The characteristics of acoustic emission (AE) signals given off in the course of the failure of a concrete structure is explored based on the laboratory experiments with concrete specimens. It is observed that the failure of a concrete structure experiences three stages divided by two inflexion points on the AE event curve, which are sequentially no damage, damage initiation and propagation, and major failure stages. In the first stage, existing micro cracks and defects are compacted by loading, but no damage propagated, hence few AE signals are detected, and it appears that there exists a nearly linear relationship between the relative stress and relative strain. In the second stage, the AE event frequency increases, implying that micro cracks begin to emerge inside the concrete structure, which is consistent with the damage mechanics. When the load is over 80 % of that breaks the structure, i.e. the maximum load, there is a vertical jump on the AE event count curve, which suggests that the failure propagation speeds up. After the second inflexion point, the AE event density increases faster than before, and there is another jump just before breaking, which indicates a quick propagation stage. These findings are valuable for evaluating the damage situations, and for studying and monitoring the dynamic process of the failure behaviors of a concrete structure. The characteristics of acoustic emission (AE) signals given off in the course of the failure of a concrete structure is explored based on the laboratory experiments with concrete specimens. It is observed that the failure of a concrete structure experiences three stages divided by two inflexion points on the AE event curve, which are sequentially no damage, damage initiation and propagation, and major failure stages. In the first stage, existing micro cracks and defects are compacted by loading, but no damage propagated, hence few AE signals are detected, and it appears that there exists a nearly linear relationship between the relative stress and relative strain. In the second stage, the AE event frequency increases, implying that micro cracks begin to emerge inside the concrete structure. load is over 80% of that breaks the structure, ie the maximum load, there is a vertical jump on the AE event count curve, which suggests th at the failure propagation speeds up. After the second inflexion point, the AE event growth increases increases faster than before, and there is another jump just before breaking, which indicates a quick propagation stage. These findings are valuable for evaluating the damage situations, and for studying and monitoring the dynamic process of the failure behaviors of a concrete structure.