results provide guidelines for setting the model monitoring period and give evidence for the reliability of simulation results.