Abstract
The fatigue crack growth characteristics of structural steel and weld connections are analyzed using quantitative acoustic emission (AE) technique. This was experimentally investigated by three-point bending testing of specimens under low cycle constant amplitude loading using the wavelet packet analysis. The crack growth sequence, that is, initiation, crack propagation, and fracture, is extracted from their corresponding frequency feature bands, respectively. The results obtained proved to be superior to qualitative AE analysis and the traditional linear elastic fracture mechanics for fatigue crack characterization in structural steel and welds.
Highlights
Paris and Erdogan [1] demonstrated that linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) is a useful tool for characterizing crack growth by fatigue
Acoustic emission technology is the most appropriate nondestructive testing (NDT) method for studying fatigue crack growth in civil engineering structure because it can monitor its health in real time [2]
Paris and Erdogan [1] discovered the power-law relationship for the fatigue crack growth and proposed an exponent of 4 for the constant m after series of experiments
Summary
Paris and Erdogan [1] demonstrated that linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) is a useful tool for characterizing crack growth by fatigue. Aggelis et al [6] discuss the application of other AE parameters, such as rise angle (RA) value, rise time (RT), AE hit rate, and duration damage characterization of metal. They realized that as the duration and RT increase, there is a shift of cracking mode from tensile to shear. The wavelet transform which is the main interest of this paper has been successfully combined with AE signal parameter for analysis of real-time failure process, such as differentiation of crack types, quantification of damage, and identification of AE. The frequency feature bands corresponding to crack growth sequence, that is, initiation, crack propagation, and fracture, are extracted and compared with qualitative AE analysis and LEFM
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
