Acoustic Emission Detection System Research Articles

Research on a Corrosion Detection Method for Oil Tank Bottoms Based on Acoustic Emission Technology.

This paper presents an acoustic emission (AE) detection method for refined oil storage tanks which is aimed towards specialized places such as oil storage tanks with high explosion-proof requirements, such as cave oil tanks and buried oil tanks. The method utilizes an explosion-proof acoustic emission instrument to detect the floor of a refined oil storage tank. By calculating the time difference between the defective acoustic signal and the speed of acoustic wave transmission, a mathematical model is constructed to analyze the detected signals. An independent channel AE detection system is designed, which can store the collected data in a piece of independent explosion-proof equipment, and can analyze and process the data in a safe area after the detection, solving the problems of a short signal acquisition distance and the weak safety protection applied to traditional AE instruments. A location analysis of the AE sources is conducted on the bottom plate of the tank, evaluating its corrosion condition accurately. The consistency between the evaluation and subsequent open-tank tests confirms that using AE technology effectively captures corrosion signals from oil storage tanks' bottoms. The feasibility of carrying out online inspection under the condition of oil storage in vertical steel oil tanks was verified through a comparison with open inspections, which provided a guide for determining the inspection target and opening order of large-scale oil tanks.

−252.8 °C Liquid Hydrogen Acoustic Emission Experiment in Simulated Aerospace Fuel Tank

With the increase of space activities, the safety detection of equipment in supercold environment becomes more and more important. However, the safety detection of equipment in liquid hydrogen environment is an unsolved worldwide problem. This paper presents a new method to detect acoustic emission (AE) signals in liquid hydrogen environment, which can be used to confirm the safety and reliability of the equipment working in liquid hydrogen. First, the principle of mandrel-based fiber-optic ring (MBFOR) AE sensor and the corresponding demodulation method are introduced. Second, the effects of physical parameters such as the length of the sensing fiber, the diameter and material of the mandrel, and the number of fiber winding layers on the sensor's sensitivity are studied by experiment. Finally, the AE source localization accuracy test of the FOR AE detection system at low temperatures and the adaptability test of the proposed method in -252.8 °C liquid hydrogen are carried out. The results show that the proposed MBFOR sensor and the multi-channel AE detection system can complete the defects detection of aerospace pressure vessel in liquid hydrogen. Certainly, it can be used for safety detection for other spacecraft equipment in harsh environments.

Improved fault diagnosis method of electric gate valve in nuclear power plant

The vibration signal (VS) analysis and acoustic emission signal (AES) analysis methods are the common effective diagnostic methods in valve fault diagnosis (FD)(Classify fault types). However, these two methods are disadvantaged by the surrounding environment and noise signals produced during acquisition. To obtain an improved FD effect of an electric gate valve (EGV) in nuclear power plant, the two previous methods are ameliorated by a noise reduction processing, then the signal feature extraction is performed. The FD and degree evaluation are carried out for the common fault types of the EGV taken as object. In this paper, three-phase unbalanced faults (Acquisition of VS), packing damage faults (Acquisition of VS) and internal leakage faults (Acquisition of AES) are taken as examples. The Complete Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition with Adaptive Noise (CEEMDAN) algorithm composed with Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and the SAEU3H series digital acoustic emission detection system (SAEU3H SDAEDS) are used to noise reduction and extraction of parameters of the VS and AES, respectively. Then, the extracted feature parameters are brought into the Bi-directional Long Short-Term Memory (Bi-LSTM) deep neural network for FD and fault degree evaluation (Assess the severity of failure occurrences). The experimental results show that the method adopted in this paper has high FD accuracy and low fault evaluation error.

Acoustic emission detection of micro-cracks under high pressure and high temperature in a deformation large-volume apparatus at the endstation P61B, PETRA III.

