Patent Document ID: 20100206078
Application ID: 12666556
Patent Flag: 0

Claim One:
1. A method of predicting failure in of geotechnical structures, comprising: measuring specific AE signals generated from damages to an outer waveguide by the deformation or movement in geotechnical structures using a measurement apparatus affixed with AE sensors, wherein the measurement apparatus affixed with AE sensors, at least one of which is attached to the inner waveguide, is fixedly installed in a borehole and passes through an expected failure plane and includes both an inner waveguide, which is formed of metallic material that is intended to prevent sharp attenuations of AE signals, and an outer waveguide, which firmly encloses at least one AE sensor as well as the inner waveguide and is formed of a homogeneous brittle material that is intended to generate specific AE signals regardless of ground conditions or formations when the outer waveguide is damaged by the events that indicated there are deformations or movements in the geotechnical structures; obtaining parametric values in the geotechnical structures, which indicate damage levels in the geotechnical structures, in order to predict the failure in the geotechnical structures, wherein these parametric values are extracted from the AE signals measured by at least one AE; performing at least one of laboratory tensile, shear and compression tests with respect to a laboratory testing measurement apparatus affixed with AE sensors that is the same as the installed measurement apparatus in the geotechnical structures, and obtaining AE signals generated by the damage of an outer waveguide of the laboratory testing measurement apparatus affixed with AE sensors obtaining laboratory parametric values with applied load in the laboratory tests, which correspond to the parametric values in the geotechnical structures, are extracted from AE signals generated by the damage of the outer waveguide of the laboratory testing measurement apparatus; and comparing one or more reference parametric values and obtained parametric values in geotechnical structures, wherein the one or more reference parametric values indicate the damage levels in geotechnical structures, are included in laboratory parametric values corresponding to the parametric values in the geotechnical structures, and the obtained parametric values in geotechnical sturctures are obtained in the parametric values-obtaining step in geotechnical structures, and evaluating where the geotechnical structures correspond to the damage levels from one or more reference parametric values.