Mechanical anisotropy associated with beddings in shale under Brazilian test conditions:Insights from acoustic emission statistics

A comprehensive understanding of shale’s bedding anisotropy is crucial for shale-related engineering activities,such as hydraulic fracturing,drilling and underground excavation.In this study,seven Brazilian tests were conducted on shale samples at different bedding orientations with respect to the loading direction(0°,45°and 90°)and the disc end face(0°,45°and 90°).An acoustic emission(AE)system was employed to capture the evolution of damage and the temporal-spatial distribution of microcracks under splitting-tensile stress.The results show that the Brazilian tensile strength decreases with increasing bedding inclination with respect to the disc end face,while it increases with the angle between bedding and loading directions.Increasing the bedding inclination with respect to the end face facilitates the reduction in b value and enhances the shale’s resistance to microcrack growth during the loading process.Misalignment between the bedding orientation and the end face suppresses the growth of mixed tensile-shear microcracks,while reducing the bedding angle relative to the loading direction is beneficial for creating mixed tensile-shear and tensile cracks.The observed microscopic failure characteristics are attributed to the competing effects of bedding activation and breakage of shale matrix at different bedding inclinations.The temporal-spatial distribution of microcracks,characterized by AE statistics including the correlation dimension and spatial correlation length,illustrates that the fractal evolution of microcracks is independent of bedding anisotropy,whereas the spatial distribution shows a stronger correlation.The evolution features of correlation dimension and spatial correlation length could be potentially used as precursors for shale splitting failure.These findings may be useful for predicting rock mass instability and analyzing the causes of catastrophic rupture.

Acoustic Response and Micro-Damage Mechanism of Fiber Composite Materials under Mode-Ⅱ Delamination

Realizing the accurate characterization for the dynamic damage process is a great challenge. Here we carry out testing simultaneously for dynamic monitoring and acoustic emission （AE） statistical analysis towards fiber composites under mode-Ⅱ delamination damage. The load curve, AE relative energy, amplitude distribution, and amplitude spectrum are obtained and the delamination damage mechanism of the composites is investigated by the microscopic observation of a fractured specimen. The results show that the micro-damage accumulation around the crack tip region has a great effect on the evolutionary process of delamination. AE characteristics and amplitude spectrum represent the damage and the physical mechanism originating from the hierarchical microstructure. Our finding provides a novel aud feasible strategy to simultaneously evaluate the dynamic response and micro-damage mechanism for fiber composites.

Spatial differentiation and dynamic mechanism of micro-geomorphology based on acoustic spectrum data of the Huanghe(Yellow)River Delta

Submarine micro-geomorphology is a geo-morphological type occurring in shallow and surface areas of seabed.The combined relationships and distribution of the micro-geomorphology indirectly reflect coupling relationships among the sediment deposition,dynamic environment,and geomorphologic evolution.Spatial differentiation and dynamic changes in micro-geomorphology were studied based on acoustic data interpretation from a wide range(3200 km^(2))of the Huanghe(Yellow)River delta(HRD).The combination of the sub-bottom profiler and the side-scan sonar methods allowed for the identification of submarine shallow micro-geomorphologic types,as well as their scale and spatial distributions.There were seven typical micro-geomorphologic features in the shallow and surface areas of the HRD,including buried ancient channels,stratigraphic disturbances,scour troughs,sand waves,pits,erosional remnants,and sand spots.The coupling and superposition of the sediment,sediment characteristics,seabed scouring and silting,and hydrodynamic conditions of the Huanghe River had combined effects on the patterns of micro-geomorphologic types,characteristics,and ranges.From the perspective of acoustic profile interpretations,the scale,range,and spatial locations of the microgeomorphology in the HRD revealed seasonal variation characteristics,and the spatial distributions displayed significant regional differentiation characteristics.In addition,strong stratigraphic disturbances and areas with densely distributed buried ancient channels reflected the activity and instability of the submarine shallow strata.Through the interpretation of the sub-bottom profile detection data,the diversion processes of the flow paths in the lower reaches of the Huanghe River were obtained for a certain historical period in the coastal waters of the HRD.This study further clarified the relationships between the micro-geomorphologic features and spatial combinations,which is important for research on micro-geomorphologic features and their dynamic mechanisms.

