A New <i>b</i> Value Estimation Method in Rock Acoustic Emission Testing
Xiling Liu, Mengsi Han, Wei He, Xibing Li, Dao-Long Chen
Abstract
Abstract The Gutenberg‐Richter (G‐R) relationship has been regarded as the fundamental description of the size distribution from large‐scale‐earthquake to small‐scale‐laboratory rock ruptures. However, because deviation from the G‐R relationship has often been reported, especially when the amplitude distribution is used for b value estimation in rock acoustic emission testing, the effect of attenuation should be considered. Here, we perform a detailed analysis on the deviation of the size distribution from a G‐R law and discuss modification of the attenuation on the doubly truncated size distribution from a more general perspective. We find that the attenuation will not modify the size distribution, and the b value is theoretically verified to be unchanged within an interval specified by the minimum and maximum amount of attenuation. Based on these discussions, we propose a new b value estimation procedure for rock acoustic emission testing and apply it to a dilation rupturing test; the results confirm that b value depends on material heterogeneity and stress.