Abstract—It is well known that rock mechanics plays an important role in the design, construction and performance assessment of various constructions applications and that its position in the structure is based in its mechanical capabilities. Several Mayan stones that once were located in different places in an archeological building were taken to laboratory to extract its nucleus by a drill. Cylindrical samples were obtained considering the direction of geological stratum line formation in the rock to evaluate mechanical behavior with stone anisotropy. Detailed analysis of AE parameters was used to monitor progressive changes in crack development and mechanical parameters were obtained allowing identifying the load transfer and stressing distribution. Acoustic Emission (AE) technique is a powerful nondestructive testing tool for examining the behavior of materials deforming under stress. When rocks or structures are subjected to stress, elastic waves are spontaneously generated, these being called ''acoustic emission". Therefore, it can be also used to monitor fracture or damage in a rock mass by listening to AE events during failure progression under compressive loads. Acoustic Emission (AE) technique under laboratory testing conditions was used to understand the mechanical behavior and fracture processes of Mayan archeological rocks under compression tests. AE analysis combined with compression tests yielded information on the damage process (micromechanics) up to macroscopic failure. 

Index Terms—acoustic emission, mayan civilization, stone characterization, mechanical properties
 

Cite: V. Ley-Paredes, C. R. Rios-Soberanis, C. Vinajera-Reyna, and L. R. Pantoja-Díaz, "Study of the Effect of Stratum Orientation on Damage Initiation and Propagation on Mayan Archeological Limestone by Using Acoustic Emission Technique," International Journal of Structural and Civil Engineering Research, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 308-313, November 2015. doi: 10.18178/ijscer.4.4.308-313