AET-2006 Reading 2

Pr
My Reading on
Acoustic Emission Testing
2016-02 For my ASNT Level III Examination on

coming 2016 August.
22nd June 2016
Fion Zhang/ Charlie Chong
Fion Zhang/ Charlie Chong
Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang
Fion Zhang at St Petersburg

22nd June 2016
SME- Subject Matter Expert

http://cn.bing.com/videos/search?q=Walter+Lewin&FORM=HDRSC3
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiEHVhv0SBMpP75JbzJShqw
http://www.yumpu.com/zh/browse/user/charliechong
http://issuu.com/charlieccchong
http://independent.academia.edu/CharlieChong1
http://greekhouseoffonts.com/
The Magical Book of Tank Inspection ICP
ASNT Certification Guide

NDT Level III / PdM Level III
AE - Acoustic Emission Testing
Length: 4 hours Questions: 135
1 Principles and Theory
Characteristics of acoustic emission testing
Materials and deformation
Sources of acoustic emission
Wave propagation
Attenuation
Kaiser and Felicity effects, and Felicity ratio
Terminology (refer to acoustic emission glossary, ASTM 1316)
2 Equipment and Materials

Transducing processes
Sensors
Sensor attachments
Sensor utilization
Simulated acoustic emission sources
Cables
Signal conditioning
Signal detection
Signal processing
Source location
Advanced signal processing
Acoustic emission test systems
Accessory materials
Factors affecting test equipment
selection
3 Techniques
Equipment calibration and set up for
test
Establishing loading procedures
Precautions against noise
Special test procedures
Data displays
4 Interpretation and Evaluation

Data interpretation
Data evaluation
Reports
5 Procedures
6 Safety and Health
7 Applications
Laboratory studies (materialcharacterization)
Structural applications
References & Catalog Numbers

NDT Handbook, Second Edition: Volume 5, Acoustic Emission Testing
Catalog Number 130
Acoustic Emission: Techniques and Applications Catalog Number 752
Reference Standards:
ASTM:
E 569 Acoustic Emission Monitoring of Structures During Controlled
Stimulation
E 650 Guide for Mounting Piezoelectric Acoustic Emission Sensors
E 750 Practice for Characterizing Acoustic Emission Instrumentation
ASTM E 749-96 is a standard practice of AE monitoring
of continuous welding.
ASTM E 1932 for the AE examination of small parts
ASTM E1419-00 for the method of examining seamless, gas-filled, pressure
vessels.
API:
RP 575 Guidelines and Methods for Inspection of Existing Atmospheric and
Low- Pressure Storage Tank.
ST 307 An Engineering Assessment of Acoustic Methods of Leak detection
in Aboveground Storage tanks.
ST 322 An Engineering Evaluation of Acoustic Methods of Leak Detection
in Aboveground storage Tank.
ST 325 An evaluation of a Methodology for the detection of Leaks in
Aboveground Storage Tank.
Reading#1
Introduction to Acoustic Emission

Integrity Diagnostics
Diagnostic Acoustic Emission Solutions for Safety and Performance
http://www.idinspections.com/?page_id=126
1.0 Introduction
Acoustic emission is an amazing, promising and challenging subject of the
modern technology and science. It is a well known from everyday life
phenomenon: sound of breaking glass, falling tree, cracking ice are some
examples of fracture sound we may hear from different objects subjected to
stress. Scientifically defined, acoustic emission is a phenomenon of sound
and ultrasound wave generation by materials that undergo deformation and
fracture processes (Figure 1).
Sources generating AE in different materials are unique. For examples, in
metals, primary macroscopic sources are crack jumps, processes related to
plastic deformation development and fracturing and de-bonding of inclusions.
Quantitative and qualitative characteristics of acoustic emission waves,
generated by sources of different nature depend directly on material
properties and environmental factors.
Figure 1. Acoustic emission due to crack growth in a solid material

under stress.
Leaks, friction, knocks, chemical reactions, changes of size of magnetic

domains are other examples of sources generating acoustic emission waves.
These sources belong to another, secondary class of acoustic emission that
is usually distinguished from the primary class of sources related to
deformation and fracture development. Understanding the nature of emitted
sound, characteristics of sounds and what they represent, can be used for
development of useful technological solutions in non-destructive testing,
material studies, control of production, medical examinations, analysis of
chemical reactions and many other fascinating applications. Presentation of
fundamentals of the acoustic emission science and technology and its unique
applications is the goal of this article.
2.0 The physical nature of the phenomenon

Understanding the physical nature of acoustic emission in different materials
is a cornerstone in the development of the acoustic emission technology. The
success and the depth of the technology capabilities depend on the ability to
determine the interconnection between characteristics of acoustic emission
and sources it generated. However, establishing such interconnection for
different materials and structures is a real scientific and technological
challenge.
2.1 Material sources of acoustic emission

The goals of acoustic emission examinations in industrial applications today,
are detection, location and assessment of flaws in structures made of metal,
concrete or composites. In these materials, fracture development in form of
crack propagation is a primary source of acoustic emission. Elementary crack
jumps under static or dynamic loads are followed by a rapid release of energy.
A part of this energy is released in form of stress waves as a result of fast
redistribution of a stress field at the crack top. The stress waves generated
are elastic waves mostly but inelastic waves can be generated also when
stresses exceed yield limit. This occurs, for example, at the plastic zone of a
crack developing in a ductile metal.
Other primary sources of acoustic emission in materials that undergo fracture

are:
Plastic deformation development and fracturing of hard inclusions in metals;
Fiber breakage, matrix cracking and delamination in composites;
Aggregate fracture, voids closure and etc. in concrete.
2.2 Non-material secondary sources of acoustic emission
Acoustic emission equipment is capable of detecting and analyzing acoustic
emission sources of non-material origin, for instance, mechanical sources of
friction, knocks, leaks and so on. There are multiple applications in which
acoustic emission technology is used for revealing leaks, machinery health
monitoring, detection of dynamic stress events in structures and other using
these capabilities.
2.3 Wave propagation

Acoustic emission wave propagation out of the source it generated over the
structure is always a complex mechanical puzzle. Waves of different types
propagate at different velocities and with different oscillation directions.
Moreover, passing through a medium, waves undergo multiple changes due
to attenuation, dispersion, diffraction, scattering, reflection from boundaries,
interaction with reflections and other. In those applications, where it is
possible either analytically or numerically describe wave propagation, it is
possible to achieve a greater accuracy in the source location and it
characterization. For example, in anisotropic materials, an accurate location
is possible when an effective wave velocity is incorporated in a location
algorithm as function of a propagation angle.
Note: Anisotropic materials
Anisotropy is the property of being directionally dependent, as opposed to isotropy, which
implies identical properties in all directions. It can be defined as a difference, when measured
along different axes, in a material's physical or mechanical properties (absorbance, refractive
index, conductivity, tensile strength, etc.) An example of anisotropy is the light coming through a
polarizer. Another is wood, which is easier to split along its grain than against it
2.4 Qualitative types of acoustic emission

There are two distinct qualitative types of acoustic emission: burst and
continuous.
Burst is a type of emission related to individual events occurring in a material
that results in discrete acoustic emission signals.
Continuous is a type of emission that related to time overlapping and/or
successive emission events from one or several sources that results in
sustained signals.
Detection, ability to distinguish and analyze signals resulting from both

emission types is important for many acoustic emission applications. For
example, in ductile metals most of the energy expended on fracture
processes goes to development of a plastic deformation, which normally
accompanied by continuous acoustic emission. This is the reason why,
normally flaws at their early stages in ductile metals can be detected mostly
by use of continuous emission. Also, reliable detectability of specific flaws like
stress corrosion cracking and creep are depend on detection and analysis of
continuous acoustic emission. At the same time, there are flaws or conditions
that can be detected by burst acoustic emission, like fracture of non-metallic
inclusions, breakage of corrosion products, crack jumps in brittle or at
advance stages in ductile metals and other.
Continuous Acoustic Emission

fracture processes of a plastic deformation early stages in ductile metals,
stress corrosion cracking and
creep
Burst Acoustic Emission
fracture of non-metallic inclusions, (& brittle materials)
breakage of corrosion products,
crack jumps in brittle or
fracture processes of a plastic deformation at advance stages in ductile
metals and other.
Continuous Acoustic Emission

fracture processes of a plastic deformation early stages in ductile metals,
stress corrosion cracking and
creep
Burst Acoustic Emission
fracture of non-metallic inclusions, (& brittle materials)
breakage of corrosion products,
crack jumps in brittle or
fracture processes of a plastic deformation at advance stages in ductile
metals and other.
Stress Corrosion Cracking - Metallic Corrosion

Background
The effects of residual and applied stresses and corrosive environments in
service are closely interrelated. The more highly stressed (higher energy)
regions of a metal will become anodic and corrosive cells will be set up due
to differences in local stress levels. Cold worked regions, for example tube or
sheet bends and cut edges, will be corroded in preference to uniform parts of
sections in the same way that grain boundaries are attacked more than grain
interiors on the microscopic scale.
Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC) Defined
The combined effects of stress and corrosion can result in a special type of
failure known as Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC). This arises under a
particular set of circumstances for a given alloy: specific alloy condition plus
specific corrosive media and sufficient local tensile stress. Chloride induced
cracking of stainless steels, caustic cracking of plain carbon steels and
ammonia damage to copper alloys are typical examples of this problem. The
mechanism of SCC is shown as a simple representation in Figure 1.
http://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=102
Figure 1. Schematic view of Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC) and

corrosion fatigue cracking
SCC is believed to be nucleated at pitting damage sites and develops under

the action of local tensile stresses as a highly branched network of fine
cracks. At each crack tip the combined action of the tensile stress and
specific ions in the corrosive media cause continual crack propagation with
little evidence of local deformation.
In austenitic stainless steels, for example, warm chloride solutions in the
presence of residual tensile stress can lead to cracking. SCC tendency is
slight in low Ni ferritic and martensitic grades but is severe in the 8-10% Ni
austenitic steels. Duplex stainless steels have greater SCC resistance than
austenitic since the duplex microstructure helps to inhibit the growth of SCC
cracks, which tend to be deflected or arrested at austenite-ferrite interfaces.
Maximum resistance is obtained with 50/50 austenite-ferrite microstructures
and the dispersion of the two phases should be as fine as possible. The
increased interest in the duplex grades stems not only from their high pitting
and SCC resistance but also from their higher proof stress level which offers
savings in material and weight over austenitic
When does SCC occur?