We successfully developed an in situ acoustic emission (AE) detection setup that allows recording of AE waveforms (triggered and streaming) and simultaneous x-ray diffraction and imaging on samples deformed at high pressure and high temperature (HPHT) conditions in the Aster-15 Large Volume Press at the synchrotron beamline station P61B. This high pressure AE detection system is a powerful tool to investigate AE phenomena from the HPHT chamber. Six commercial acoustic sensors, protected by a tungsten carbide support ring on each anvil of the same material, have excellent survivability throughout each successive experiment. By pulsing each sensor in succession, the average wave velocity through the anvils and cell assembly can be determined at any press load. The distance between the sensors is obtained by x-ray radiography and by logging the positions of each hydraulic ram. This provides a basis for accurately locating AE events in the sample. The feasibility of this AE detection setup was confirmed by compression and deformation test runs using several different self-designed AE sources in specialized assemblies. The present setup proves to be extremely efficient and accurate in measuring brittle processes in samples under HPHT. It is now available for applications for beam time and experiments without x rays at P61B. Combined with synchrotron x rays, in situ pressure, temperature, strain rate and stress, and phase changes can be monitored while recording AE activity. We provide a powerful tool to investigate the origin of earthquakes, for example, causing AE emissions due to brittle dehydration reactions or phase transformations in the Earth.

Experimental investigation on interlaminar and in-plane shear damage evolution of 2D C/SiC composites using acoustic emission and X-ray computed microtomography

Carbon fiber-reinforced silicon carbide composites (C/SiC) are widely used in lightweight aerospace structures for thermal protection due to its excellent mechanical properties. The low interfacial shear strength of the composites decreases its performance and limits its application. To investigate the shearing performance of C/SiC composite, interlaminar shear and in-plane shear tests were conducted. Real-time X-ray micro-computed tomography (XCT) non-destructive testing technology is an effective method for damage analysis of composite materials. The damage mechanisms of 2D plain weave C/SiC composites prepared by chemical vapor infiltration process under interlaminar shear loading are investigated using the combination of XCT and acoustic emission detection system. The in-situ XCT results reveal the damage visualization mechanisms of the composites and the damage evolution process including matrix damage, interfacial debonding and fiber fracture. The failure mechanisms and morphology of the shear effect for 2D plain weave C/SiC were analysed.

Investigation of Biaxial Properties of CFRP with the Novel-Designed Cruciform Specimens.

The biaxial loading properties of carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) are critical for evaluating the performance of composite structures under the complex stress state. There are currently no standardized specimens for the CFRP biaxial experiments. This work developed a new design criterion for the cruciform specimen coupled with the Hashin criterion. The finite element analysis was conducted to investigate the effect of geometric parameters on the stress distribution in the test area. The embedded continuous laying method (ECLM) was proposed to achieve the thinning of the center of the test region without introducing defects. The manufacturing quality of the cruciform specimens was verified by the ultrasonic C-scanning test. The biaxial test platform consisting of the biaxial loading system, digital image correlation (DIC) system, strain electrical measurement system, and acoustic emission detection system was constructed. The biaxial tensile tests under different biaxial loading ratios were conducted. The results showed that the biaxial failure efficiently occurred in the test area of the cruciform specimens designed and manufactured in this paper. The failure modes and morphology were characterized using macro/microscopic experimental techniques. The biaxial failure envelope was obtained. The results can be used to guide the design of composite structures under biaxial stress.

Change of Acoustic Emission Characteristics during Temperature Induced Transition from Twinning to Dislocation Slip under Compression in Polycrystalline Sn.

In this study, acoustic emission (AE) measurements on polycrystalline tin as a function of temperature at different driving rates under compression were carried out. It is shown that there is a definite difference between the acoustic emission characteristics belonging to twinning (low temperatures) as well as to dislocation slip (high temperatures). The stress averaged values of the exponents of the energy probability density functions decreased from = 1.45 ± 0.05 (−60 °C) to = 1.20 ± 0.15 (50 °C) at a driving rate of , and the total acoustic energy decreased by three orders of magnitude with increasing temperature. In addition, the exponent γ in the scaling relation SAE~DAEγ (SAE is the area and DAE is the duration) also shows similar temperature dependence (changing from γ = 1.78 ± 0.08 to γ = 1.35 ± 0.05), illustrating that the avalanche statistics belong to two different microscopic deformation mechanisms. The power law scaling relations were also analyzed, taking into account that the detected signal is always the convolution of the source signal and the transfer function of the system. It was obtained that approximate values of the power exponents can be obtained from the parts of the above functions, belonging to large values of parameters. At short duration times, the attenuation effect of the AE detection system dominates the time dependence, from which the characteristic attenuation time, τa, was determined as τa ≅ 70 μs.

