To reveal the mechanism of rockburst induced by excavation unloading in deep coal-rock roadways, true triaxial one-face unloading experiments were conducted on coal-rock composite specimens with five different coal-rock ratios using a true triaxial strain rockburst experimental system. By integrating a four-cameras high-speed photography system with acoustic emission (AE) monitoring, the macroscopic failure modes, AE energy evolution laws, and spectral information entropy characteristics of these composites were analyzed. The results indicate that, unlike the failure of single lithology specimen, coal-rock composite exhibits progressive failure characteristics by multiple violent fragment ejections. Furthermore, distinct precursors, such as small-scale particle spalling, were observed prior to macroscopic instability. As failure approaches, the cumulative AE energy follows a distinct step-like pattern, defined by instantaneous surges followed by brief plateaus. Based on information entropy theory, the AE dominant frequency entropy of the composites reveals an evolution law of “low-entropy stepwise increments and critical oscillation failure”. A surge in low-frequency signals near the failure point significantly broadens the dominant frequency band. The intense entropy oscillations reflect the dynamic competition between damage evolution in the soft coal (inducing entropy reduction) and the elastic confinement provided by the hard sandstone (inducing entropy increase). Consequently, a two-level early warning model for rockburst is proposed: the initial point of entropy oscillation serves as the primary warning, while the peak surge in the sliding variance of entropy acts as the secondary critical warning. Experimental validation confirms that this model accurately captures precursory signals before macroscopic failure. This research provides a theoretical and foundation for understanding rockburst mechanisms and improving early warning systems in deep underground engineering.
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