Source mechanisms and microfracturing during uniaxial cycling of rock

Focal mechanisms for 116 acoustic emission events associated with uniaxial cyclic loading of Westerly granite have been investigated using P-wave first-motions. Polarities were observed at eight transducers positioned on the sample to provide good azimuthal coverage. The P-wave radiation patterns can be fit by a quadrupole source but not by a simple pure tensional source. The predominant orientations of the two nodal planes for the quadrupole fit were subparallel to and perpendicular to the ₁ direction. Events with close hypocenters, i.e., within a radius of 3 mm, display a remarkable similarity in focal mechanisms irrespective of the cycle or time within a cycle at which they occur. The polarity observations of 48 of 116 acoustic emission events could be fit with the simple quadrupole indicating that the microfracturing processes even in uniaxial compression often simplistically portrayed as propagating axial cracks are indeed quite complex.