DFB-FL Applied in the Liquid-Solid Composite Dielectric for Ultra-High Sensitive Partial Discharge Acoustic Emission Detection

The traditional fiber optic acoustic emission (AE) sensor, used to detect the partial discharge (PD) in the liquid-solid composite dielectric such as oil-immersed transformers, is not satisfactory in engineering applications due to the limitation of sensitivity and sensor size. This work proposes that the distributed feedback fiber laser (DFB-FL), benefiting from its tiny size and ultra-high sensitivity, is a better choice for PD AE detection. We build the PD AE detection system using erbium-ytterbium co-doped (Er-Yb-co-doped) DFB-FL, with suitable photoelectric components to design the demodulation system and intensity noise of DFB-FL as an index. Noise analysis shows that the average noise amplitude of the system is reduced by 91.67% after digital filtering technology and pump laser power regulation technology. We also use an 80 kVA oil-immersed transformer winding structure to construct a liquid-solid composite dielectric PD AE detection platform. Moreover, experiment results in different pump power show that the DFB-FL PD AE detection system can effectively detect the PD AE signal in the environment with sizeable acoustic impedance. The peak-to-peak value of its response is 31.36 times larger than the background noise and 637% higher than piezoelectric transducer sensors (PZT).

Research on Coal Mechanical Properties Based on True Triaxial Loading and Unloading Experiment

To study the safety issues caused by coal mine excavation, self-developed simulation of earth interior atmosphere and sound test system was used to perform true triaxial loading and unloading tests of coal. An acoustic emission detection system was used to record the damage evolution trend of coal under different intermediate principal stress states. The experimental results show that in the true triaxial unloading test, as the intermediate principal stress increases, the failure state of coal changes from shear failure to partial shear tension failure, finally leading to overall yield failure. In the stress-strain curves, with the increase in intermediate principal stress, the strain in the direction of intermediate principal stress gradually changes from compression to expansion, and typical expansion occurs. The Mogi–Coulomb strength criterion better reflects the strength failure characteristics of coal during unloading. The stress-acoustic emission diagrams show that the increase in intermediate principal stress causes the internal cracks of the coal to grow unsteadily and exponentially, and the increase in intermediate principal stress makes the coal lose its ability to continue to bear the load. Studying the influence of the intermediate principal stress on the mechanical properties of coal has practical significance for coal mine safety production.

Prediction of tribocorrosion processes in titanium-based dental implants using acoustic emission technique: Initial outcome

The use of dental implants is growing rapidly for the last few decades and Ti-based dental implants are a commonly used prosthetic structure in dentistry. Recently, the combined effect of corrosion and wear, called tribocorrosion, is considered as a major driving process in the early failure of dental implants. However, no previous study has reported the prediction of tribocorrosion processes in advance. Therefore, this study is a novel investigation on how the acoustic emission (AE) technique can predict tribocorrosion processes in commercially-pure titanium (cpTi) and titanium-zirconium (TiZr) alloys. In this study, tribocorrosion tests were performed under potentiostatic conditions and AE detection system associated with it captures AE data. Current evolution and friction coefficient data obtained from the potentiostatic evaluations were compared with AE absolute energy showcased the same data interpretation of tribocorrosion characteristics. Other AE data such as duration, count, and amplitude, matched more closely with other potentiostatic corrosion evaluations and delivered more promising results in the detection of tribocorrosion. Hence, AE can be consider as a tool for predicting tribocorrosion in dental implants. Experimental results also reveal Ti5Zr as one of the most appropriate dental implant materials while exposing Ti10Zr's lower effectiveness to withstand in the simulated oral environment.

