Towards improved damage location using acoustic emission

Abstract

The acoustic emission technique is a passive non-destructive testing technique that has significant potential for use as a structural health monitoring technique for many large-scale structures, allowing continuous global monitoring. The location capability of the acoustic emission technique is its most beneficial attribute; however, the location accuracy can often be limited in complex materials and structures. This article discusses recent advances in the location of acoustic emission signals. The key sources of errors are identified as signal arrival time measurement and processing algorithm limitations. A series of strategies for reducing the effects of both causes of error are presented. Additionally, the results of a case study are used to demonstrate a novel mapping technique for acoustic emission source location of fatigue crack signals in an aircraft landing gear component. Improvements in location accuracy of up to 87.5% were observed when compared with standard location calculation algorithms.