Correlation of pressure stimulated currents and acoustic emissions during 3PB of cement-mortar beams and the role of loading rate

An experimental protocol was implemented to investigate possible correlations between the data provided by the Acoustic Emissions and the Pressure Stimulated Currents techniques and the role of the loading rate induced. Prismatic cement-mortar specimens were subjected to three-point bending (3PB) under various loading rates. It was concluded that optimum correlation is achieved in terms of the energy released. The specific relation was found to obey a power law independently of the loading rate, in spite of the fact that the characteristic quantities of each technique do depend in one way or another on the loading rate. In addition, it was concluded that the total electric charge released appears insensitive to changes of the loading rate at least in the range tested.