Energy Evolution and Acoustic Emission Precursors for Coal–Rock Instability Under Uniaxial Compression

The prevention of coal–rock dynamic disasters is crucial for ensuring sustainable and safe mining operations, necessitating a precise understanding of crack propagation and precursor signals for accurate hazard prediction. This study comprehensively analyzes the stress‐strain response, classifies crack propagation stages, and investigates the energy evolution mechanisms of coal–rock samples through uniaxial compression tests integrated with real‐time acoustic emission (AE) monitoring. The results reveal that the crack initiation threshold and the damage threshold can be determined based on the evolution law of axial stiffness with stress. When stress exceeds the damage threshold, axial stiffness exhibits a continuous and sharp decline without rebound, with this critical moment serving as a precursor to coal–rock instability failure. The AE b ‐value and γ ‐value exhibit strong correlations with crack propagation stages: before instability, the b ‐value drops abruptly from ~1.5 to below 1.0, and the γ ‐value demonstrates pulse‐like growth, both of which serve as effective early warning indices for coal–rock dynamic instability.