Stress corrosion cracking presents an especially difficult problem, since not
only is it highly localised but it can occur in environments that are merely
mildly corrosive to the material. The damaging concentration of the harmful
ions in that environment may be quite small and difficult to detect and, even
in the absence of applied stress, residual stresses in a structure can often be
of a sufficiently high level to cause SCC and failure in service.
In a given situation the time of exposure needed to cause SCC failure
depends on the stress intensity at any pre-existing or developed crack tip.
The concentration of stress at the tip of a sharp crack or flaw can be
quantified in terms of the Stress Intensity Factor, K1. It determines the growth
rate of SCC cracks for a specific alloy environment combination.
Catastrophic failure of a component will occur when this factor reaches a

critical value, the Fracture toughness of the material, K1C. This enables the
determination of allowable defect size in design to avoid failure under given
loading conditions.
Below a threshold value of K1, called K1SCC, growth of a crack by SCC is
not expected, but above this value the initial SCC growth rate increases with
increasing K1, called stage 1 cracking, Figure 2.
Figure 2. Growth rate of SCC cracks.
Figure 2. Growth rate of SCC cracks.
In stage 2, the crack growth rate is independent of K1 and depends instead

on the corrosive environment and temperature. During stage 2 growth,
K1 continues to increase and this leads to the rapid acceleration of the crack
in stage 3, and final fast fracture when K1 reaches K1C which is the Fracture
Toughness of the material.
The higher the value of K1SCC under given conditions, then the greater is the
expected SCC resistance, but some materials do not appear to have a
threshold resistance.
Stress Corrosion Cracking
2.5 Acoustic emission and loading conditions

Flaws are developing in materials under stress, not necessarily dynamic
and/or due to exposure to different environmental conditions. Since acoustic
emission is accompanying fracture processes, it is essential for the success
of acoustic emission examination to learn about common flaws existing in the
structure been examined and operational and stress conditions that may
cause flaw origination and development. Once these factors are established,
a procedure for performing AE examination can be developed. The
fundamental principal of such procedure is to perform examination under the
real or simulating real loading conditions that cause flaw origination and
development. For example, if it is known that a thick pipe suffers from a
thermal fatigue due to a large temperature gradient, it can be ineffective to
examine this pipe under hydraulic pressure and ambient temperature
conditions, simply because the stress distribution will be different and flaw
may not develop and consequently will not actively emit acoustic emission
during the test. Sometimes, it is necessary to perform a test under various
operational and stress condition in order to detect and evaluate different
possible types of flaws.
2.6 Application of the acoustic emission method as a diagnostic tool for

assessment of structural integrity
Application of the acoustic emission as a diagnostic method, structural
integrity assessment tool is possible when a qualitative or quantitative
relationship between detected acoustic emission and material condition is
established for a specific material and structure.
There are two major approaches to achieve this goal:
Determining experimentally a characteristic set (fingerprints) of acoustic
emission parameters and their characteristics that uniquely describe a
material condition, fracture stage, flaw type and etc. For example, to find
acoustic emission characteristic fingerprints of concrete cracking and rebar
corrosion.
Establishing a theoretical relationship between acoustic emission

parameters and their characteristics and material properties, fracture
mechanics parameters and etc. For example, establishing relationship
between acoustic emission energy and J-integral value of a crack.
Many works in developing both approaches were done for different structures
and materials, for example standard test methods for evaluation of pressure
vessel condition or models interconnecting acoustic emission and fracture
mechanics parameters like plastic deformation model, fatigue crack model
and other described in [1].
3.0 The technology

3.1 Sensors
Acoustic emission sensor is a device that transforms a local dynamic material
displacement produced by a stress wave to an electrical signal. AE sensors
are typically piezoelectric sensors with elements maid of special ceramic
elements like lead zirconate titanate (PZT). These elements generate electric
signals when mechanically strained. Other types of sensors include
capacitive transducers, laser interferometers.
Selection of a specific sensor depends on the application, type of flaws to be
revealed, noise characteristics and other factors. Typical frequency range in
AE applications varies between 20 kHz and 1 MHz. There are two qualitative
types of sensors according to their frequency responds: resonant and
wideband sensors. Thickness of piezoelectric element defines the resonance
frequency of sensor. Diameter defines the area over which the sensor
averages surface motion. Another important property of AE sensors is a Curie
Point, the temperature under which piezoelectric element loses permanently
its piezoelectric properties. Curie temperature varies for different ceramics
from 120 to 400C. There are ceramics with over 1200C Curie temperature.
3.2 Acoustic emission system

A typical acoustic emission system consists of:
Sensors used to detect AE events.
Preamplifiers that amplify initial signal. Typical amplification gains are 40
or 60 dB.
Cables that transfer signals on distances up to 300m to AE devices.
Cables are typically of coaxial type.
Data acquisition device that performs analog-to-digital conversion of
signals, filtration, hits (useful signals) detection and it parameters
evaluation, data analysis and charting.
3.3 Detection of acoustic emission
The most commonly used method for detection of acoustic emission signals
is based on threshold discrimination. When signals exceed a preset fixed or a
float amplitude threshold level, a hit measurement and processing is triggered.
In addition to threshold based hit detection techniques there are other
methods based on a statistical analysis or spectrum characteristics.
3.4 Location of acoustic emission sources

There is a verity of different location methods for different structural
geometries and applications. Most of location methods are based on
evaluation of time difference between wave arrivals to different sensors. In
cases when time of arrivals is difficult or impractical to detect, other methods
are applied. These include cross correlation methods for location of
continuous acoustic emission signals or different zone location method based
on effect of signal parameters attenuation with a distance. Linear location of
AE source on a pipe is demonstrated in Figure 2.
Figure 2. Calculation of AE source location based on the detected time

difference between wave arrivals to sensors and known wave velocity.
4.0 Applications
The range of modern applications of acoustic emission method is huge. It is
used in petro-chemical, power, nuclear power, gas-treatment, military,
aerospace, medical, pharmaceutical and automotive industries and of course
in academic and industrial research institutions. Applications can be divided
on three categories: examination of structures, material study and control
over manufacturing processes.
4.1 Examination of structures
Metal pressure vessel inspection is the most common application of acoustic
emission method. Thousands of pressure vessels and storage tanks are
inspected annually over the world. Tests performed during approval of new
pressure vessels and tanks, periodic inspection of pressure vessels and
tanks that were in service and in some cases continuously during operation.
Figure 3. A storage tank under test.
Piping inspection is another common application. Acoustic emission is used

efficiently and fast for detection of cracks, corrosion damage and leaks. There
are multiple advantages of the method in case of piping inspection. For
example in case of buried or insulated pipelines (Figure 4), there is no need
to open the entire surface of the pipe but just a small opening for installation
of sensors, while a distance between sensors can be from few meters to 100
meters. Acoustic emission testing is applied also for inspection of high
pressure and temperature piping systems during their normal operation.
Figure 4. AE sources related to corrosion development and a leak in an

underground pipeline.
Inspection of concrete and reinforced concrete bridges are applications where

acoustic emission is used for detection of cracks, other concrete flaws, rebar
corrosion, failure of cables and other. The method allows an overall
inspection of a structure and long term condition monitoring when necessary
providing an important information for bridge maintenance.
Examination of structures made of composite materials by acoustic emission
method is increasing in aerospace industries. This includes evaluation of
different airplane, helicopter and rocket components. There is a great
potential for development of in flight monitoring systems based on the
acoustic emission technology.
Ehang Drone
Ehang Drone
4.2 Material study

Material study is another field of acoustic emission application. Particularly
acoustic emission is used for studies of:
Environmental cracking including stress corrosion cracking, hydrogen
embrittlement.
Fatigue and creep crack growth.
Material properties including material ductility or embrittlement, inclusions
content.
Plastic deformation development.
Phase transformation.
and many other.
4.3 Control over manufacturing processes
Acoustic emission method is used for control over manufacturing processes.
Examples are monitoring of welding, metal crystallization, forming, crimping
and other. The method allows detection of defective components prior they
leave the manufacturer. There many applications where acoustic emission is
the only effective and applicable non-destructive test method. Examples are
proof test of components for detection of micro-structural damage, test of
composite overlap pressure vessels or engines.
5.0 Standardization
Standardization is an important and natural development of every nondestructive test method. Standardization allows to increase quality and
reliability of acoustic emission examinations by specifying test procedures,
test methods with assessment criteria, requirements for equipment, methods
sensors calibration, necessary personnel qualification and terminology.
Since early 1970s there were developed several dozens of standards related
to acoustic emission worldwide and in different languages. The leading
organization developing acoustic emission standards today is American
Society for Testing Materials (ASTM). Organized in 1972, the ASTM E07.04
Subcommittee on Acoustic Emission in the ASTM E07 Committee on
Nondestructive Testing, created over 20 standards [2]. Other organizations
developed acoustic emission standards are American Society of Mechanical
Engineers (ASME), American Society of Nondestructive Testing (ASNT),
Association of American Railroads, Compressed Gas Association, European
Committee on Standardization, Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers (IEEE), International Organization for Standardization (ISO),
Japanese Institute for Standardization, Japanese Society for Nondestructive
Inspection, USSR State Committee on Standards and other.
6.0 Conclusions
Acoustic emission is a unique non-destructive test method that allows:
Overall examination of large structures during operation, detection of flaws at
their early stages, flaw typification and assessment. Study of dynamic
material behavior, developing fracture and material properties. Control over
manufacturing processes and production, machinery health monitoring.
Further development of diagnostic capabilities of acoustic emission method,
equipment and standardization will allow development of automatic expert
systems for on-line structural integrity assessment and machinery control.
References
Acoustic Emission Testing, Nondestructive Testing Handbook. 3rd Edition,
Volume 6, American Society for Nondestructive Testing, Inc., 2005.
Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Section Three, Metals Test and Analytical
Procedures. Volume 03.03, Nondestructive Testing, ASTM International,
2005.
Reading#2
Acoustic Emission for Non-Destructive

Testing of Bridges and other
Transportation Infrastructure
Devendra S. Parmar, Hampton University, Hampton, VA 23608
and Stephen R. Sharp, Virginia Transportation Research Council, Charlottesville, VA 22903
1. INTRODUCTION
Highway brides are crucial components of a healthy and productive
transportation infrastructure. There is an ever increasing demand for ensuring
the integrity and performance of our nations bridges. A variety of factors may
lead to their degradation. Cracks and flaws in steel bridge structure
components may have originated during the fabrication process and grow
from there due to traffic fatigue or corrosion or both. Load, environment and
corrosion loss affect the performance and cause deterioration. Concrete
bridges in long-term service suffer from degradation caused by corrosion of
reinforcement that is believed to have origin at the concrete - reinforcement
interface. The main cause of deterioration of highway bridge structural
components is a complex combination of factors that include load and
environment. Such factors damage the bridges through processes such as
development of cracks, their growth, bridge structural member plastic/elastic
deformations and active corrosion.
This complex combination of degradation factors introduces an undermined

and unpredictable degradation rate factor. At the last TRB meeting held in
Washington, DC, diffusion of chlorides, oxides and such radicals into the
structural components was reported by a number of researchers to be the
primary cause for corrosion. Cracking of concrete related and unrelated with
corrosion is also a major problem. The bridges that are usually subjected to
severe environmental effects require timely inspection and evaluation of their
structural health.
Concrete Corrosion
Concrete Corrosion
Shanghai Bridges
Shanghai Bridges
Wuhan Bridges
Unpredictability of the degradation process introduces a degree of uncertainty

in the decision making process regarding the frequency of inspection,
planning for repair and replacement of the affected structural parts. Since
there is physical limitation on access to various components of a bridge
structure, any visit for inspection becomes expensive even if the task is to
inspect only a single structural element. The consequences of a bridge failure
due to uncertainty in predicting degradation could be disastrous to the
motorist and catastrophic to the nations economy.
2. Nations Bridges: Status Report

