Infrared Thermography and Acoustic Emission in Rock Mechanics
Summary
Infrared thermography and acoustic emission have emerged as complementary, non-destructive tools for probing the mechanical behaviour of rock under stress. Infrared thermography captures minute temperature variations at the rock surface that arise from stress concentration, microcrack initiation and frictional sliding, while acoustic emission records transient elastic waves released by crack growth and grain boundary failure. Together they provide a multi-physics perspective on fracture nucleation, propagation and coalescence, enabling continuous monitoring of deformation processes in laboratory specimens, underground excavations and natural rock masses. Advances in high-sensitivity thermal cameras, spectral analysis and machine-learning algorithms have improved the quantitative interpretation of emissivity changes and radiance anomalies. Simultaneously, refined acoustic sensors and signal-processing techniques allow real-time tracking of event rate, energy release and source mechanisms. This synergy enhances early warning capabilities for rockburst hazards, slope instabilities and reservoir fracturing, while underpinning remote sensing applications from tunnel monitoring to satellite-borne stress mapping on a regional scale.
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Infrared Thermography and Acoustic Emission in Rock Mechanics publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in infrared thermography and acoustic emission in rock mechanics across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Infrared thermography: A technique for mapping surface temperature distributions by measuring emitted infrared radiation.
Acoustic emission: Detection of transient elastic waves produced by rapid stress release during microcrack formation and propagation.
Emissivity: The efficiency with which a material’s surface emits thermal radiation, expressed as a fraction of a perfect blackbody.
Dilatancy point: The stress threshold at which microcracks open and rock volume undergoes a sudden increase prior to macroscopic failure.
Reststrahlen features: Characteristic spectral emissivity peaks or valleys arising from vibrational modes of minerals in the thermal-infrared region.
References
- Analysis of Precursors Prior to Rock Burst in Granite Tunnel Using Acoustic Emission and Far Infrared Monitoring. Mathematical Problems in Engineering (2013).
- Experimental Study on the Thermal Infrared Spectral Variation of Fractured Rock. Remote Sensing (2021).
- Prediction of Sandstone Dilatancy Point in Different Water Contents Using Infrared Radiation Characteristic: Experimental and Machine Learning Approaches. Lithosphere (2022).
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