Influence of Dimensions and Shape of Process Cutouts on the Accuracy of Locating Acoustic Emission Sources

Abstract

Experiments have been carried out to study the effect of the size and shape of cutouts in steel plates on the difference in the arrival time of acoustic emission pulses at receiving transducers. The data obtained were compared with the results of a numerical simulation of the propagation of elastic waves in plates with various strip and circular cutouts. The research results indicate that the shape of the cutout has a much lesser effect on the time of recording pulses by the transducers of an antenna array than the size of the cutout and the location of the receiving transducer relative to the shading zone—the edge of the cut-out. Based on the results of studies in a 40-mm–thick steel plate with a central 100 mm hole, the accuracy of locating an acoustic emission source near the edge of the hole was estimated. Studies have shown that, in this case, to reduce the measurement error to less than 10% of the antenna-array base size, the location group must include at least four transducers. Numerical simulation of the propagation of acoustic emission pulses in plates with strip and circular cutouts made it possible to significantly reduce the volume of experimental studies, while increasing their information content.