Acoustic properties of fracture of dental restorative materials and endocrown restorations under quasi-static loading

Objectives(1) To investigate the properties of acoustic emission (AE) signals from fracture of dental materials and endocrown restorations during quasi-static compression using the continuous wavelet transform analysis. (2) To determine by the parameters of AE signals in which structural element of tooth-endocrown system the fracture starts. MethodsFive restorative materials (zirconium dioxide (Prettau zirconia), ceramics (IPS e.max Press), metal ceramics (GC Initial MC+Nicrallium N2 BCS), composite resin (Nano Q), luting cement (Relyx™ U200)) were manufactured into discs, 13mm diameter, 5mm thick, which were divided into 5 groups (Group B, C, D, E, F, respectively) and included into Type 1. Twenty-five extracted human molars were divided into 5 groups and included into Type 2: Group A (control, no restoration); BE (tooth restored by zirconium dioxide endocrowns); CE (restored by ceramic endocrowns); DE (restored by metal ceramic endocrowns); EE (restored by composite resin endocrowns). An increasing load was applied to the center of the samples with a hard steel ball until a fracture occurred. The loading rate was 0.12mm/min. Two-channel AE detection system was used to record the AE activity during testing. The parameters including the peak frequency, bandwidth, duration time and energy of AE signals were analyzed. ResultsThe restorative materials (Type 1) differ from each other by acoustic properties such as the peak frequency main bands and energy of AE signals. The detected AE signals correspond to the different fracture types. The dominant fracture mechanism of Group C, E and F specimens was the macrocracking (brittle fracture), and of Group D specimens was the microcracking, which alternated with the plastic deformation and macrocracking. For the number of events corresponding to the brittle fracture, statistically significant differences (p<0.05) were found between all group pairs. AE signals were not released during compression test of the zirconium dioxide samples, thus the fracture was not detected.All the AE signals detected during compression test of the different endocrown systems (Type 2) had two peak frequency bands. The fracture of Groups A, BE, CE and DE samples characterized by alternating the micro- and macrocracking with plastic deformation, and the brittle fracture was the dominant fracture mechanism. The restorations of Group EE fractured without plastic deformation. For the number of events corresponding to the brittle fracture, statistically insignificant differences (p>0.05) were found between Groups A vs CE and A vs EE, and statistically significant differences (p<0.05) were found between Groups A vs BE and A vs DE. SignificanceThe initiation of fracture in the restorations with endocrowns made from different materials begins with the tooth damage. The metal ceramic endocrown restoration showed the highest fracture resistance, what is especially important for clinical use.

Acoustic Emission Source Localization System Using Fiber Bragg Grating Sensors and a Barycentric Coordinate-Based Algorithm

Structures and machines are very susceptible to some barely visible defects; acoustic emission (AE) is an effective technique of detecting defects and examining growth and location of these defects. In this paper, a new method was proposed to predict the position of the AE source. The dynamic strain signal from the AE source was acquired by fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors. Complex Morlet wavelet transform was used to extract narrowband signals from AE waves. It was proposed that the barycentric coordinate-based localization algorithm can be used to predict the coordinates of the AE source. The validation tests based on the designed AE detection system were performed on a 500 mm × 500 mm × 2 mm Al-alloy plate. The experimental results show that the proposed method is feasible.

On the Importance of Combined Scratch/Acoustic Emission Test Evaluation: SiC and SiCN Thin Films Case Study

The scratch test, as probably the most widespread technique for assessment of the adhesive/cohesive properties of a film–substrate system, fully depends on reliable evaluation based on assessment of critical loads for systems’ failures. Traditionally used evaluation methods (depth change record and visual observation) may sometimes give misleading conclusions about the failure dynamics, especially in the case of opaque films. Therefore, there is a need for another independent evaluation technique with the potential to complete the existing approaches. The nondestructive method of acoustic emission, which detects the elastic waves emitted during film cracking and delamination, can be regarded as a convenient candidate for such a role even at nano/micro scale. The strength of the combination of microscopic observation of the residual groove and depth change record with the acoustic emission detection system proved to be a robust and reliable approach in analyzing adhesion/cohesion properties of thin films. The dynamics of the gradual damage taking place during the nano/micro scratch test revealed by the combined approach is presented for SiC and SiCN thin films. Comparison of critical load values clearly reflects the higher ability of the AE approach in detecting the initial material failure compared to the visual observation.