Investigating the mechanical and acoustic emission characteristics of brittle failure around a circular opening under uniaxial loading

The size of underground openings in rock masses in metal mines is critical to the performance of the openings. In this study, the mechanical and acoustic emission (AE) characteristics of brittle rock-like specimens containing a circular opening with different ratios of opening diameter to sample size λ (λ = 0.1, 0.13, 0.17, 0.2, and 0.23) were investigated under uniaxial compression with AE monitoring. The results indicate that the opening size strongly affected the peak strength and the elastic modulus. Crack initiation first started from the upper surface of the specimens, not from the periphery of the openings. Tensile and shear cracks coexisted on the roof and floor of the specimens, whereas tensile cracks were dominant on the two sides. The fracture mode of samples with openings was partially affected by the relative size of the pillars and openings. The AE response curves (in terms of counts, cumulative energy, cumulative counts, and b-value) show that brittle failure was mainly a progressive process. Moreover, the AE information corresponded well with microcrack evolution in the samples and thus can be used to predict sample failure.

Mechanical properties and acoustic emission characteristics of thick hard roof sandstone in Shendong coal field

The mechanical properties and acoustic emission characteristics of thick hard roof sandstone were investigated. Samples were taken from the 30.87-m thick sandstone roof in a mine in the Shengdong coal field, China. Firstly, the composition and microscopic characteristics were analyzed by XRD and FE-SEM, respectively. Moreover, the indirect tensile test, uniaxial compression test, three axis compression experiment and AE test are carried out by using RMT-150C mechanics experiment system with DSS-8B AE test system. The experiment results indicate that the main framework particles of sandstone are quartz and feldspar, and mainly quartz. Cements are mainly pyrite, kaolinite, chlorite and zeolite cross needle, clinochlore, and clay minerals. The microstructure of sandstone is very dense, with few pores and high cementation degree. The tensile strength, compressive strength and elastic modulus of sandstone are 4.825, 85.313 MPa, 13.814 GPa, respectively, so the sandstone belongs to hard rock. The AE cumulative counts of sandstone can be divided into three phases： relatively flat growth period, rapid growth period and spurt period. The signal strength of AE waveform can be used as a warning signal. In the tensile fracture zone, the warning value is 0.4 mV, and in the compression shear failure zone, it is 4 mV. The numbers of cumulative counts of AE under different stress conditions have obvious difference. Moreover, the growth of cumulative counts of acoustic emission is more obvious when the stress is more than 60% of the peak stress.

Fracture propagation in sandstone and slateeLaboratory experiments, acoustic emissions and fracture mechanics

Fracturing of highly anisotropic rocks is a problem often encountered in the stimulation of unconventional hydrocarbon or geothermal reservoirs by hydraulic fracturing. Fracture propagation in isotropic material is well understood but strictly isotropic rocks are rarely found in nature. This study aims at the examination of fracture initiation and propagation processes in a highly anisotropic rock, specifically slate. We performed a series of tensile fracturing laboratory experiments under uniaxial as well as triaxial loading. Cubic specimens with edge lengths of 150 mm and a central borehole with a diameter of13 mm were prepared from Fredeburg slate. An experiment using the rather isotropic Bebertal sandstone as a rather isotropic rock was also performed for comparison. Tensile fractures were generated using the sleeve fracturing technique, in which a polymer tube placed inside the borehole is pressurized to generate tensile fractures emanating from the borehole. In the uniaxial test series, the loading was varied in order to observe the transition from strength-dominated fracture propagation at low loading magnitudes to stress-dominated fracture propagation at high loading magnitudes.

Abaca Fiber as a Potential Reinforcer for Acoustic Absorption Material at Middle-High Frequencies

Recently,abacafibers have become the focus of specialized research due to their intriguing characteristics,with their outstanding mechanical properties being a particularly notable.In the conducted study,the abacafibers underwent a preliminary treatment process involving an alkaline solution,which was composed of 0.5%sodium hydroxide(NaOH)and 50%acetic acid(CH3COOH).This process entailed immersing eachfiber in the solution for a period of one hour.This treatment led to a 52.36%reduction in lignin content compared to the levels before treatment,resulting in a dramatic decrease in the full width at half maximum(FWHM)in the XRD spectra from 1.13 to 0.13.This change indicates that thefibers became more crystalline following the treatment.The abacafibers were also characterized using BET(Brunauer Emmett Teller)measurements,which revealed that the aver-age pore length ranged from 33–49 nm and the surface area was between 13–28 m^(2)·g^(-1).The morphology of the abacafiber after alkali an hydrolisis treatment(AFAH)appeared rougher and more uniform.DMA measurements revealed a significant rise in the storage modulus of the singlefiber post-treatment,with dependencies on both frequency and temperature.AFAH exhibited an optimal absorption coefficient ofα=0.9 for frequencies above 2500 Hz.The combined effect of alkalization and hydrolyzation treatments,while resulting in an enhancement in the mechanical properties of thefibers,also reduced high-intensity noise produced by sources such as machin-ery,aircraft takeoffs and landings,etc.,across a broader working frequency range.