According to the Federal Highway Administration created National Bridge
Inventory database as part of the National Bridge Inspection Program, in
1992 there were 199,090 (46%) of the nations bridges (including in Puerto
Rico) that were rated as structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.
Because of structurally deficient ratings, the bridges were either closed or
restricted to light vehicles. Bridges rated as functionally obsolete were those
that had older design features and though not unsafe for vehicles, could not
safely accommodate current volume, sizes or weights of traffic. As of
December 2004, there were only 158,318 bridges with the same rating, a
decrease of 20.5%. Part of this decrease can be contributed to the funding
provided by the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). The
law authorized $218 billion for highway and transit construction programs
through 2003, thus increasing federal funding for transportation programs by
40 percent over previously authorized levels. Later the FHWA released report
FHWA-RD-01-156 titled Corrosion Costs and Preventative Strategies in the
United States which was initiated by the NACE International The Corrosion
Society and mandated by congress as part of TEA-21. This 2-year study
reviewed the direct costs
associated with metallic corrosion. The report covered 5 major sector

categories broken into 26 sectors. According to this study, it is estimated that
$8.3 billion is spent on highway bridges, including $3.8 billion to replace
deficient bridges over the next 10 years, $2 billion on maintenance and
capital costs of concrete decks and $2 billion for concrete substructures. This
part of the study also estimated the indirect cost to the user would be as high
as 10 times that of the direct corrosion cost due to traffic delays and lost
productivity.
While the percentage of deficient and obsolete bridges has decreased,

despite the rising costs of maintenance, the ASCE 2003 Progress Report
clarifies that current funding trends of state DOTs could hamper progress on
addressing future bridge deficiencies and once again, federal action will be
needed to prevent deterioration. In the face of funding shortfalls, states and
owners are now beginning to look at technology for alternative use materials
for bridge replacement, repair and rehabilitation.
TEA-21 and the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of
1991 were to give states the necessary funding and the flexibility to attempt
new transportation solutions without requiring full replacement. However, this
action initiated at the federal level lacks uniformity of implementation at the
state level resulting in funding gaps for needed maintenance programs.
Though the TEA-21 law expired on September 30, 2003, it was extended
several times. It was not until August 10, 2005, nearly two years after TEA-21
expired, that the President signed SAFETEA-LU into law now providing
$286.4 billion over 6 years for highway and transit construction and
maintenance. However, it will still be a few years before it can be determined
how well this new funding meets the needed funding goals of each state in
order to adequately meet their maintenance goals.
Deficient Bridges
Deficient Bridges
Deficient Bridges
Deficient Bridges
Deficient Bridges
3. Response Of Structures Under Stress

Structures under stress produce sound that a human ear may not always be
able to hear. The phenomenon of acoustic sound generation in structures
under stress is called acoustic emission (AE). Acoustic emission is basically
the generation and propagation of stress waves in materials due to effects of
stress such as deformation, initiation and growth of a crack, opening and
closing of a crack, diffusion and movement of a dislocation, twining and
phase transformation, breakage and de-lamination in composite materials etc.
The sources of AE are predominantly damage-related. A careful AE
monitoring leads an investigator to the prediction of material failure. Over the
past decades, various acoustic emission monitoring devices have been
developed for nondestructive testing and evaluation of structures including
related with transportation infrastructure.
There are many non-destructive evaluation methods which can locate a crack
but not all such methods are capable of locating and characterizing a
dynamic (growing/active) crack that is most likely to result in structure failure.
However, a scientifically sound, technically feasible, reasonably predictable
and economically attractive bridge management program needs to be
developed for efficient functioning of the bridge and the bridge engineer.
Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) technique of Acoustic Emission (AE) has the
potential to eliminate much of the subjectivity in traditional methods of manual
(visual) inspection and bridge condition determination. AE testing is capable
of performing the critical tasks of detection, location and determination of the
dynamics of flaws that are likely to cause serious impairment of the bridge
structure and its ability to perform as designed. A critical advantage of AE
testing over its other NDT counterparts is its ability to respond only to active
flaws making it a principal candidate for flaw characterization and real time
health monitoring of highway bridges.
4. Ae, Its Detection And Use In Measurement Of Crack

Growth During Fatigue
Acoustic emissions are generated during the process of defect origination
such as crack growth, crack propagation and even during plastic deformation
of the material in a highly stressed zone adjacent to the tip of the crack. The
NDT technique of Acoustic emission (AE) is based on the principle that each
flaw is associated with varying types and levels of deformations that release
energy in the form of stress waves whenever a dynamic micro-structural
damage such as crack growth occurs. Each deformation become sources of
AE and generates signals characteristics of the source. Sudden release of
energy from a localized dynamic source such as crack extension in a
stressed material generates elastic stress waves that propagate creating AE
signals that can be detected by remote sensors.
Basic principles involved in measurement of AE are the changes in

propagation parameters of a wave signal through a medium. These changes
in signals are amplified with the help of resonant piezoelectric devices. The
amplified signal looks different in resemblance to the emitted signal. By
measuring the signal parameters such as counts, amplitude, duration, rise
time and counts energy MARSE(the measured area under the rectified signal
envelope), a multitude of quantitative information on the magnitude of
material defects, location and time of their origination, and the rate of their
propagation can be obtained. These signal related parameters and the hit
description that includes the external parameters such as the current value of
the applied load, the time of detection, the cycle count during the fatigue and
the level of continuous background noise at the time of detection are fed to a
computer for analysis.
5. Ae Application To Steel Bridge Structures: A Brief

Review
Pollock and Smith (1971), perhaps the first to apply AE for testing bridges,
collected data during proof testing of a portable tank bridge for the British
Ministry of Defense. They demonstrated that signals recorded in the field
could be associated with test results on laboratory specimens. In 1972
Argonne National Laboratory proposed to monitor emissions from a bridge on
I-80 in Illinois and Hopwood (1973) monitored emissions from the eye-bar
members of a bridge. Although good transmission through eye-bar members
of the bridge was observed, signal to noise ratio remained a serious problem.
An extensive program funded by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
with Battelle Pacific Northwest in the late 1970s resulted in the development
of a battery powered digital acoustic emission monitor (Hutton and Skorpik,
1975 and 1978) that allowed periodic data recording and storage on erasable
programmable read only memory chips EPROM for further processing and
evaluation. This study was the first time demonstration of the potential of AE
frequency spectrum analysis for centralized signal processing. The noise to
signal ratio, however, remained a concern during these studies as well.
Kentucky Transportation Research Center, during 1980 82, used the digital
AE monitor to periodically monitor a bridge on I-471 and reported effects of
traffic and rainfall as sources of emission noise (Miller, 1987).
Dunegan Corporation, under contract from the West Virginia Department of
Highways, examined the practical difficulties in long term AE monitoring of
bridges (Hartman, 1983). The financial benefits of AE monitoring over the use
of periodic ultrasonic, magnetic particle, or liquid penetrant inspections of
known defects were discussed. United Technologies Research Center, under
contract from FHWA, performed laboratory and field tests to characterize AE
signals from flaws and various noise related sources (Miller et al., 1983). Both
time and frequency domain representations of signals were investigated.
Pattern recognition and source classification for filtering out noise and for
discriminating between different damage related events, such as brittle
fracture and fatigue, were demonstrated. These studies were facilitated by
development of a field worthy AE sensor capable of detecting a broad band of
frequencies was developed during the course of the program.
Prine and Hopwood (1985) considered an acoustic emission weld monitoring

system for both fabrication and in service evaluations of bridge components.
They pointed out that emission signals from bridges contain information on
traffic volume and vehicle speed and weight, as well as on structural details
and transducer characteristics.
In 1987, University of Maryland monitored the Woodrow Wilson Bridge on the
border of Maryland and Virginia for the Maryland Department of
Transportation. They found that the predominant peak frequency of noise
emissions is distinctly lower than crack related emissions. Suitable software
filters, designed to exclude signals whose time domain parameters do not fall
within the range of parameters of crack related emissions, can eliminate most
noise signals (Vannoy et al., 1987). These studies were followed by extensive
laboratory tests on full size A588 bridge beams (Vannoy and Azmi, 1991).
AE parameters of cracks versus noise on rolled, welded, and cover plated

beams were characterized in both time and frequency domains. It was also
determined during these studies that corrosion has no effect on the time
domain parameters of emissions from cracks. A related study at the
University of Maryland (Hariri, 1990) sought to develop a database of signal
characteristics from different bridge steels and various material and loading
conditions, as well as from different part geometries and thicknesses for
application on bridge structure AE. This study showed that noise filters,
dictated by the type of material, thickness, paint layer, and corrosion
conditions of a monitored part, can be developed using ranges of AE
parameters provided by such a database. Interestingly, the AE signal
attenuation due to a layer of surface paint was found to be insignificant.
FHWA has conducted a series of field tests on several bridges. Results of

these tests have emphasized the need for source location and guard sensors
for filtering out irrelevant acoustic emissions events (Carlyle, 1993; Carlyle
and Ely, 1992; Carlyle and Leaird, 1992). AE was demonstrated for testing
the effectiveness of retrofits as well as in finding new cracks.
Canadian National Railways sponsored AE monitoring on 36 railroad bridges
over a period of three years (Gong et al., 1992). Using a known functional
relationship between the emission count rate and the stress intensity factor
range, this study was able to classify cracks into five levels of severity. Spatial
discrimination and filtering using parameter windows determined from
laboratory tests on bridge steels were used to eliminate noise.
Effectiveness of combining AE and strain gage monitoring was demonstrated

on three bridges in Wisconsin and California (Prine, 1993). In a departure
from the usual crack characterization function of AE monitoring, a bascule
bridge was tested to determine the cause of loud impact noises that
accompanied the lifting and lowering of the bridge. Continuous AE was used
in enhanced fatigue crack detection in aging aircraft by McBride et al. (1993).
AE has also been used in detecting the onset of crack growth in rail steels
(Bassim et al., 1994). Such data has been used in attempts to design
theoretical models for fatigue damage mechanisms (e.g. Fang et al., 1995).
AE has been used in United Kingdom to investigate integrity of welded steel
structures (Roberts et al., 1999). These studies have led to correlate the
propagation of cracks in steel, welded steel compact tension and T-section
girder test specimens with rates of AE (Roberts et al., 2003).
Overall, the research to date has provided a reasonable scientific base upon
which to build an engineering application of AE as part of a bridge
management program. In addition, continued advances in electronics, such
as faster microprocessors, provide testing capabilities that were not possible
even a few years ago. To a nondestructive evaluation method that relies
heavily on instrumentation, these advances give extra encouragement that
better results will be obtained through further studies.
Nearly all of the work to date has sought to use AE to detect the initiation of
damage, locate it, and then monitor its growth and severity of the damage.
The approach taken in this work limits the application to that of monitoring.
From an engineering point of view this restriction is quite significant. The limit
means that the size and complexity of the AE system required may be greatly
reduced. Noise sources associated with the structure may be eliminated,
since the location of the test source (the problem area) is known.
Requirements of monitoring, to support decision making of the bridge
engineer, make it possible to configure a system that provides constant
surveillance and early warning of changes in the condition of a critical bridge
component.
Hampton University, Hampton, VA and the Virginia Transportation Research

