Experimental research on critical point hypothesis

According to the critical point hypothesis (CPH), energy release would accelerate in power law before occurrence of large earthquakes or failure of brittle materials. In the paper, CPH was studied by acoustic emission experiments of large-scale rock samples. Three kinds of rock samples were used in the experiments. The tri-axial loading condition was applied under different loading histories. The released elastic energy (Acoustic emission) was recorded with acoustic emission technique as microcracks emerged and developed inside the rock samples. The experimental results gave a further verification on the CPH. The elastic energy release of rock samples would accelerate before the failure even under different experimental conditions. Primary studies were also made on medium-term earthquake prediction by using accelerating energy release (AER) in the paper. Foundation item: Project of Natural Sciences Foundation of China (10232050), Project of State Key Basic Research (2002CB412706) and Project of Computer Network Information Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences (2002CB412706).     

不同单轴加压方式下岩石声发射的时间过程与频率特征

本文利用两个频率通道同时接收花岗岩标本及石灰岩标本在不同单轴加压方式下的声发射信号,研究了从加压到破坏的整个形变过程中,不同频道接收到的声发射率的变化特征.发现在各种加压方式下,花岗岩和石灰岩在破坏前,由不同频率通道接收到的声发射率均急剧增长;而在破坏的瞬间,高频通道接收的声发射率增长快于较低频率通道的声发射率.这两点可用来预测岩石的破坏.声发射率随轴向应力的变化与加压方式有关.匀速加压,加压过程中保持一段时间恒压或降压均对应一定的声发射率状态.有可能通过追踪声发射情况,推测应力变化趋势.      

Experimental Research on the Load／Unload Response Ratio （LURR） Theory

Implementing acoustic emission experiments with large rock samples, LURR (Load/Unload Response Ratio) theory was studied. The loading conditions in the experiments were designed to simulate the complicated loading process of underground rocks. The damages emerging inside the rock samples were recorded by the acoustic emission technique during the loading process. The experimental results were consistent with prediction by LURR theory. Integrating the changing processes of LURR value Y and the location process of acoustic emission events showed agreement between the variation of LURR value Y and the damage evolution inside the rocks. Furthermore, the high value of Y emerged before the complete breakdown of materials. Therefore, the damage evolution of rock specimen can be quantitatively analyzed with LURR theory, thus the failure of the rock materials and the earthquake occurrence may be predicted. The experimental results gave a further verification of LURR theory.     

加卸载响应比(LURR)理论的实验研究

利用大尺度岩石试件破坏声发射实验，对加卸载响应比(Load/Unload Response Ratio)理论进行了实验研究。实验采用的加载条件力求能够模拟地下岩石的复杂受力过程。在加载过程中，岩石试件内部出现的损伤用声发射技术进行了记录。实验数据经过分析之后所得的结论与加卸载响应比理论预测的结果相符合。把加卸载响应比值Y的变化情况与声发射事件定位的过程相对比，也可以进一步看出岩石材料内部的损伤发展过程与加卸载响应比Y值的变化具有一致性。而高Y值的异常情况出现，又是在材料发生最终破坏之前，所以，可以用加卸载响应比理论定量地分析岩石试件损伤演化情况，从而对岩石材料的破坏及地震做出预测。实验结果再一次验证了加卸载响应比理论。     

EXPERIMENT STUDY ON ACOUSTIC EMISSION,MICROSEISM AND CHARGE INDUCTION DURING FRACTURE PROCESS OF GRANITE WITH FAULT ZONE UNDER UNIAXIAL COMPRESSION