Effect of Incorporation of Chips and Wood Dust Mahogany on Mechanical and Acoustic Behavior of Brick Clay

An experimental study was carried out on bricks using local materials in order to take into account the waste wood management to protect the environment and to reduce the cost of the habitat. Chips and sawdust were built-in clay bricks in order to study their influence on the compressive strength, Young’s modulus and the speed for soundproofing. Testings in compressive strength were made on the parallelepiped clay bricks, stabilized with different percentages of cement, with incorporation to various percentages of sawdust or wood chips (Mahogany), using a universal press. Young’s modulus was measured from the speed of sound by the ultrasonic method. The results obtained show that the incorporation of mahogany tree chips in the stabilized brick at 8% of cement, does not have much effect on the compressive strength. It was found that the incorporation of chips or sawdust on the clay brick, does not improve the compressive strength. The Young’s modulus decreases with increasing content of sawdust and practically remains constant regardless of the content of chips at 4% and 6% of cement. The clay brick mixed with 8% of mahogany sawdust can be an acoustic barrier.

Mechanical and Acoustic Performance Test of New Designed Metal Noise Barrier Unit Plate with No Riveted Connection

The modern transportation system is increasingly developed during recent years.It is an effective solution to set the noise barriers to reduce the traffic noise pollution caused by different kinds of transportation systems.Many deficiencies on concrete noise barriers and metal noise barriers with rivet structure can be eliminated by a new kind of noise barrier with no-riveted structure.The mechanical performance examination and acoustic performance test are conducted on the new-designed noise barrier with no-riveted structure.The results indicate that the maximum stress is 1.74 MPa and the maximum deformation is 1.04 mm with load acting on the unit plate.The noise reduction coefficient of this kind of no-riveted noise barrier unit plate is 0.75 and its noise insulation is 40 dB,which were conform to or superior to the standard requirements.Therefore,this new designed noise barrier meets the field application requirements of mechanical and acoustic performance,which demonstrates the noise barriers can be widely promoted.

Influence of roughness on the detection of mechanical characteristics of low-k film by the surface acoustic waves

The surface acoustic wave （SAW） technique is a precise and nondestructive method to detect the mechanical charac- teristics of the thin low dielectric constant （low-k） film by matching the theoretical dispersion curve with the experimental dispersion curve. In this paper, the influence of sample roughness on the precision of SAW mechanical detection is inves- tigated in detail. Random roughness values at the surface of low-k film and at the interface between this low-k film and the substrate are obtained by the Monte Carlo method. The dispersive characteristic of SAW on the layered structure with rough surface and rough interface is modeled by numerical simulation of finite element method. The Young＇s moduli of the Black DiamondTM samples with different roughness values are determined by SAWs in the experiment. The results show that the influence of sample roughness is very small when the root-mean-square （RMS） of roughness is smaller than 50 nm and correlation length is smaller than 20 μm. This study indicates that the SAW technique is reliable and precise in the nondestructive mechanical detection for low-k films.

Mechanical responses and acoustic emission behaviors of coal under compressive differential cyclic loading(DCL):a numerical study via 3D heterogeneous particle model

The stability of coal walls(pillars)can be seriously undermined by diverse in-situ dynamic disturbances.Based on a 3D par-ticle model,this work strives to numerically replicate the major mechanical responses and acoustic emission(AE)behaviors of coal samples under multi-stage compressive cyclic loading with different loading and unloading rates,which is termed differential cyclic loading(DCL).A Weibull-distribution-based model with heterogeneous bond strengths is constructed by both considering the stress-strain relations and AE parameters.Six previously loaded samples were respectively grouped to indicate two DCL regimes,the damage mechanisms for the two groups are explicitly characterized via the time-stress-dependent variation of bond size multiplier,and it is found the two regimes correlate with distinct damage patterns,which involves the competition between stiffness hardening and softening.The numerical b-value is calculated based on the mag-nitudes of AE energy,the results show that both stress level and bond radius multiplier can impact the numerical b-value.The proposed numerical model succeeds in replicating the stress-strain relations of lab data as well as the elastic-after effect in DCL tests.The effect of damping on energy dissipation and phase shift in numerical model is summarized.