Localization of Quenches and Mechanical Disturbances in the Mu2e Transport Solenoid Prototype Using Acoustic Emission Technique

Acoustic emission (AE) detection is a noninvasive technique allowing the localization of the mechanical events and quenches in superconducting magnets. Application of the AE technique is especially advantageous in situations where magnet integrity can be jeopardized by the use of voltage taps or inductive pickup coils. As the prototype module of the transport solenoid (TS) for the Mu2e experiment at Fermilab represents such a special case, we have developed a dedicated six-channel AE detection system and accompanying software aimed at localizing mechanical events during the coil cold testing. The AE sensors based on transversely polarized piezoceramic washers combined with cryogenic preamplifiers were mounted at the outer surface of the solenoid aluminum shell, with a 60° angular step around the circumference. Acoustic signals were simultaneously acquired at a rate of 500 kS/s, prefiltered and sorted based on their arrival time. Next, based on the arrival timing, angular and axial coordinates of the AE sources within the magnet structure were calculated. We present AE measurement results obtained during cooldown, spot heater firing, and spontaneous quenching of the Mu2e TS module prototype and discuss their relevance for mechanical stability assessment and quench localization.

Calibration of Acoustic Emission System for Materials Characterization

Acoustic Emission (AE) is one of the versatile tools to study the materials and associated defects non-destructively under dynamic or static stress load conditions. The experiments planned to study Acoustic Emission system have to be calibrated with various resonant frequency band sensors and stress levels appropriately. This practice covers requirements for the calibration of acoustic emission sensors. The calibration yields the frequency response of a sensor to acoustic waves of the type which normally comes upon in acoustic emission work. The source producing the signal is used for the calibration that increases on the same surface of the test block as the sensor under testing. The calibration represents primarily of the sensor sensitivity to Rayleigh waves. The sensitivity of the sensor is determined for excitation within the range of 1000 KHz to 1KHz. The sensitivity value is usually determined at frequency approximately 1 KHz apart. The AE sources are generally from high intensity stress zones, cracks or defects in the materials under mechanical loads. The acoustic sound signals generated in the dynamic load conditions like burst or continuous emissions must be correlated with parameters such as velocity, time and displacement within the testing system. AE - 4 Channel Acoustic Emission Detection System (procured from Physical Acoustic Corporation, USA) with various frequency band sensors covering wide range is used in this study for the calibration procedure establishment. AE sensors are arranged in vector and matrix mode for signal analysis through AE parameters. In order to deduce physical description of AE sources from recorded waveforms, a well characterized and calibrated AE sensor is required for study of signal analysis. The present paper reports the estimation of the physical quantity measured by the sensor i.e., velocity of material under test. Subsequently, AE source is used for sound signal to travel in the material such that velocity of the material is calculated by manual displacement and time mode. Calibration of sensors is evaluated by shear velocity and experimental standardization studied by the arrangement of different kinds of sensors namely - R6ά, WS ά, PK15I and PK6I. The calibration procedure and standardization for testing of the materials is established and reported.

Theoretical and experimental analysis of interaction from acoustic emission on fiber Bragg grating

Fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors have been indicated to be ideal candidates for high frequency acoustic emission (AE) detection. This paper reports that the strain fields along FBG axis generated by acoustic emission waves contain Gaussian-sine strain field distribution. Propagation matrix method is adopted to evaluate the dynamic characteristics of FBG reflection spectrum under the action of the Gaussian-sine strain field. Then, intensity demodulation signal of FBG acoustic emission detection system using 3-dB bandwidth method is theoretically simulated based on the spectrum analysis. In order to obtain accurate measurement using this system, the maximum displacement amplitude of the strain field generated by acoustic emission is explored. Furthermore, in AE experiments, Gaussian-sine waves are extracted to confirm the accuracy of the novel presentation regarding strain field generated by acoustic emission waves along FBG axis. These studies provide useful tools for acoustic emission sources position and identification by time waveform analysis.