As the rock samples will produce abnormal signals of acoustic emission, microseismic and charge signals under external loading, the waveform comprehensive monitoring devices are used to synchronously monitor acoustic emission, microseismic and charge signals during the deformation and failure process of granite with fault zone under uniaxial compression. The results show that, the granite with fault zone has obvious synchronous precursory signals of acoustic emission, microseism and charge induction in the elastic deformation stage, and has high amplitude synchronous precursory signals in the instability destruction stage. The influence of fault zone on granite samples strength is remarkable, and the uniaxial compressive strength of samples with the fault zone is greatly reduced. With the angle of the fault zone decreasing, the uniaxial compressive strength of the specimens is reduced, the samples are more liable to instability and the energy of instability destruction is greater. With the fault zone angle of granite samples decreasing, the acoustic emission, microseismic and charge induction signals increase in the deformation and failure process of samples. The samples stress decreases when the acoustic emission, microseismic and charge induction precursory signals appear synchronously. The duration of acoustic emission, microseismic and charge induction precursory signals is increasing in the instability destruction stage. When the angle of the fault zone reaches 30°, the mutability of acoustic emission, microseismic and charge induction signal increases, the time to enter the dangerous stage is much earlier, and the acoustic emission events of large magnitude increase significantly, and the large angle faults of coal mine are more dangerous. The intensive and high amplitude synchronous precursory signals of acoustic emission, microseism and charge induction are produced before the instability destruction, and the signals duration is shorter. The intensive and strongest synchronous precursory signals of acoustic emission, microseism and charge induction are produced in the instability destruction, and the signals duration is longer. Acoustic emission monitoring data can better reflect the micro rupture of rock. And combined with the acoustic emission, microseismic and charge induction precursory signals, the precursory information of rock instability destruction can be obtained more accurately.     

Acoustic Emission Experiments of Rock Failure Under Load Simulating the Hypocenter Condition

A series of acoustic emission (AE) experiments of rock failure have been conducted under cyclic load in tri-axial stress tests. To simulate the hypocenter condition the specimens are loaded by the combined action of a constant stress, intended to simulate the tectonic loading, and a small sinusoidal disturbance stress, analogous to the Earth tide induced by the Sun and the Moon. Each acoustic emission signal can indicate the occurrence time, location and relative magnitude of the damage (micro-crack) in the specimen. The experimental results verified some precursors such as LURR (Load/Unload Response Ratio) and AER (Accelerating Energy Release) before macro-fracture of the samples. A new parameter, the correlation between the AE and the load, has been proposed to describe the loading history. On the eve of some strong earthquakes the correlation between the Benioff strain and the Coulomb failure stress (CFS) decreases, similar to the variation of LURR prior to strong earthquakes.     

基于声发射实验结果讨论大震前地震活动平静现象的机制

基于岩石变形声发射实验结果讨论了大震前地震活动平静现象的机制。在双轴压缩、等位移速率加载条件下 ,挤压型雁列断层、含宏观凹凸体断层、Ⅲ型剪切断层等非连续断层在临近滑动失稳前 ,声发射活动均出现了明显的相对平静现象 ,表现为声发射事件的发生率和应变能释放水平显著降低。与此阶段相对应 ,断层带 (特别是非连续部位上新形成的一小段断层 )发生了蠕滑和匀阻化作用 ,并使得标本的差应力开始下降。根据实验结果提出 ,大地震前断层的“蠕滑 -匀阻化”过程是造成地震活动平静现象的可能机制     

不同应力途径三轴压缩下岩石的声发射

在不同加载方式的三轴实验中,观测了济南辉长岩和北京昌平花岗岩的声发射(围压达1.3千巴).当最大主应力增加使岩样破坏时(A型),平均声发射率逐渐增加,离破裂强度约几百巴时声发射急剧增多.而当岩石处于一定的高应力状态,通过减小围压使岩样破坏时(B型),声发射的急剧增加仅出现在离破裂差应力20-30巴的情况下,而且这种破裂过程声发射总数只有 A 型的1/3左右.在 B 型加载情况下,从应力场的球张量部分(流体静压力)来看,是一个卸载过程,而从偏张量部分来看,是一个加载过程.这种卸载过程的存在很可能是造成声发射不同特征的主要原因.      