Council (VTRC), Charlottesville, VA are working on a new study to monitor
the stay cables of a major bridge on Interstate 295 over the James River
along the I-95 corridor (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1: Varina-Enon Bridge on I-295 near Richmond, VA (Courtesy

VDOT/VTRC)
This study is on the short-term evaluation of VDOT owned Varina-Enon

bridge cables using AE sensors to determine:
if a bridge cable wire broke, (friction) will cause AE to be generated when
broke.
if corrosion is taking place in the area close to sensor, AE sensors will
hear it.
if micro cracking is taking place in the test element, AE will sense it.
if the AE could be used as inspection tool for VDOT
The bridges supporting cables contain steel strands with individual wires.
This study aims to determine if the condition of the strands can be assessed
by short-term monitoring with acoustic-emission (AE) instrumentation on a
single stay cable of the Varina-Enon Bridge during periods of both low traffic
volumes (acoustically quiet) and high traffic volumes (acoustically noisy). AE
monitoring has been conducted during summer and winter temperature
extremes involving high- and low-traffic volumes. The aim of this study is also
to evaluate signature sounds and/or wire breaks that may have occurred
during the test periods.
The purpose of this study is also to enhance VDOTs ability to evaluate the
health of this structure and to pinpoint regions that might require more indepth inspections. It is all part of the overall effort to ensure the continued
integrity of the nations bridges.
To perform this study, acoustic emission sensors have been strategically
affixed to a single cable and monitored for two and a half months each during
the winter and the summer months of 2008 and 2009. AE Sensor Highway
II designed by Physical Acoustics Corporation (PAC) and Mistras Group to:
Monitor the effectiveness of repairs/retrofits
Determine if pre-existing/known defects are active
Monitor hidden areas where visual inspection is difficult
Detrmine if high stress areas show flaw like activity
has been used for data acquisition.
6. Ae Sensor Installation
Sixteen AE Sensors and their control system (Sensor Highway II (SH II)
DAQ system) manufactured by Physical Acoustic Corporation have been
installed across the entire span of the cable attached to the north pylon
including in the areas inside the pylon (please see Figures 2, 3 and 4).
Fig. 2: Sensor Installation
Fig. 3: Sensor Installation
Fig. 4: Sensor Highway Ii Daq System Installed Near The North Pylon
Sensors 1, 2, 3 and 4 are installed on the north span of the cable outside the
pylon, 13, 14, 15 and 16 on the south span of the cable outside the pylon, and
5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 on the part of the cable located inside the pylon. A
broadband wireless connection to the sensor highway II DAQ system has
been used for remote access to the data from SH II. The data is being
analyzed using AE Win software. A sample plot of the data representing AE
events (hits), their amplitude and the date and times recorded recently on
August 12, 2008 is shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5: A sample plot of recorded AE data by installed sensors
7. Results
Some of the significant features of the data in Fig. 5 are:
1. The number of AE hits and their amplitudes are extremely low indicating
absence of any damage during the test period.
2. Only a few of the sensors located on the cable outside of the pylon
(sensor 1, 4 15 and 16) have recorded some hits indicating that the
response is due to extraneous factors such as rain and/or wind.
3. The sensors (15, 16) located towards south of the pylon have recorded
more hits than on towards north (1 and 4) confirming the directional
effects of the falling rain.
4. There is absolutely no hits recorded by sensors (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and
12) located inside of the pylon confirming that the recorded hits are
weather related.
A plot of two acquisitions of AE data on a rainy day (August 12, 2008) is

plotted in Fig. 6. Recording of the AE hits only by the sensors located out side
the pylon is remarkable. This clearly confirms the fact that the AE response is
related to weather and not due to any damage to the cable. The data also
indicates an extremely light intensity rain.
Fig. 6: Combined AE data plot for two acquisitions on a rainy day.
Fig. 7: Plot of the acquired data during August 6 12, 2008.
A plot of the data acquired during August 6 12, 2008 is shown in Fig. 7. It is
remarkable to note absence of any AE activity between the two rainy days of
August 6 and August 11, the rain fall being higher on August 6-7 than on
August 11-12. The directional effects of rain fall on the cable, being more
intense from south are also clear. Absence of AE activity during these two
events is an indication of sound health of the test cable. The plot of the data
recorded between August 6 -12, 2008, shown in Fig. 7 indicates the bridge
being hit by heavy rain and perhaps also a storm on August 7 9, 2008.
The location of the source of AE activity in relation to the location of the
sensors is best described in the plots of Fig. 8 where Fig. 8(a) depicts
locations of sensors 1 4 installed on the north span with respect to the pylon
and Fig. 8(b) depicts locations of sensors 13 16 installed on the south span
of the test cable with respect to the pylon. There is more AE activity
originating 1-4 than between 13-16. This fact is clearly demonstrated in Fig.
8(c). Fig. 8(d) shows the distribution of amplitude of the AE emissions.
8. CONCLUSIONS
1. AE technique is capable of hearing even feeble sounds originating from
impacts on the bridge cable.
2. The preliminary AE recordings thus far indicate that the cable #10 under
investigation is in sound health.
3. The AE data can be monitored, recorded and analyzed on a real time basis
from a remote location such as from the office of the bridge engineer/inspector.
4. AE is capable of identifying factors related to the health of the bridge cable
and factors such as weather unrelated to the health of the bridge cable.
Reading#3
Total Asset Protection Solutions for

Structural Testing & Monitoring of
Bridges
AET
AET
AET
1.0 Introduction
Rising demand for ensuring the integrity and performance of our nations
aging bridges and infrastructure may sometimes require more than typical
visual inspection for evaluation of structural conditions by using advanced
inspection technologies. Structural integrity in bridges is challenged by a large
inventory of decaying bridges. These inspections are performed by utilizing
nondestructive testing (NDT) technologies. The additional information
obtained from our solutions can provide input to authorities and assist in
making informed and effective decisions with regard to planning for
maintenance, repair, rehabilitation or replacement. In addition, On-line
Monitoring and Sensor Fusion can cover failure mechanisms including
unpredictable deterioration.
2.0 Cutting Edge and Carry Over Technologies

With 29 PhDs and more than 100 engineers and highly skilled certified
technicians, each and every one brings a wide range of experience to
MISTRAS. With backgrounds ranging from civil engineering; aerospace with
FAA, Boeing and NASA applications; nuclear reactor monitoring; materials
sciences; turn-key systems solutions for Department of Defense (DoD)
contracts to medical applications such as heart valve and prosthetic implants
testing, we have the qualifications to solve your unique application needs.
After providing one of our nuclear customers with a specialized Acoustic
Emission system to monitor his reactor at a cost of half of our closest
competitor, he said, all of the work that you do with the DoD, bridge testing,
OEMs, petro-chemical, aerospace and medical carry over into our field. Our
30 years of practical application experience allows us to provide low cost,
mature and extremely versatile systems to our civil Infrastructure customers.
We have developed real-time, on-line, intranet based monitoring paired with

remote and/or wireless acoustic emission (AE) systems. In addition, we are
developing MEMs and PZT film sensors and have produced the first
combined AE/Vibration sensor for Navair/Bell Helicopter on the V22 Osprey.
We have implemented sensor fusion for corrosion monitoring under a FHWA
contract to link these magnets to ph-resistant AE and optical sensors and are
working on the next generation of data acquisition systems. This helps DOTs
and bridge authorities solve their problems as well as save money.
MISTRAS global network employs seasoned professionals, specializing in
NDT products, on-line monitoring, field inspection, and research and
applications development. The Groups headquarters in Princeton, NJ are
tasked with R&D, product design, engineering and manufacturing.
3.0 Serving DOTs, Engineering Firms and University

Transportation Centers
Since 1972, we have been serving the infrastructure community with many
innovative technology firsts to the infrastructure industry. We monitored main
lift cables for the Dumbarton Bridge over the San Francisco Bay and since
then have supplied systems to FHWA, DOTs, Virginia Transportation
Research Council, Columbia, University of California SD, University of
Pittsburgh, Tulane, University of South Carolina as well as several
engineering firms that have become our close partners in bridge testing.
We have provided structural health monitoring and inspection of bridges,
viaducts and structures and have tested or monitored bridges, parking
garages, dams and structures throughout the world. We are also engaged in
the use of other NDT methods including: Acousto ultrasonics (AU),
Ultrasonics (UT), Advanced ultrasonics, Electromagnetics, Vibration, Xray/Gamma-ray, Magnetic Particle, Liquid Penetrant, Resistivity, Eddy
Current, Metalography, Chemical Analysis, Hardness Testing, GPR and
many others. Our diverse knowledge ensures that you are getting the best
technology for your application.
4.0 Experienced and Certified

To add to our staff of highly trained Ph.Ds in acoustic
emission, we have 17 American Society of NonDestructive Testing (ASNT) Level IIIs, a certification
similar to a PE certification, in non-destructive testing.
Many of our Level IIIs have multiple ASNT certifications in
x-ray, ultrasonics, acoustic emission, eddy current and
thermography. Before recommending a technology for
your application, we review it with our Level IIIs, in which
tests are usually performed by a Level III accompanied by
one of our many Level II certified technicians.
5.0 Acoustic Emission Technology

There are a variety of different sources that can be detected by AE in various
materials.
For metals, typical sources include crack initiation, crack propagation,
fretting (between crack faces, bolts), movement of dislocations, slipping
(e.g. bearings) and fractures.
For concrete and composites, sources include corrosion spalling, cracking,
tendon or fiber breakage, debonding and delamination.
For bridge structures, AE detection may be a result of crack initiation
and/or growth, crack opening and closing (i.e. fretting/rubbing of crack
faces and bolts), and/or dislocation movement in steel components.
AE has also been successfully used for monitoring bearings in swing and lift
bridges, deteriorating reinforcing steel, concrete decks, concrete cracking and
corrosion of substructure components.
In previous work with the FHWA, AE was used to determine whether or not
identified cracks were propagating in areas without retrofits or whether those
areas with retrofits had completely arrested the cracks. While stresses in the
areas of the crack may be below the elastic design limit, the regional area
around the crack tip may have large local stresses due to excessive
deformation or movement. This rise in local stresses may cause the crack tip
to propagate and acts as the source for acoustic emission waves. This
transient elastic stress wave radiates from the discontinuity (or other damage
area) and is detected as a waveform at the surface of the material using high
frequency AE sensors that are mounted directly to the structure.
6.0 Benefits of Monitoring

