The application of the acoustic emission (AE) method to monitor rock fractures has thus far not been successful because of the difficulities in interpreting the recorded wave forms. This experimental research directly addresses the difficulties in the AE method by using large specimens (0.3 x 0.3 x 0.6 meters in size) to reduce the effects of reflected waves and to provide time for recording relatively long AE events. Modern processing will be employed in this research to quantify the AE method as applied to monitoring the fracture process in rocks. Very high frequency transducers will be employed and an extremely wide band recorder will be used to record the wave forms with high fidelity. Digitizing and processing will be performed on an advanced scale to ensure complete and thorough analysis of the AE data.