岩石损伤模量分析

从能量的角度出发定义损伤变量,通过应力-应变曲线卸载段有效应力与总应力之间的假定关系,确定损伤模量的计算方法。在单轴和三轴条件下,对岩石损伤相关参数进行统计研究,重点对损伤模量进行计算和对比分析。结果表明,单轴及低围压下损伤模量基本呈逐渐减小的趋势,而随着围压的增大,损伤模量呈先减小后保持动态稳定的趋势。损伤变量的计算充分考虑到围压的影响,可进一步增进对岩石损伤的认识。     

气饱和孔洞型介质动静参数关系的数值模拟研究

采用实验手段研究岩石的动、静弹性参数的变化规律及动、静态参数间的相互关系时存在着测试成本高,工作量大,普适性差且可靠性较低等问题.对岩样在单轴压缩加载条件下的破坏过程,采用岩石破裂过程分析RFPA系统进行数值模拟,获取岩样的应力—应变曲线可计算得到静态弹性参数.从弹性波动理论出发,采用交错网格有限差分方法,对超声波透射实验进行数值模拟,获取纵、横波速度可计算得到动态弹性参数.对50块不同的气饱和孔洞型岩样同步计算其动、静态弹性参数,并分析动、静态弹性参数随孔隙度的变化规律及动、静态弹性参数间的关系.结果表明:动弹性模量大于静弹性模量,且二者之间的线性关系良好,而动、静泊松比之间不存在明显的相关关系.该项研究为动、静弹性参数关系研究提供了新的方法,研究结果对于指导储层预测、油气检测以及地震资料综合解释都有重要的意义.     

EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON THE CHANGES OF ULTRASONIC CODA WAVE AND ACOUSTIC EMISSION DURING ROCK LOADING AND DEFORMATION

The coda wave propagation path has received extensive attention as it is more sensitive to small changes in the medium than the direct wave. During the process of loading, the wave velocity, medium or source changes may cause the coda wave to change. The physical mechanism of change in the ultrasonic coda wave varies during different deformation stages. Meanwhile, there exist local damages in the rock sample during the deformation, and it will be accompanied by acoustic emission. Combining the ultrasonic coda wave and acoustic emission is beneficial to characterize the coda wave characteristics and damage degree of the sample at different deformation stages. In this paper, three kinds of rocks, including granodiorite, marble and sandstone with the sizes of 50mm×50mm×150mm, are used to carry out observations of ultrasonic coda wave and acoustic emission during the whole process of loading so as to study characteristics of the coda wave at different deformation stages. The major results are given below: 1)There is a good correspondence between the coda wave variation and the acoustic emission evolution process. When the acoustic emission frequency increases, the coda wave changes accordingly. In particular, the coda wave changes in the early stages of increased acoustic emission frequency, which indicates that the early damage information of rock can be obtained by analysis of the coda wave. 2)The physical mechanism of the coda wave change is different in different deformation stages. At the initial stage of loading, there are obvious scatterer changes in the coda wave change; then, in the linear elastic deformation stage, the wave velocity change is dominating; in the late-stage of loading, the scatterer change increases and coexists with the wave velocity change, the scatterer change effect is related with the rock micro-fracture degree, the rock will locally be damaged before rupturing, and the role of the scatterer will be enhanced. 3)With the increase of loading, the amplitude of increase of the wave velocity generally decreases gradually, which is basically consistent with the understanding obtained through the direct wave. The interference of acoustic emission can be eliminated because of the Kaiser effect when analyzing the coda wave. The consistency of the wave velocity change and stress loading and unloading is further verified. 4)The micro-fracture generated during rock deformation will change the physical mechanism of the coda wave change, and the scatterer effect will be significantly enhanced. At the same time, the acoustic emission waveform will cause interference to the ultrasonic coda wave. This means that attention needs to be paid when analyzing rock damage using only coda wave data. In short, the ultrasonic coda wave and acoustic emission can reflect the damage inside the rock, and the change mechanism of the coda wave in different deformation stages is different. The joint observation of the two can play a mutual verification role, which is conducive to improving the reliability of the observation results.     