Establishes:
1. If active damage is occurring
2. Where active damage is occurring
3. When active damage is occurring
4. What type of damage is occurring (?)
5. The rate and/or frequency of damage
Additional Benefits:
1. Predictive maintenance tool in RBI (risk based inspection)
2. Optimization of maintenance budget for repairs
3. Reduction in failures (active defects are detected early)
4. Increased confidence in structure integrity
5. Increase in safety through reduction in confined space entries and other
access
6. Remote monitoring - reduces need for site visits
7.0 AE Monitoring Applications for Structural Health

Monitoring (SHM)
Condition Ranking
Continuous Remote Monitoring
Real Time Damage Location (e.g. crack, wire rupture)
Assist in Locating Hidden/Buried Defects
Inspection of Inaccessible Areas
Can be Combined with External Parametric Sensors (e.g. strain,
displacement, temperature, pressure, etc.)
Reduce Unnecessary Maintenance Repairs
Prolong Remaining Useful Life, SHM can help to keep structures in
service longer;
Prioritize Future Repair, Rehabilitation or Replacement Decisions.
8.0 Sensor Highway II for Short-term and Long-term

Monitoring
The Sensor Highway II system supports 16 high speed AE monitoring
channels, that handles multiple parametric sensor inputs (+/- 10 volts). The
Sensor Highway II has been developed for un-attended Asset Integrity
Monitoring management and condition monitoring applications. The system
is housed in a rugged outdoor case; capable of operating in extreme weather
and factory conditions. The key feature of the sensor highway system is its
highly flexible sensor fusion interface for input and processing of almost any
variety of sensors. This interface is accomplished inside the Sensor Highway
II system through the use of standard industrial, DIN Rail mounted signal
conditioning modules, with options for proximity probes, pressure transducers,
load cells, thermocouples, environmental sensors, strain gages, etc.
9.0 Local, Remote and Online Monitoring

MISTRAS continuously develops new on-line software technologies for
implementing acoustic emission, vibration and other sensor-based
instrumentation for remote applications. Based on customer needs and
available connection capabilities, we provide:
Web Browser - Internet based remote monitoring
Wireless LAN - Intranet & Network based remote monitoring
Modem and direct phone line - Direct to modem remote monitoring
Internet based data acquisition, monitoring, analysis and alarm services

include:
Installation of a remote AE (or NDT) system that is then provided with a
connection to the Internet for automatic and continuous downloading of
summary and statistical data, alarm status information and parametric
(environmental) data. We also monitor for alarm conditions, alerting and
contacting the appropriate personnel in case of an alarm or emergency.
An Internet website, where the client may login to a secure Webpage
(portal) for reviewing the status of the system, alarm information, etc. The
secure website can be accessed from any location with Internet access,
24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
On a pre-arranged/contracted basis (daily, weekly, biweekly, monthly, etc.),
we offer retrieval of the raw AE (NDT) data from the remote system,
analysis of the data on a regular basis and can provide an analysis report
that is uploaded to the client web site for review.
Providing daily monitoring engineering services as required or requested
by the client to determine severity of a problem, or provide Fitness for
Service (FFS) assessment.
10. Automated & Ultrasonic Portable Solutions

Our Pocket UT is an innovative, handheld Ultrasonic System used for
thickness mapping of gusset plates on steel bridges. This system can provide
measurements and inspection data faster for future trending comparisons.
Our Pocket UT Ultrasonic System uses an encoded scanner to gather
continuous thickness measurements versus distance and present a color
picture of the inspection results. This increases the amount of data being
recorded and completes the inspection much faster.
The Pocket UT can not only complete the inspections of gusset plates in a
fraction of the time, but also instantly displays the data for real time evaluation.
11.0 Wireless Sensing Solutions

Knowing that cabling can be the most expensive part of instrumenting a
bridge, 15 years ago MISTRAS invested in designing wireless monitoring
solutions and have been using these devices ever since. Our Model 1282, is
the newest generation in low-power wireless sensor nodes, that
communicates to a base station using the Zigbee protocol. The 1282 has
been installed on many prominent bridges, including one in New York, for
over four years.
12.0 Applying Technology Solutions

Suspension Bridges
AE systems have been on suspension cable bridges for over 10 years. We
installed an AE system on a suspension bridge in Pennsylvania to monitor,
record, interpret, identify and report possible wire breaks and other activities
(e.g. vandalism) on main suspension cables. In addition to this work, we also
perform diagnostic checks, maintenance, calibration and upgrades, as
needed and necessary, to maintain the operation and performance of the AE
system.
Since each bridge is unique in design and construction, we work closely with
clients to meet their needs with online monitoring and development of AE
classifiers to distinguish AE sources, such as wire breaks, traffic, rain, hail,
etc. from one another.
Concrete Bridges
AE testing of concrete beams in controlled field conditions has been
successful for sorting good from bad beams. As traffic load is applied, our
systems can distinguish between background noise, new cracking, existing
cracks, wire breaks in tendons and corrosion in tendons.
Cable Stay
We have successfully monitored cable stay bridges by finding broken wires in
cables. We work with DOT, a Transportation Research Center and a
University installing other systems to access the condition of bridge cables.
Steel Bridges
Over one hundred bridges have been tested using Acoustic Emission by
MISTRAS Group, Universities and bridge authorities. Using the Kaiser Effect,
which has been incorporated into many ASTM, ASME and other codes and
standards, AE can determine if load ratings for bridges are within safe load
conditions.
Steel Corrosion in Concrete
AE has been used successfully to grade corrosion activity in over 8,000 large
petroleum storage tanks. In this application AE can hear corrosion from as far
as 70 meters away. Corrosion of reinforcing steel in reinforced concrete
structures is a major serviceability problem. AeCORR detects microscopic
damage occurring within the concrete due to the formation of corrosion at the
steel/concrete interface. As corrosion initiates, the expansive products
generate micro-cracks in the concrete, detectable on the surface by
piezoelectric transducers. The collection interpretation and analysis of these
emissions is the basis of the AeCORR technique.
13. Homeland Security

In 2006, a main tendon on an aging cable stay bridge was nearly severed by
vandals. The problem was found before it became critical but only after $2
million in damages. The bridge was instrumented with our system and now
alarms authorities in real-time if various acts are in progress.
Pipelines, dams, buildings as well as bridges can be monitored with single or
multiple sensor technologies to detect problems before they happen. After a
natural disaster such as an earthquake or hurricane would the structure be fit
for service? Our systems can answer this within hours instead of weeks of
inspection.
MISTRAS is a team of skilled researchers, engineers,
technicians and manufacturing personnel dedicated to the
development of practical and cost saving solutions for your
challenging inspection and monitoring needs.
For additional information, please contact our Princeton Junction
headquarters at 609-716-4000.
Homeland Security
Homeland Security
Reading#4
Acoustic Emission Method

History. Fundamentals. Applications
Dr. Boris Muravin
http://muravin.com/
Topics
Acoustic Emission phenomena.
History of Acoustic Emission from Stone Age to these days.
AE instrumentation:
Sensors, preamplifiers, cables (types, specific applications).
Data Acquisition systems (analog and digital, signal digitation, filtration).
Principals of AE data measurement and analysis.
Source location. Attenuation, dispersion, diffraction and scattering
phenomena.
AE in metals.
Relationship between AE and fracture mechanics parameters and effects
of AE.
AE applications.
International AE standards.
Conclusions.
1.0 Acoustic Emission phenomena.

Acoustic Emission is a phenomenon of sound and ultrasound wave radiation
in materials undergo deformation and fracture processes.
He was the First who used AE as a forecasting tool/ They were the First
who used AE as an alarm system
2.0 History of Acoustic Emission from Stone Age to

these days
The sound of a cry from Babylon and the sound of great fracture <comes>
from the land of the Chaldeans. Jeremiah 51:54
One of the first sources that associates sound with fracture can be found in
the Bible.
Probably the first practical use of AE was by pottery makers, thousands of
years before recorded history, to asses the quality of there products.
Probably the first observation of AE in metal was during twinning of pure
tin as early as 3700 B.C.
The first documented observation of AE in Middle Ages was made by an
Arabian alchemist, Geber, in the eighth century. Geber described the
harsh sound or crashing noise emitted from tin. He also describes iron as
sounding much during forging.
In 1920, Abram Joffe (Russia) observed the noise generated by

deformation process of Salt and Zinc crystals. The Physics of Crystals ,
1928.
In 1936, Friedrich Forster and Erich Scheil (Germany) conducted
experiments that measured small voltage and resistance variations caused
by sudden strain movements caused by martensitic transformations.
In 1948, Warren P.Mason, Herbert J. McSkimin and William Shockley
(United States) suggested measuring AE to observe the moving
dislocations by means of the stress waves they generated.
In 1950, D.J Millard (United Kingdom) performed twinning experiments on
single crystal wires of cadmium. The twinning was detected using a
rochelle salt transducer.
In 1950, Josef Kaiser (Germany) used tensile tests to determine the

characteristics of AE in engineering materials. The result from his
investigation was the observation of the irreversibility phenomenon that
now bears his name, the Kaiser Effect.
The first extensive research after Kaiser was done in the United States by
Bradford H. Schofield in 1954. Schofield investigated the application of AE
in the field of materials engineering and the source of AE. He concluded
that AE is mainly a volume effect and not a surface effect.
In 1957, Clement A. Tatro, after performing extensive laboratory studies,
suggested to use AE as a method to study the problems of behavior of
engineering metals. He also foresaw the use of AE as an NDT method.
The first AE test in USA was conducted in the Aerospace industry to verify
the integrity of the Polaris rocket motor for the U.S Navy (1961). After
noticing audible sounds during hydrostatic testing it was decided to test
the rocket using contact microphones, a tape recorder and sound level
analysis equipment.
In 1963, Dunegan suggested the use of AE for examination of high
pressure vessels.
In early 1965, at the National Reactor Testing Station, researchers were
looking for a NDT method for detecting the loss of coolant in a nuclear
reactor. Acoustic Emission was applied successfully.
In 1969, Dunegan founded the first company that specializes in the
production of AE equipment.
Today, AE Non-Destructive Testing used practically in all industries
around the world for different types of structures and materials.
3.0 AE instrumentation:
Typical AE apparatus consist of the following components:
Sensors used to detect AE events.
Preamplifiers amplifies initial signal. Typical amplification gain is 40 or 60
dB.
Cables transfer signals on distances up to 200m to AE devices. Cables
are typically of coaxial type.
Data acquisition device performs filtration, signals parameters evaluation,
data analysis and charting.
AE Instrumentations
Sensors
Preamplifiers
with filters
Main amplifiers
with filters
Measurement Circuitry
Computer
Acquisition
software
Data
storage
Data presentation
Usually PZT
Sensors
Preamplifiers
with filters
Main amplifiers
with filters
Measurement Circuitry
Computer
Acquisition
software
Data
storage
Data presentation
Preamplifiers amplifies initial

signal. Typical amplification
gain is 40 or 60 dB.
Data acquisition device

performs filtration,
signals parameters
evaluation, data
analysis and charting
3.1 Sensor
Purpose of AE sensors is to detect stress waves motion that cause a local
dynamic material displacement and convert this displacement to an
electrical signal.
AE sensors are typically piezoelectric sensors with elements maid of
special ceramic elements like lead zirconate titanate (PZT). Mechanical
strain of a piezo element generates an electric signals.
Sensors may have internally installed preamplifier (integral sensors).
Other types of sensors include capacitive transducers, laser
interferometers. (& stereophotogrammetric cameras)
Regular piezoelectric sensor

