We subjected the time series of quasi-rigid-body vibration pulses (elastic emissions) from laboratory fracture carried out by a piezoelectric accelerometer on concrete and rock specimens under uniaxial compression to statistical analysis. In both cases, we find that the waiting-time distribution can be described by a scaling law extending over several orders of magnitude. This law is indistinguishable from a universal scaling law recently proposed for the waiting-time distributions of acoustic emissions in heterogeneous materials and earthquakes, suggesting its general validity for fracture processes independent of modes and magnitude scales.

• Received 12 May 2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.82.046115