Nondestructive Detection of Valves Using Acoustic Emission Technique

The applications of acoustic emission (AE) technique in detection of valves are presented in this review, and the theoretical models and experimental results of nondestructive detection of valves using AE are provided. The generation of AE signals and the basic composition of AE detection system are briefly explained. The applications of AE technique in valves are focused on condition monitoring, failure, cavitation detection, and the development of portable measuring devices. All results prove that the AE technique works well in the detection of valves.

Water-weakening behavior of Hawkesbury sandstone in brittle regime

This paper investigates the effect of water on the mechanical behavior of intact Hawkesbury sandstone, a massive rock formation in Sydney, Australia. Two sets of cylindrical samples — air-dried and water-saturated — were tested under the confining pressures of 4, 10, 18 and 25MPa. Water-saturated samples were tested under undrained conditions with initial pore-water pressures of 1, 4, 7.2 and 10MPa, respectively.Initial pore-water pressure was observed to increase with increasing deviatoric stress during undrained tests and the maximum induced pore-water pressure was observed to increase with increasing effective confining pressure. Peak effective strength showed an increasing trend with increasing confining pressure for both sample sets and the strengths of dry samples were always greater. Peak strength drops of 13.36%, 25.27%, 34.70% and 38.12% were observed due to water at the confining pressures of 4, 10, 18 and 25MPa, respectively. Results for the residual strength of tested samples displayed that it increased with increasing confining pressure for both sample sets. The volumetric strain response revealed that the volume reduction due to compaction increases with increasing confining pressure, and dilatancy-related volume increase close to sample failure was not significant at higher confining pressures for both sample sets. The samples tested under dry conditions showed a considerably higher volume reduction by compaction than that for the samples tested under undrained conditions. Analysis of failure mechanisms indicated that all samples failed mainly by shear localization, where the angle of the failure plane, measured from the minor principal stress direction, was varied from c.55° to c.45° for dry samples and from c.50° to c.40° for the samples tested under undrained conditions, at 4 and 25MPa confining pressures, respectively. Fracture propagation behavior was studied using an acoustic emission detection system and the results demonstrated that the micro-crack initiation occurred very close to the failure stress under low confining pressures, leading to a more brittle sudden failure, w\\hereas under higher confining pressures it occurred relatively earlier, compared to the failure stress, showing more quasi-brittle characteristics.

Research on Portable Acoustic Emission Detection System Based on the Windows Program Design

Research on Portable Acoustic Emission Detection System Based on the Windows Program Design

Fracture phenomena in micro‐ and nano‐layered polycarbonate/poly(vinylidene fluoride‐co‐hexafluoropropylene) films under electric field for high energy density capacitors

ABSTRACTThe long‐term dielectric lifetime properties of multilayered polycarbonate/poly(vinylidene fluoride‐co‐hexafluoropropylene) [PC/P(VDF‐HFP)] films were measured as a function of the layer thickness. An optimum layer thickness of 160 nm was determined with the longest dielectric lifetime. The morphology of the damaged sites after dielectric breakdown was examined using scanning electron microscope. Acoustic emission detection system was coupled with the dielectric setup to correlate fracture events and dielectric breakdown to thereby elucidate the mechanisms of the enhancements in dielectric lifetime properties. Two types of acoustic signals were always observed during the breakdown process for multilayered films. The high‐amplitude signals were attributed to the formation of breakdown pinholes caused by the primary discharge from top to bottom electrode. The subsequent low‐amplitude signals were attributed to internal discharges that could further damage the film. The total number of acoustic hits, in particular, low‐amplitude hits, increased with decreasing layer thickness, indicating more internal discharges occurred along the layered interface. It was concluded that the breakdown event initiated at a defect initiated “hotspot” formed because of internal pressure buildup. The film was punctured when the pressure buildup inside the film overcame the mechanical strength of the film. More number of PC layers and layer interfaces were desirable to slow down and divert the damage propagation through the film thickness direction. The crazes in P(VDF‐HFP) can, however, easily propagate across PC layers with less than 160 nm layer thickness. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 39877.