Preamplifier 60 dB
Integral piezoelectric sensor
Capacitive transducer
A capacitive transducer employs a diaphragm positioned between two fixed
metal plates (See fig). In some designs, the metal plates are fixed to either
side of the diaphragm; deflection of the diaphragm changes the capacitive
coupling between the diaphragm and the metal plates. In other designs, the
metal plates are isolated from the moving diaphragm; deflection of the
diaphragm causes a change in the capacitive coupling between the two metal
plates. An alternating current (AC) signal across the plates can be used to
sense the change in capacitance.
http://www.ustudy.in/node/4006
Capacitive transducer
Preamplifier 60 dB
Preamplifier 60 dB
Certain ultrasonic applications require the addition of a separate preamplifier unit to
standard test systems in order to provide the additional gain or broadband signal-tonoise enhancement necessary for optimum signal acquisition. This is often the case in
industrial applications involving flaw detection or thickness gaging of thick sections of
materials exhibiting high ultrasonic attenuation such as nodular cast iron, brass,
bronze, austenitic steel, rubber, Teflon, or reinforced composites. A preamplifier is
also an important component of acoustic emission test systems that require
amplification of low signal amplitude events and the ability to drive long cables from
remotely located sensors.
Panametrics preamplifiers have also been used in many widely diversified research
applications including seismic studies, determination of the size and number versus
scattered frequency relationship for acoustic scatterers in water (gas bubbles,
zooplankton), crack detection in graphite vacuum arc-melt electrodes, and biological
tissue analysis.
http://www.olympus-ims.com/zh/preamplifiers/
3.2 Sensors Characteristics

Typical frequency range in AE applications varies between 20 kHz and 1
MHz.
Selection of a specific sensor depends on the application and type of flaws
to be revealed.
There are two qualitative type of sensor according to their frequency
responds: resonant and wideband sensors.
Thickness of piezoelectric element defines the resonance frequency of
sensor.
Diameter defines the area over which the sensor averages surface motion.
Another important property of AE sensors includes Curie Point, the
temperature under which piezoelectric element loses permanently its
piezoelectric properties. Curie temperature varies for different ceramics
from 120 to 400C. There are ceramics with over 1200C Curie
temperature.
AE signal of lead break and corresponding Power spectrum.
Voltage, V vs Time, s
Power, dB vs Frequency Hz
Type of installation and choice of couplant material is defined by a specifics of

application.
Glue (superglue type) is commonly used for piping inspections.
Magnets usually used to hold sensors on metal pressure vessels. Grease
and oil then used as a couplant.
Bands used for mechanical attachment of sensors in long term
applications.
Waveguides (welded or mechanically attached) used in high temperature
applications.
Rolling sensors are used for inspection rotating structures.
Special Pb blankets used to protect sensors in nuclear industry.
Sensor attached
with magnet
Pb blanket in
nuclear applications
Waveguide
Rolling sensor
produces by PAC
Waveguide Transducer
http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/15/8/19393/htm
Waveguide Transducer
3.3 Methods of AE Sensors Calibration

The calibration of a sensor is the measurement of its voltage output into an
established electrical load for a given mechanical input. Calibration results
can be expressed either as frequency response (frequency base?) or as
an impulse response (time base?) .
Surface calibration or Rayleigh calibration: The sensor and the source are
located on the same plane surface of the test block. The energy at the
sensor travels at the Rayleigh speed and the calibration is influenced by
the aperture effect.
Aperture Effect: (?)
1
U (t ) u ( x, y, t )r ( x, y )dxdy
A S
r ( x, y ) local sensitivity of the tranducer face
S region (m 2 ) of the surface contacted by the sensor
A area of region S
u ( x, y, t ) displacement (m) of the surface
Through pulse calibration: The sensor and the source are coaxially located
on opposite parallel surfaces. All wave motion is free of any aperture effect.
3.4 AE Data Acquisition Devices

Example of AE device parameters:
16 bit, 10 MHz A/D converter.
Maximum signal amplitude 100 dB AE.
4 High Pass filters for each channel with a range from 10 KHz to 200 KHz
(under software control).
4 Low Pass filters for each channel with a range from 100 KHz to 2.1 MHz
(under software control).
32 bit Digital Signal Processor.
1 Mbyte DSP and Waveform buffer.
4.0 Principals of AE Data Measurement and Analysis

4.1 Threshold and Hit Definition Time (HDT)
Threshold and HDT are parameters that used for detection AE signals in
traditional AE devices. HDT: Enables the system to determine the end of a hit,
close out the measurement process and store the measured attributes of the
signal.
Long HDT
Hit 1
Short HDT
Voltage
Threshold
Short HDT
Hit 2
Time
Long HDT
Hit 1
Long HDT
Short HDT
Voltage
Threshold
Hit 1
Short HDT
Hit 2
Time
Long HDT
Hit 1
Hit Definition Time (HDT)

HDT: Enables the system to determine the end of a hit, close out the
measurement process and store the measured attributes of the signal.
The timing parameters are:

Peak Definition Time (PDT),
Hit Definition Time (HDT) and,
Hit lockout Time (HLT).
The function of the PDT is to enable determination of the time of the true peak
of the AE waveform. The main requirement is avoid false measurements
being made on high-velocity, low-amplitude precursor subject to this, PDT
should be as short as possible.
The function of Hit Definition Time (HDT) is to enable the system to determine
the end of the hit, close out the measurement processes and store the
measured attributes of the signal. In most Physical Acoustic Corporation PAC
system the HDT must be at least twice as long as the PDT. The goal is to
identify and describe events realistically. The HDT must be long to span over
an intervals in which the signal to be measured falls bellow the threshold.
Subject to this, the HDT should be set as short as possible, in order to permit,
high data throughput rates and reduce the risk that two separate events will
be treated as a single hit.
The timing parameters are:

Peak Definition Time (PDT),
Hit Definition Time (HDT) and,
Hit lockout Time (HLT).
The function of Hit lockout Time (HLT) is to inhibit the measurement of
reflections and late arriving parts of the AE signal, so that data form wave
arrivals can be acquired at a faster rate. The HLT circuitry is a non-triggerable
one-shot, triggered by the time out of the HDT. The chose of these
parameters is based on the waveform analysis and the frequency spectrum
obtained from used materials, following figures.
Example:
PDT = 40 s, HDT = 80 s and HLT = 200 s
4.2 Burst and Continuous AE Signals

Burst AE is a qualitative description of the discrete signal's related to
individual emission events occurring within the material.
Continuous AE is a qualitative description of the sustained signal produced
by time-overlapping signals.
AE Testing Fundamentals, Equipment, Applications , H. Vallen
4.3 AE Parameters
Peak amplitude - The maximum of AE signal.

dB=20log10(Vmax/1volt)-preamlifier gain
Energy Integral of the rectified voltage signal over the duration of the AE hit.
Duration The time from the first threshold crossing to the end of the last threshold crossing.
Counts The number of AE signal exceeds threshold.
Average Frequency Determines the average frequency in kHz over the entire AE hit.
AE counts
A.F
[kHz ]
Duration
Rise time - The time from the first threshold crossing to the maximum amplitude.
Count rate - Number of counts per time unit.
4.3 AE Parameters
Peak amplitude - The maximum of AE signal.
dB=20log10(Vmax/1volt)-preamlifier gain
Energy Integral of the rectified voltage signal over the duration of the AE
hit.
Duration The time from the first threshold crossing to the end of the last
threshold crossing.
Counts The number of AE signal exceeds threshold.
Average Frequency Determines the average frequency in kHz over the
entire AE hit.
AE counts
A.F
[kHz ]
Duration
Rise time - The time from the first threshold crossing to the maximum
amplitude.
Count rate - Number of counts per time unit.
4.4 Background Noise
Amplitu
de
Floating
threshold
Time
Background Noise: Signals produced by causes other than acoustic emission

and are not relevant to the purpose of the test
Types of noise:
Hydraulic noise Cavitations, turbulent flows, boiling of fluids and leaks.
Mechanical noise Movement of mechanical parts in contact with the
structure e.g. fretting of pressure vessels against their supports caused by
elastic expansion under pressure.
Cyclic noise Repetitive noise such as that from reciprocating or rotating
machinery.
Electro-magnetic noise.
Control of noise sources:

Rise Time Discriminator There is significant difference between rise time
of mechanical noise and acoustic emission.
Frequency Discriminator The frequency of mechanical noise is usually
lower than an acoustic emission burst from cracks.
Floating Threshold or Smart Threshold Varies with time as a function of
noise output. Used to distinguish between the background noise and
acoustic emission events under conditions of high, varying background
noise.
Master Slave Technique Master sensor are mounted near the area of
interest and are surrounded by slave or guard sensors. The guard sensors
eliminate noise that are generated from outside the area of interest.
Amplitude
Floating
threshold
Time
Amplitude
Floating
threshold
Time
Master / Slave Technique Master sensor are mounted near the area of
interest and are surrounded by slave or guard sensors. The guard sensors
eliminate noise that are generated from outside the area of interest.
4.5 Attenuation, Dispersion, Diffraction and Scattering Phenomena

The following phenomena take place as AE wave propagate along the
structure:
Attenuation: The decrease in AE amplitude as a stress wave propagate
along a structure due to Energy loss mechanisms, from dispersion,
diffraction or scattering.
Dispersion: A phenomenon caused by the frequency dependence of
speed for waves. Sound waves are composed of different frequencies
hence the speed of the wave differs for different frequency spectrums.
Diffraction: The spreading or bending of waves passing through an
aperture or around the edge of a barrier.
Scattering: The dispersion, deflection of waves encountering a
discontinuity in the material such as holes, sharp edges, cracks
inclusions etc.
Attenuation tests have to be performed on the actual structures during
their inspection.
The attenuation curves allows to estimate amplitude or energy of a signal
at the at the given the distance from the sensor.
Attenuation, Dispersion, Diffraction and Scattering Phenomena
Discussion
Subject: Dispersion: A phenomenon caused by the frequency dependence of
speed for waves. Sound waves are composed of different frequencies hence
the speed of the wave differs for different frequency spectrums.
5.0 Source Location

5.1 Source Location Concepts
Time difference based on threshold crossing.
Cross-correlation time difference.
Zone location.
5.2 Linear Location
Linear location is a time difference method commonly used to locate AE
source on linear structures such as pipes. It is based on the arrival time
difference between two sensors for known velocity.
Sound velocity evaluated by generating signals at know distances.
1
d D T V
2
d distance from first hit sensor
D = distance between sensors
V wave velocity
Linear Location
1
d D T V
2
d distance from first hit sensor
D = distance between sensors
D
d
V wave velocity
Material
Effective velocity in a
thin rod [m/s]
Shear
[m/s]
Longitudinal [m/s]
Brass
3480
2029
4280
Steel 347
5000
3089
5739
Aluminum
5000
3129
6319
D
( t1 + t2 = T, T = D)
t
D
d = D - t
d = (D - t )
5.3 Two Dimensional Source Location

