Experimental Exploration of saltation phenomenon during Rock Loading Using Acoustic Emissions

Geological disasters are closely associated with the series of saltation phenomena that occur during rock loading. Many researchers indicated that the earthquake and rock shared the same avalanche rule during their destruction process.It is necessary to investigate the relationship between the internal rupture process of the rock and the jerk phenomenon. A multi-function true triaxial geophysical (TTG) apparatus was used to conduct a true triaxial compression experiment on sandstone.Acoustic emission signals generated during the loading period were collected and recorded. The experimental results showed that the main acoustic emission signals were low-energy tensile signals during the loading process. The proportion of high-energy shear signals were very low. However, these shear signals caused obvious jerk phenomena, which always concentrated in the middle of the specimen .The aggregation and transfer of low-energy signals also produced jerks. These accountic emission signals transfer represented the transfer of partial failure in the rock. During these partial failure periods, a series of jerks were generated. Based on the above analysis, the process of sand rock failure was a process of transfers of stress and damage. Even if the relatively homogeneous rock still had local concentrated damage in hydrostatic stress. These results give us a better understanding of rock damage. It is helpful to prevent and control geological disasters.