Sudden rock failure in the form of rockbursting has long been a problem in underground mines. The basic mechanism of this phenomenon is still unresolved. This thesis describes the research work on this problem conducted by the doctoral candidate Daihua Zou in the Department of Mining and Mineral Process Engineering at The University of British Columbia, under the supervision of Professor Hamish D.S. Miller.

This research project was undertaken in order to investigate the process of violent rock failure and was achieved by examining various aspects of the rock failure mechanism.

The assumption that acoustic emission can be used as a reliable means of predicting rock failure was investigated, as well as the possibility that violent rock failure could occur in any mine rock.

As part of the research, a rock failure mechanism was postulated. A process analogous to shearing is postulated to be important at the post-failure stage. The stick-slip phenomenon has been analyzed using a numerical model under a variety of conditions. The conditions which could give rise to possible violent rock failure were determined. At the same time, acoustic emissions were tested from rock specimens under different loading conditions. The experimental results obtained show a correlation with field measurements made in a mine. In order to verify the testing results from limited experiments, a numerical acoustic model was developed, which is unique in that it is entirely based on the stick-slip process not on any acoustic theory. This model allows rock tests and their associated acoustic emission to be realistically simulated. With this model, acoustic emissions were simulated under various loading conditions for different kinds of rocks. The case of a hard or a soft intercalation was also modelled.