Determining peak stress history using acoustic emissions

As part of the test program at the Nevada Test Site, there is a need for determining the peak stress induced by explosions in tuff. Standard techniques make use of various gages grouted into the tuff prior to the test. These are difficulties in interpreting the output of these gages and there is always the chance that the gage will not survive long enough to allow a stress determination to be made. As an alternative, we have been testing a passive technique for determining peak stress as a function of distance from a test. Using core samples retrieved from the vicinity of an explosion, we have tested for the existence of a threshold stress for the onset of acoustic emissions, the Kaiser effect (Kaiser 1950). From laboratory results it is known that for many rock types, the previously applied peak stress can be detected by restressing a sample while monitoring acoustic emissions. An abrupt onset for acoustic emission activity typically occurs at a stress state close to the previous peak. The point of this work was to determine if the Kaiser effect occurred in tuff and, if so, whether it could be used to determine the peak stresses induced bymore » an explosion. On the basis of four tests it is only possible to draw tentative conclusions. There does seem to be enough evidence of the existence and stress dependence of the Kaiser effect in the tuff to allow hope for the use of this technique in studying past stress states. In future tests the saturation state of the samples should be carefully controlled. Tests should be done on variously oriented subcores from a main core to determine the other components of the in situ stress tensor. If the components are indeed decoupled, as these few tests indicate, then a complete stress determination can be made this way. It would be interesting to use the same technique to try and determine in situ stresses in tuff. 7 refs., 6 figs.« less