Comparison of seismic effects during deep tunnel excavation with different methods

The rapid release of strain energy is an important phenomenon leading to seismic events or rock failures during the excavation of deep rock.Through theoretical analysis of strain energy adjustment during blasting and mechanical excavation,and the interpretation of measured seismicity in the Jin-Ping Ⅱ Hydropower Station in China,this paper describes the characteristics of energy partition and induced seismicity corresponding to different energy release rates.The theoretical analysis indicates that part of the strain energy will be drastically released accompanied by violent crushing and fragmentation of rock under blast load,and this process will result in seismic events in addition to blasting vibration.The intensity of the seismicity induced by transient strain energy release highly depends on the unloading rate of in-situ stress.For mechanical excavation,the strain energy,which is mainly dissipated in the deformation of surrounding rock,releases smoothly,and almost no seismic events are produced in this gradual process.Field test reveals that the seismic energy transformed from the rock strain energy under high stress condition is roughly equal to that coming from explosive energy,and the two kinds of vibrations superimpose together to form the total blasting excavation-induced seismicity.In addition,the most intense seismicity is induced by the cut blasting delay; this delay contributes 50% of the total seismic energy released in a blast event.For mechanical excavation,the seismic energy of induced vibration(mainly the low intensity acoustic emission events or mechanical loading impacts),which accounts only for 1.5‰ of that caused by in-situ stress transient releasing,can be ignored in assessing the dynamic response of surrounding rock.     

On the structure of acoustic emission of model samples in response to an external energy action

Experiments with a press are carried out in the regime of discrete changes in the axial load level. It is established that the energy spent on the generation of a unit acoustic pulse e1 increases by three orders of magnitude as the load increases to the sample failure value. The temporal variation patterns of the acoustic emission due to an electric action and discrete loading are shown to be identical. The structure of the initiated acoustic response is found to be very sensitive to changes in parameters of the energy applied. The measured coefficient of acoustoelectric coupling is K _me = 2.85 × 10^?2. An algorithm is proposed for the specification of an energy saturation level in model samples that is close to the in situ level. The results of this work create prerequisites for studying seismic-acoustoelectric couplings and developing schemes for controlling such processes, in particular, changes in the regime of seismicity and the release of elastic energy accumulated in the medium.     

Acoustic emissions associated with the formation of fracture sets in sandstone under polyaxial stress conditions‡

A polyaxial (true‐triaxial) stress‐loading system, developed originally for determining all nine components of P‐ and S‐wave velocities and attenuation and fluid permeability for 50.8 mm‐side cubic rock specimens tested to failure, has been modified to permit the measurement of acoustic emission events associated with the failure process. Results are reported for Crosland Hill sandstone tested to failure under loading conditions leading to the formation of sets of aligned microcracks, achieved by maintaining the minor principal stress at a low value while increasing the two other principal stresses until failure of the rock. An ultrasonic survey associated with the test has been employed to map the transversely‐isotropic velocity structure created by through‐going parallel fractures resulting from the sets of aligned microcracks. This velocity structure has then been employed to locate acoustic emission events recorded during the test by four acoustic emission sensors located in each of the six specimen loading platens. A selection of acoustic emission events associated with one of the fractures has been processed for moment tensor analysis information, in order to determine the source type and orientation of microcracking as the fracture grows. The mechanisms indicate tensile behaviour during initial fracture propagation. Shear failure, however, appears to dominate as the fracture finally approaches the opposite face of the cubic specimen. The work presented here has, in part, led to the development of new rock testing systems and geophysical monitoring and processing technologies that will enable laboratory study of rock behaviour under conditions better resembling those experienced in situ.     

A laboratory instrumental complex for studying the physics of the destruction of rocks

An up-to-date laboratory investigation complex for testing rock samples under controlled uniaxial and triaxial compression is designed. A wide range of loading modes of samples allows one to simulate various natural seismic regimes. The complex is equipped with systems intended for measuring and recording service and physical parameters, namely, axial, uniform, and pore pressure, axial and radial deformation, velocities of longitudinal waves along 16 travel paths, and waveforms of separate acoustic events, recorded by 16 sensors. The system ensures the continuous recording of the acoustic emission stream. Data of all measuring systems are synchronized with time. The rock samples are tested in the automatic mode, which can be optionally corrected during experiments. The experimental results are stored in a single database, which contains both raw and processed data (loading history, catalogs and bulletins of acoustic events, 3D graphic visualizations of pressure-wave velocity distributions in the sample volume, etc.). The application of the complex for the laboratory modeling of the seismic regime is illustrated by a number of practical examples.     