Active control of structural sound radiation in an acoustic enclosure consisting of flexible structure

The active control of structural sound radiation in an acoustic enclosure is studied by using distributed point force actuators as the secondary control force, and the control mechanisms for the radiated noise in the cavity are analyzed. A rectangular enclosure involving two simply supported flexible plates is created for this investigation. The characteristics of the primary and secondary sound field and the structural-acoustic coupled system are analyzed, and the optimal control objective for reducing the sound pressure level （SPL） in the cavity is derived. The response of the SPL in the cavity is analyzed and compared when the secondary point force actuators with different locations and parameters are applied to the two flexible plates. The results indicate that the noise in the cavity can be better controlled when some point force actuators are applied to two flexible plates for cooperative control rather than the point force actuators being only applied to the excited flexible plate.

Study of hydraulic fracture growth behavior in heterogeneous tight sandstone formations using CT scanning and acoustic emission monitoring

Tortuous hydraulic fractures(HFs) are likely to be created in heterogeneous formations such as conglomerates, which may cause sand plugging, ultimately resulting in poor stimulation efficiency. This study aims to explore HF growth behavior in conglomerate through laboratory fracturing experiments under true tri-axial stresses combined with computed tomography scanning and acoustic emission(AE) monitoring. The effects of gravel size, horizontal differential stress, and AE focal mechanisms were examined. Especially, the injection pressure and the AE response features during HF initiation and propagation in conglomerate were analyzed. Simple HFs with narrow microfractures are created in conglomerate when the gravels are considerably smaller than the specimen, whereas complex fractures are created when the gravels are similar in size to the specimen, even under high horizontal differential stresses. Breakdown pressure and AE rates are high when a HF is initiated from the high-strength gravel. A large pressure decline after the breakdown may indicate the creation of a planar and wide HF. Analyzing the focal mechanism indicates that the shear mechanism generally dominates with an increase in the HF complexity. Tensile events are likely to occur during HF initiation and are located around the wellbore. Shear events occur mainly around the nonplanar and complex matrix/gravel interfaces.

Vibration and Acoustic Radiation from Orthogonally Stiffened Infinite Circular Cylindrical Shells in Water

Based on the motion differential equations of vibration and acoustic coupling system for thin elastic shells with ribs, by means of the Fourier integral transformation and the Fourier inverse transformation, as well as the stationary phase method, an analytic solution, which has satisfying computational effectiveness and precision, is derived for the solution to the vibration and acoustic radiation from a submerged stiffened infinite circular cylinder with both ring and axial ribs. It is easy to analyze the effect of stiffening supports in the acoustic radiation field by use of the formulas obtained by the presented method and corresponding numerical computation. It is shown that the axial-stiffeners can improve the mechanical and acoustical characteristics. Moreover, the present method can be used to study the acoustic radiation mechanism of the type of structure.

Space-time evolution rules of acoustic emission location of unloaded coal sample at different loading rates

By using MTS815 rock mechanics test system,a series of acoustic emission(AE) location experiments were performed under unloading confining pressure,increasing the axial stress.The AE space-time evolution regularities and energy releasing characteristics during deformation and failure process of coal of different loading rates are compared,the influence mechanism of loading rates on the microscopic crack evolution were studied,combining the AE characteristics and the macroscopic failure modes of the specimens,and the precursory characteristics of coal failure were also analyzed quantitatively.The results indicate that as the loading rate is higher,the AE activity and the main fracture will begin earlier.The destruction of coal body is mainly the function of shear strain at lower loading rate and tension strain at higher rate,and will transform from brittleness to ductility at critical velocities.When the deformation of the coal is mainly plasticity,the amplitude of the AE ringing counting rate increases largely and the AE energy curves appear an obvious ''step'',which can be defined as the first failure precursor point.Statics of AE information shows that the strongest AE activity begins when the axial stress level was 92-98%,which can be defined as the other failure precursor point.As the loading rate is smaller,the coal more easily reaches the latter precursor point after the first one,so attention should be aroused to prevent dynamic disaster in coal mining when the AE activity reaches the first precursor point.

Acoustic emission from gas-filled coal under triaxial compression

Acoustic emission(AE) experiments have been performed on gas-saturated coal specimens under conventional triaxial compression.The AE characteristics were investigated for a methane gas flow through the coal specimen.One AE parameter,AE count,when normalized by the total count number was used to represent the damage evolution in the gassy coal.It is shown that this AE parameter is a reasonable indicator for damage occurring within the coal specimen since its envelope has almost the same shape as the complete stress-strain curve,except for a short time delay.In addition,the change in AE count is highly consistent with the change in coal permeability.Test results also show that methane containing coal emits a small number of AE events before entering the yield stage.AE activity gradually increases during the yield process up to the peak stress.The lowest permeability corresponds to the highest AE activity,implying failure will soon occur.An AE based constitutive model was constructed and the theoretical results agree well with those of experiments.

