On the Kaiser Effect of Rock under Cyclic Loading and Unloading Conditions: Insights from Acoustic Emission Monitoring

The Kaiser effect reflects the memory of the loaded rock to the irreversible damage and deformation. The stress level, loading rate and lithology are the main factors affecting the Kaiser effect of the rock. To identify the accurate stress point of the Kaiser effect, the MTS 816 rock mechanics testing system and the DS5-A acoustic emission testing and analysis system were adopted. The uniaxial cyclic loading–unloading and acoustic emission characteristic test of 90 rock specimens from three types of rocks under different stress level and loading rate was carried out. The evolution of acoustic emission under uniaxial compression of the rock corresponds to the compaction stage, elastic stage, yield stage and post-peak stress drop stage of the rock deformation and failure process and is divided into the quiet period, transition period, active period and decay period of the acoustic emission. The larger the hardness of rock is, the earlier the stress point of the Kaiser effect appears. The loading stress level (σ A ) has appreciable influence on the Kaiser effect of the rock. When σ A ≥ 0.7σ c , the Kaiser effect disappears. Usually, the dilatancy stress (crack initiation stress) does not exceed 70% of the uniaxial compressive strength (σ c ) of the rock, and the stress point can be the threshold to determine whether the Kaiser effect occurs. The influence of loading rate (l r ) on Felicity rate (FR) is relatively large when l r < 0.01 mm/s, and FR rapidly grows with increase of the loading rate. When l r ≥ 0.01 mm/s, the influence of the loading rate on FR is relatively small. The findings facilitate the future application of the Kaiser effect and improvement of the accuracy of the acoustic emission data interpretation.