A Method for Testing Dynamic Tensile Strength and Elastic Modulus of Rock Materials Using SHPB

An experimental procedure for testing dynamic tensile strength and elastic modulus of rock materials at high strain rate loading is presented in this paper. In our test the split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) was used to diametrally impact the Brazilian disc (BD) and flattened Brazilian disc (FBD) specimens of marble. A tensile strain rate of about 45 1/s was achieved at the center of the specimen. In order to improve the accuracy of the analysis, the initiation time difference between the strain waves acting on the two flat ends of the FBD specimen was treated properly. Typical failure modes corresponding to different loading conditions were observed. It was verified with a finite-element simulation that the equilibrium condition was established in the specimen before its failure. This numerical simulation validates the experimental procedure and also proves the suitability of formulation for the basic equations.     

“弹性回跳”前的微破裂活动与变形序列

本以两承压岩体相互作用系统作为“弹性回跳”地震模型，用损伤力学的方法研究了系统失稳即地震前位移速率、声发射等前兆规律与岩石破裂过程的关系，用差分法在计算机上求得了地震发生过程中的变形与地声序列曲线，研究发现在某些情况下出现地声相对平静是由于两岩体介质中某一介质体破裂而另一个介质体弹性恢复所致。     

孔隙、裂隙介质弹性波理论的实验研究

近年来发展起来的“孔隙、裂隙介质弹性波理论”提高了人们对实际岩石声学性质的模拟和预测的能力.作为对这一理论的实验验证和重要应用,我们将它用来模拟和解释岩石超声实验中测得的干燥和饱和岩石弹性波速度随压力的变化曲线.理论模拟的重要参数,如岩石的裂隙密度等是从实验数据反演得到的.结果表明：无论是孔隙度较高的砂岩,还是孔隙度很小的致密岩石,如花岗岩,该理论都能很好地描述岩石在干燥和饱和状态下纵、横波速度随压力的变化.造成波速变化的原因是岩石中裂隙在压力作用下的闭合和裂隙密度的减少.本文的结果还指出了将岩石裂隙密度作为描述岩石的重要物性参数,并给出了从实验室超声测量中确定这一参数的方法.     

Effect of Stress-Strain Conditions on Physical Precursors and Failure Stages Development in Rock Samples

Precursory stages of failure development in large rock samples were studied and simultaneous observations of the space-time variation of several physical fields were carried out under different stress-strain states. The failure process was studied in detail. A hierarchical structure of discreet rock medium was obtained after loading. It was found that the moisture reduced the rock strength, increased the microcrack distribution and influenced the shape of the failure physical precursors. The rise in temperature up to 400 °C affected the physical precursors at the intermediate and final stages of the failure. Significant variations were detected in the acoustic and electromagnetic emissions. The coalescence criterion was slightly depending on the rock moisture and temperature effect. The possibility of identifying the precursory stage of failure at different strain conditions by means of a complex parameter derived from the convolution of physical recorded data is shown. The obtained results point out the efficiency of the laboratory modelling of seismic processes.     

应力途径和破裂前兆

本文研究了在不同的应力途径下岩石破坏的条件和破裂的前兆.选定了三种应力途径进行研究:在一定应力状态下增加最大主应力σ₁, 保持σ₂, σ₃不变, 使岩石破坏（A 型）;减小最小主应力使岩石破坏（B 型）;增加最小主应力岩石不破坏（C 型）.通过实验得到了济南辉长岩和昌平花岗岩 A 型途径和 B 型途径破裂强度的比较.对三种途径岩石的体应变、声发射和波速V_p, 进行了对比研究.A 型途径的破裂前兆表现与许多作者的结果相符合.B 型途径岩石断裂前处于"过密"状态, 与此相联系的声发射增加和波速V_p下降出现得很晚.C 型途径岩石处于超膨胀状态, 出现了声发射增加和波速V_p下降而岩石并未破坏的现象.