An Acoustic Emission Study of Rock Disintegration by Pulsating Water-Jet

The collision of a high-velocity liquid mass with a solid generates short high pressures transients, which is responsible for the damage to the surface and its interior. The main advantage of the pulsating jet as compared to the continuous water-jet technology is that the impact pressure (due to hammering effect) is several times greater in pulsating water jet. The impact of the pulses induces fatigue stresses in the target material due to cyclic loading which is the most influential factor responsible for the disintegration. However, this technology is reported to the current trend of the application. During the laboratory experiments on Silesian granite were examined the relationship between the acoustic emission and parametric conditions of the pulsating water-jet. This research paper deals with an application of acoustic emission measurement as an on-line monitoring tool for analyzing the disintegration phenomenon of rock by pulsating water jet which locally affects the structural integrity of rocks. The correlation between rock disintegration and dynamic signal performance was obtained for several rock materials at various settings of jet parameters.