Characterising the behaviour of geological or engineering materials under stress is an essential step in engineering projects in civil, energy and mining industries. Acoustic emission (AE) and ultrasonic monitoring techniques are widely  used to characterise and to better understand the properties and failure processes of materials, such as rocks, as observed during laboratory rock deformation testing. The results from the processing of these tests are also important for the construction and validation of geomechanical models. This course is intended for those involved in laboratory testing of rock and brittle materials and will cover the principles of acoustic emission and ultrasonic monitoring techniques and their applications in the imaging of deformation and fracturing processes.

The course includes hands-on examples from the monitoring of rock deformation tests as well as the theory behind acoustic emission monitoring techniques:

• AE event generation and detection
• AE picking and location
• Time dependent processing
• Inversion of fracture mechanisms
• Imaging of deformation process: Ultrasonic (active velocity) surveys
• Integrated analysis of both passive and active monitoring techniques.

The course will be delivered online and includes hands-on tutorials, handouts in electronic format and a 14-day licence of InSite-Lab.