For location of an AE source on a plane two sensors are used. The source
is situated on a hyperbola.
Three sensors are used to locate a source to a point by intersecting two
hyperbolae using the same technique as two sensors.
t1,2V R1 R2
Z R2 sin
Z 2 R12 ( D R2 ) 2
D distance between sensor 1 and 2

R1 distance between sensor 1 and source
R2 distance between sensor 2 and source
R2 2 sin 2 R12 ( D R2 cos ) 2 t1,2 time differance between sensor 1 and 2

R2 2 R12 D 2 2 D cos
angle between lines R2 and D
Z line perpendicular to D
R1 t1,2V R2
2
2 2
1 D t1,2 V
R2
2 t1,2V D cos
Sensor 2
Sensor 3
Sensor 2
R2
R3
R1
D
R1
Sensor 1
R2
R3
Sensor 1
5.4 Cross-correlation based Location

t
Cross-correlation function
Ch 1
C (t ) SCh1 ( ) SCh 2 ( t )dt

t t max{C (t )}
Ch 2
Cross-correlation method is typically applied

for location of continuous AE signals.
Normalized cross-correlation function

5.5 Zone Location

Zone location is based on the principle that the sensor with the highest
amplitude or energy output will be closest to the source.
Zonal location aims to trace the waves to a specific zone or region around
a sensor.
Zones can be lengths, areas or volumes depending on the dimensions of
the array.
With additional sensors added, a sequence of signals can be detected
giving a more accurate result using time differences and attenuation
characteristics of the wave.
6.0 Acoustic Emission in Metals
6.1 Sources of AE in Metals
nucleation
development
branching
nucleation
growth
interaction
Voids
Micro-crack
Possible combinations
Dislocations
nucleation
generation
annihilation
migration
interaction
movement
AE SOURCES
6.9 10236
formation
motion
interaction
..
bond
connection
fracturing
fracturing
crack Inclusions
formation
Twining
Phase
changes
Slip
Recrystallization
More then 80% of

energy expended on
fracture in common
industrial metals goes to
development of plastic
deformation.
nucleation
development
branching
nucleation
growth
interaction
Voids
Micro-crack
Possible combinations
Dislocations
nucleation
generation
annihilation
migration
interaction
movement
AE SOURCES
6.9 10236
formation
motion
interaction
..
bond
connection
fracturing
fracturing
crack Inclusions
formation
Twining
Phase
changes
Slip
Recrystallization
Ductile microvoid Coalescence
Ductile microvoid Coalescence
6.2 Plastic Deformation

Plastic deformation development is accompanied by the motion of a large
numbers of dislocations. The process by which plastic deformation is
produced by dislocation motions is called slip. The crystallographic plane
along which the dislocation line moves is called the slip plane and the
direction of movement is called the slip direction. The combination of the
two is termed the slip system.(1)
The motion of a single vacancy and a single dislocation emits a signal of
about 0.01-0.05eV.
The best sensitivity of modern AE devices equals 50-100eV.
(1) Materials Science and Engineering an

Introduction, William D. Callister, Jr.
Physical
Activation
Process
Energy (eV)
Dislocation
1.2
glide
Formation of
dislocation
8-10
Edge and screw are the two fundamental types of dislocation.
Edge dislocation
Mixed dislocation
Screw dislocation
Edge
dislocation
motion
6.3 Plastic Zone at the Crack Tip

Flaws in metals can be revealed by detection of indications of plastic
deformation development around them.
Cracks, inclusions, and other discontinuities in materials concentrate
stresses.
At the crack tip stresses can exceed yield stress level causing plastic
deformation development.
The size of a plastic zone can be evaluated using the stress intensity
factor K, which is the measure of stress magnitude at the crack tip. The
critical value of stress intensity factor, KIC is the material property called
fracture toughness.
2
KI
ys
ry plastic zone size in elastic material
1
ry
2
Vicinity of Crack Initiation

Fractured crankshaft of the main engine of a general cargo ship due to cyclic
bending. Inclusions and residual stresses due to production contributed to the
fracture.
http://www.technofysica.nl/English/case10.htm

Electron microscopy photograph of the inclusion (left) and the crack arrest
marks (right) in the vicinity of the crack initiation.

Electron microscopy photograph of the inclusion (left) and the crack arrest
marks (right) in the vicinity of the crack initiation.
6.4 Factors that Tend to Increase or Decrease the Amplitude of AE
Nondestructive Testing Handbook, volume 6 Acoustic Emission Testing, Third Edition, ASNT.
7.0 Relationship between AE and Fracture Mechanics

Parameters and AE Effects
7.1 Models of AE in Metals
7.1.1 Plastic Deformation Model
Plastic deformation model relates AE and the stress intensity factor ( K1).
AE is proportional to the size of the plastic deformation zone.
Several assumptions are made in this model: (1) The material gives the
highest rate of AE when it is loaded to the yield strain. (2) The size and
shape of the plastic zone ahead of the crack are determined from linear
elastic fracture mechanics concepts.
2
1 K1
ry
ys
2 or 6 (plain stress or plain strain)
0.5
(3)Strainsatthecracktipvaryatwhereristhe
radialdistancefromthecracktip.(4)
The assumptions lead to development of the following equations for the

model ( 2 )
1
V p ry2 ru2 B B
2
B plate thickness
Vp K 4
N K4
E y
1

2

4
4
K
B u y 4

4 4 E y u
E u
7.1.2 Fatigue Crack Model

Several models were developed to relate AE count rate with crack
propagation rate.
N ' AK n
(Eq.1) The relation between AE count rate and stress intensity factor
N ' AE count rate per cycle

K Stress intensity factor
A, n constants
da
dN
C K
(Eq.2) Paris law for crack propogation in fatigue
The combined contribution of both plastic deformation and fracture

mechanism is as follows for plastic yielding:
'
Np
Cp
m
K
2
K
2
(1 R)
'
Nc
Cs
m
K
m
(1 R)
'
N p AE count rate due to plastic deformation
'
Nc AE count rate due to fracture
'
'
'
N N p Nc
7.2 AE Effects
Kaiser effect is the absence of detectable AE at a fixed sensitivity level,
until previously applied stress levels are exceeded.
Dunegan corollary states that if AE is observed prior to a previous
maximum load, some type of new damage has occurred. The Dunegan
corollary is used in proof testing of pressure vessels.
Felicity effect is the presence of AE, detectable at a fixed predetermined
sensitivity level at stress levels below those previously applied. The felicity
effect is used in the testing of fiberglass vessels and storage tanks.
stress at onset of AE
felicity ratio
previous maximum stress
Kaiser effect (BCB)

Felicity effect (DEF)
8.0 Applications
8.1 AE Inspection of Pressure Vessels
8.2 AE Testing of Pressure Vessels
(1)Nondestructive Testing Handbook, volume 6 Acoustic Emission Testing,

Third Edition, ASNT.
Example of Transducers Distribution

on Vessel's Surface(1)
Typical Results Representation of

Acoustic Emission Testing(1)
8.3 Example of Pressure Vessel Evaluation

Historic index is a ratio of average signal strength of the last 20% or 200,
whichever is less, of events to average signal strength of all events.
N
N
H (t )
N K
t K 1
N
S
i 1
The numbers on plot correspond to sensors

numbers.(1)
0i
0i
N number of hits,
S0i the signal strength of the ith
event,
J specific number of events
K=0.8J for JN1000 and
K=N-200 for N>1000
Severity is the average of ten events having the largest numerical value of
signal strength.
i 10
1
S av S 0i
10 i 1
9.0 AE Standards
ASME - American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Acoustic Emission Examination of Fiber-Reinforced Plastic Vessels, Article
11, Subsection A, Section V, Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code
Acoustic Emission Examination of Metallic Vessels During Pressure
Testing, Article 12, Subsection A, Section V, Boiler and Pressure Vessel
Code
Continuous Acoustic Emission Monitoring, Article 13 Section V
ASTM - American Society for Testing and Materials

E569-97 Standard Practice for Acoustic Emission Monitoring of Structures
During Controlled Stimulation
E650-97 Standard Guide for Mounting Piezoelectric Acoustic Emission
Sensors
E749-96 Standard Practice for Acoustic Emission Monitoring During
Continuous Welding
E750-98 Standard Practice for Characterizing Acoustic Emission
Instrumentation
E976-00 Standard Guide for Determining the Reproducibility of Acoustic
Emission Sensor Response
E1067-96 Standard Practice for Acoustic Emission Examination of
Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic Resin (FRP) Tanks/Vessels
E1106-86(1997) Standard Method for Primary Calibration of Acoustic
Emission Sensors
E1118-95 Standard Practice for Acoustic Emission Examination of

Reinforced Thermosetting Resin Pipe (RTRP)
E1139-97 Standard Practice for Continuous Monitoring of Acoustic
Emission from Metal Pressure Boundaries
E1211-97 Standard Practice for Leak Detection and Location Using
Surface-Mounted Acoustic Emission Sensors
E1316-00 Standard Terminology for Nondestructive Examinations
E1419-00 Standard Test Method for Examination of Seamless, Gas-Filled,
Pressure Vessels Using Acoustic Emission
E1781-98 Standard Practice for Secondary Calibration of Acoustic
Emission Sensors
E1932-97 Standard Guide for Acoustic Emission Examination of Small
Parts
E1930-97 Standard Test Method for Examination of Liquid Filled

Atmospheric and Low Pressure Metal Storage Tanks Using Acoustic
Emission
E2075-00 Standard Practice for Verifying the Consistency of AE-Sensor
Response Using an Acrylic Rod
E2076-00 Standard Test Method for Examination of Fiberglass Reinforced
Plastic Fan Blades Using Acoustic Emission
ASNT - American Society for Nondestructive Testing

ANSI/ASNT CP-189, ASNT Standard for Qualification and Certification of
Nondestructive Testing Personnel.
CARP Recommended Practice for Acoustic Emission Testing of Pressurized
Highway Tankers Made of Fiberglass reinforced with Balsa Cores.
Recommended Practice No. SNT-TC-1A.
Association of American Railroads
Procedure for Acoustic Emission Evaluation of Tank Cars and IM-101 tanks,
Issue 1, and Annex Z thereto, Test Methods to Meet FRA Request for Draft
Sill Inspection program, docket T79.20-90 (BRW) , Preliminary 2
Compressed Gas Association
C-1, Methods for Acoustic Emission Requalification of Seamless Steel
Compressed Gas Tubes.
European Committee for Standardization

