Insights From a Combined Analysis of Acoustic Emission Signals for Water-Bearing Rocks in Four-Point Bending Tests: Failure Mode Classification and Strength Degradation

Highlights Water-bearing causes substantial reductions in the tensile strength of rocks under four-point bending. There is an obvious correlation between dominant frequency bands of acoustic emission waveform and failure modes. The water-bearing effect on rock tensile strength can be characterized by the failure components associated with it. Tensile strength degradation of rocks under four-point bending can be attributed to friction weakening and fracture energy reduction.