To facilitate investigation of the effect of imperfect elastic dissipation on thepropagation of Rayleigh-type channel waves and use of their quality factors in investigationsof the properties of coal seams, a simple method for calculating the quality factor QR isproposed in this paper. Introduction of complex velocities into the dispersion function allowscalculation of the dispersion function of Rayleigh-type channel waves in coal seams. By thecontrol variable method, we analyzed changes in QR with changes in coal seam thickness andP- and S-wave Q-factors within the coal seam and adjacent rock layers. The numerical resultsshow that the trend of the QR curve is consistent with the group velocity curve. The minimumQR value occurs at the Airy phase frequency; the Airy phase frequency decreases as coal seamthickness increases. The value of QR increases with increasing Qs2 （quality factor for S wavein coal seam）. We can compensate for the absorption of Rayleigh-type channel waves usingthe computed QR curve. Inversion of the QR curve can also be used to predict the thicknessesand litholoeies of coal seams.