Rock burst proneness prediction by acoustic emission test during rock deformation

Rock burst is a severe disaster in mining and underground engineering,and it is important to predict the rock burst risk for minimizing the loss during the constructing process.The rock burst proneness was connected with the acoustic emission(AE) parameter in this work,which contributes to predicting the rock burst risk using AE technique.Primarily,a rock burst proneness index is proposed,and it just depends on the heterogeneous degree of rock material.Then,the quantificational formula between the value of rock burst proneness index and the accumulative AE counts in rock sample under uniaxial compression with axial strain increases is developed.Finally,three kinds of rock samples,i.e.,granite,limestone and sandstone are tested about variation of the accumulative AE counts under uniaxial compression,and the test data are fitted well with the theoretic formula.

Input power-mechanism relationship for ultrasonic Irradiation: Food and polymer applications

Mechanisms for interactions between ultrasound waves and materials vary as a function of input power of ultrasound. The objectives of this study were to compare mode of actions for ultrasound waves at different input powers. This study also describes various effects of ultrasound on materials at different input powers with emphasize on food and polymer applications. At low power of ultrasound, the major mechanism is acoustic streaming and at a power above threshold value, the most possible one is acoustic cavitation. Low power of ultrasound is a powerful analytical technique to investigate on physico-chemical properties of both biological and non-biological materials. While at sufficiently high power, it generates shear forces that are able to create different effects. For each pair of medium-acoustic wave, two types of mechanisms, acoustic streaming and cavitation may be occurred simultaneously.

Fracture behavior and acoustic emission characteristics of sandstone samples with inclined precracks

Sandstone samples with precracks of different dip angles were collected from a coal mine roof and subjected to uniaxial compression tests,and acoustic emission(AE)and scanning electron microscopy(SEM)were used to study how the crack dip angle affected the fracture mechanism.In the precracked sandstone samples,as the dip angle between the crack line and loading direction decreased,so did the peak stress and its completion time.The SEM observations revealed a fracture transition from tensile cleavage to shear slip,which was manifested by a microstructure change from aggregate to staggered.According to energy conversion,a decreased crack dip angle results in gradually decreasing total and dissipative peak energies,whose variation amplitudes at different stages are consistent with those of the peak stress of the samples.The decreased crack dip angle lowered the stress required to trigger the first appearance of AE energy peaks and ring-down counts,as well as shortening the period before the occurrence of the first AE peak signal.However,the AE energy and ring-down count during the failure stage after the stress peak increased gradually.A stepped increase was observed in the AE ring-down count curves,with each step corresponding to a jump in the stress-strain curve.From the characteristics of the AE signal of the fracture of a precracked rock sample,the occurrence of joints or faults in the rock mass can be reasonably inferred.This is expected to provide a new method and approach for predicting coal and rock dynamic disasters.

Investigation of active vibration drilling using acoustic emission and cutting size analysis

This paper describes an investigation of active bit vibration on the penetration mechanisms and bit-rock interaction for drilling with a diamond impregnated coring bit. A series of drill-off tests(DOTs) were conducted where the drilling rate-of-penetration(ROP) was measured at a series of step-wise increasing static bit thrusts or weight-on-bits(WOBs). Two active DOTs were conducted by applying 60 Hz axial vibration at the bit-rock interface using an electromagnetic vibrating table mounted underneath the drilling samples, and a passive DOT was conducted where the bit was allowed to vibrate naturally with lower amplitude due to the compliance of the drilling sample mountings. During drilling, an acoustic emission(AE) system was used to record the AE signals generated by the diamond cutter penetration and the cuttings were collected for grain size analysis. The instrumented drilling system recorded the dynamic motions of the bit-rock interface using a laser displacement sensor, a load cell, and an LVDT(linear variable differential transformer) recorded the dynamic WOB and the ROP, respectively. Calibration with the drilling system showed that rotary speed was approximately the same at any given WOB, facilitating comparison of the results at the same WOB. Analysis of the experimental results shows that the ROP of the bit at any given WOB increased with higher amplitude of axial bit-rock vibration, and the drill cuttings increased in size with a higher ROP. Spectral analysis of the AEs indicated that the higher ROP and larger cutting size were correlated with a higher AE energy and a lower AE frequency. This indicated that larger fractures were being created to generate larger cutting size. Overall, these results indicate that a greater magnitude of axial bit-rock vibration produces larger fractures and generates larger cuttings which, at the same rotary speed, results in a higher ROP.