Method of thermally stimulated acoustic emission to assess changes in the deformed state of rocks under quasi-static loading

National University of Science and Technology MISIS, Mining Institute, Moscow, Russia

Abstract

This paper presents the results of an experimental study of the acoustic-emission response of limestone samples exposed to incrementally increasing quasi-static mechanical loads and a series of thermal shocks. The subject of the study also included the design and composition (confi-guration) of the laboratory facility for the research, as indicated above. The patterns of change in thermally stimulated acoustic emission (TAE) as a function of the deformed state of limestone under development are theoret-ically substantiated. An acoustic-emission criterion enabling a qualitative assessment of the residual strength of rocks was proposed and substan-tiated. The methodological approaches to the processing with the presenta-tion of the author’s interpretation of the physical meaning of the experi-mentally obtained initial measurement data are defined. Finally, the fundamental possibility of using the obtained results in the field conditions for monitoring the evolution of the deformed state of rocks is shown.