DIN EN 14584, Non-Destructive Testing Acoustic Emission Examination
of Metallic Pressure Equipment during Proof Testing; Planar Location of AE
Sources.
EN 1330-9, Non-Destructive Testing Terminology Part 9, Terms Used in
Acoustic Emission Testing.
EN 13477-1, Non-Destructive Testing Acoustic Emission Equipment
Characterization Part 1, Equipment Description.
EN 13477-2, Non-Destructive Testing Acoustic Emission Equipment
Characterization Part 2, Verification of Operating Characteristics.
EN 13554, Non-Destructive Testing Acoustic Emission General Principles.
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
IEEE C57.127, Trial-Use guide for the Detection of Acoustic Emission from
Partial Discharges in Oil-Immersed Power Transformers.
International Organization for Standardization

ISO 12713, Non-Destructive Testing - Acoustic Emission Inspection
Primary Calibration of Transducers.
Secondary Calibration of Acoustic Emission Sensors.
Vocabulary
ISO/DIS 16148, gas Cylinders Refillable Seamless Steel gas Cylinders
Acoustic Emission Examination (AEE) for Periodic Inspection.
Japanese Institute for Standardization
JIS Z 2342, Methods for Acoustic Testing of Pressure Vessels during
Pressure Tests and Classification of Test Results.
Japanese Society for Nondestructive Inspection

NDIS 2106-79, Evaluation of performance Characteristics of Acoustic
Emission Testing Equipment.
NDIS 2109-91, Methods for Absolute calibration of Acoustic Emission
Transducers by Reciprocity Technique.
NDIS 2412-80, Acoustic Emission Testing of Spherical Pressure Vessels of
High Tensile Strength Steel and Classification of Test Results.
More educational materials on Acoustic Emission

available at:
www.muravin.com
Open Acoustic Emission Initiative
http://muravin.com/ae/open_acoustic_emission_initiative.html
Reading#4B
Use Of Acoustic Emission Technique For

Damages Detection
ABSTRACT
The proposal of this paper is to report results from acoustic emission
technique of the failure region of a specimen test in ASTM - A 516 degree 60
steel when submitted to a tensile test. The results showed that it is possible to
predict the failure region when the specimen reaches in average 40% of the
maximum rupture load. This premature verification of the failure region will
allow to applying this technique in the future in mechanical components to
detect damages during operation.
Key words: acoustic emission, nondestructive tests.
1 Introduction
Acoustic emissions are stress waves produced by sudden movement in
stressed materials. The classic sources of acoustic emissions are defectrelated deformation processes such as crack growth and plastic deformation.
The process of generation and detection is illustrated in Figure 1. Sudden
movement at the source produces a stress wave, which radiates out into the
structure and excites a sensitive piezoelectric transducer (sensor). As the
stress in the material raises, many of these emissions are generated. The
signals from one or more sensors are amplified and measured to produce
data for display and interpretation.
Figure 1 - Basic principle of the acoustic emission method
The source of the acoustic emission energy is the elastic stress field in the
material. Without stress, there is no emission. Therefore, an acoustic
emission inspection is usually carried out during a controlled loading of the
structure. This can be a load proof before service, a controlled variation of
load while the structure is in service, a fatigue test, a creep test, simple tensile
test or a complex loading program. In case of structures that are going to be
loaded anyway, acoustic emission inspection is used because it gives
valuable additional information about the performance of these structures
under load. In other cases, acoustic emission inspection is selected for
reasons of economy or safety, and a special loading procedure is arranged to
meet the needs of the acoustic emission test.
2 Relationships To Other Test Methods

Acoustic emission differs from others nondestructive (NDT) methods in two
aspects. First, the signal has its origin in the material itself, not in an external
source and second, acoustic emission detects movement, while most other
methods detect existing geometrical discontinuities. The consequences of
these fundamental differences are summarized in Table 1.
Table 1 - Characteristics of acoustic emission inspection compared with

other inspection methods [1]
Often, in nondestructive testing there is no one method that can provide the
whole solution. For cost effectiveness, technical adequacy, or both, it is best
to use a combination of methods. Because acoustic emission has features
that distinguish it so sharply from other methods, it is particularly useful when
used in combination with them.
A major benefit of acoustic emission inspection is that it allows the whole
volume of the structure to be inspected no intrusively in a single loading
operation. It is not necessary to scan the structure looking for local defects; it
is only necessary to connect a suitable number of fixed sensors, which are
typically placed 1 to 6m (4 to 20 ft) apart.
This leads to major savings in testing large structures, for which other
methods require removal of insulation, decontamination for entry to vassel
interiors, or scanning of very large areas. Typically, the global acoustic
emission is used to identify areas with structural problems, and other
nondestructive methods are then used to identify more precisely the nature of
the emitting defects. Depending on the case, acceptance or rejection can be
based on acoustic emission alone, other methods alone or both together.
Spherical Tank
Spherical Tank
3 Motivations For Development Of The Work

A great demand for mechanical structures of structural integrity verification in
functioning exists, and amongst them it can cited as great source of concern
the pressure vassels that are used as storing of fluids or as stabilizing of
pressure in operational plants. The ASTM 516 degree 60 steel is used for
manufacturing pressure vassels. Despite its mechanical properties, such as
yield strength and tensile strength, pressure vassels cannot solely be
evaluated by these properties. For safety some regulations prescribe periodic
test for such equipments. One recommendation is the execution of
hydrostatic test, using pressure fifty percent above of the operation pressure
to verify the behaviour of the pressure vassel and liberating to operation if it
has no criticals damage in the structure. Cases, related on literatures show
that pressure vassels resisted to the hydrostatic test, and placed again in
operation, fractured catastrophically after some hours of operation. This
occurs because in submitting the pressure vassel to an extremely aggressive
condition, the pressure, generates an amount of damages in the structure that
continue to operate.
To reduce the probability of occurrence of catastrophic damages of this

nature it is proposed to execute hydrostatic tests together with acoustic
emission that because of the sensitivity of the sensors and acquisition of data
allows the test be carried out through with 5 or 10 percent pressure above the
operation pressure of the pressure vassel. In this condition the vassel is less
requested and the quick information gotten from the acoustic emission
system allow a global analysis of the pressure vassel allowing its release for
operation. Furthermore the used fluid can be of the proper line of the power
plant]. To characterize the behaviour of the ASTM 516 degree 60 steel, in
relation to the signals generated by acoustic emission four specimen were
removed of a inch thick plate, were submited to tensile test and with two
acoustic emission sensors the signals generated during loading were
monitored. The specimen were submitted to the visual test, penetrante liquid
test and ultrasonic test were used for verify possible discontinuities in the
material.
4 MATERIAL CARACTERISTICS
Table 2 and Table 3 show the properties of the ASTM 516 degree 60 steel.
4.1 Features of acoustic emission equipment

Table 4 shows the features of the acoustic emission equipment used in the
experiments.
5 EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES
The specimen were manufactured as show in Figure 2 (a). Figure 2 (b) and (c)
shows front and side views of the specimen monted in the tensile test
machine. Figure 3 represents a scheme of loading cycle applied in the tests.
The first fifteen minutes were used to verify the level of noise before loading
the specimen. A first test was performed to verify the rupture load of the
specimen and the speciman fracture with approximately 77 kN. The steps of
loads application were defined in agreement with this value, the load steps
were defined for recording of acoustic emission events.
Figure 2 (a) Specimen dimensions (units in mm), mounted in tensile

test machine (b) front view; (c) side view
Figure 3 Scheme of step load x time applied during tests [6]
6 Results And Commentaries

Figure 4, Figure 5, Figure 6 and Figure 7 represent the results from acoustic
emission tests of four specimens. As can be observed in the photographies
the rupture region of each speciman after finish the tensile test correspond to
the same place where the acoustic emission signal felt it or in the step around
40% of the maximum rupture load which corresponds approximately 30 kN.
As reported in the literature [9] the accurancy to locate the source is at least
two times the thickness of the speciman or five percent the distance between
the sensors. Its hapenned with all specimen tested in this paper.
Figure 4 - Results from specimen 01
Figure 8 shows the four tested specimen where is possible to observed that
all of them had the similar elongation,
demonstrating repeatability of behaviour from material tested in tensile tests.
Figure 8 The four tested specimen
7 CONCLUSIONS
The results confirm that acoustic emission technique is a powerful tool to
inspect structures helping to early predict damages. If material, equipment or
structures have some discontinuity and will be submitted to similar loading as
the ones applied in this work, is possible to detect and locate active areas
and make a fine verification with nondestrutive testing assuring the integrity of
them. The sources location in this paper were concerned with requirements of
uncertainty to the tests and the practical ones recommended for the acoustics
emission tests.
Reading#5
EN BS 13477-1:2001
Non-destructive testing Acoustic elllissionEquiplllent characterizationPart 1: Equipment description
1 Scope
This European standard describes the main components that constitute an
acoustic emission (AE) monitoring system comprising:
detection;
signal conditioning;
signal measurement;
analysis and output of results.
2 Normative references
This European Standard incorporates by dated or undated reference,
provisions from other publications. These ormatives references are cited
atthe appropriate places in the text and the publications are listed hereafter.
For dated references, subsequent amendments to or revisions of any of these
publications apply to this European Standard only when incorporated in it by
amendment or revision. For undated references, the latest edition of the
publication referred to applies (including amendments).
EN 1330-2, Non- estructive testing - Terminology - Part 2: Terms common
to the nondestructive testing methods
EN 1330-9, Non-destructive testing- Terminology- Part 9: Terms used in
acoustic emission testing
3 Terms and definitions

For the purpose of th is standard the definitions given in EN 1330-1 , EN
1330-2, EN 1330-9 and IEC 60050 International Electrotechnical Vocabulary
and the following apply:
average signal level (ASL)
rectified, time averaged AE signal.
4 Detection
A piezoelectric sensor is the most commonly used device for detecting
acoustic emission.
It provides the most effective conversion of elastic waves (acoustic emission)
into an electrical signal in the frequency range most commonly used for AE
detection, 20 kHz- 1 MHz. In its simplest form it consists of a piezoelectric
crystalline or ceramic element, mounted in a protective case.
The sensor detects a combination of wave types:
compressional,
shear,
surface (Rayleigh),
plate (Lamb),
arriving from any direction.
4.1 Sensing element

The sensing material affects the conversion efficiency, operating temperature
range and cable drive capability. Lead zirconate titanate (PZT), a ceramic, is
the most commonly used material. It can be manufactured in a wide range of
sizes and shapes. The size, shape and containment affect the sensitivity,
directionality, frequency response and wave-mode response. Several
elements may be combined to achieve a desired performance.
4.2 Sensor case
The sensor case (usually metallic) determines the overall size and
mechanical characteristics of the sensor. It may have an integral cable or a
connector. The case provides a total electrical screening of the sensing
element and is usually common to one pole of the sensing element. A
faceplate of ceramic or epoxy between the sensor element and test object
provides electrical isolation from the structure to avoid ground loop and
induced electromagnetic noise. Depending on the method of assembly, the
sensor can be made single ended or differential.
In a single-ended device, the screen of a coaxial cable is connected to the

sensor case and to one side of the sensing element. In a differential device, a
screened twisted pair cable is used and the sensing element is usually split or
machined so that the screen does not conduct the electrical output signal.
Differential sensors have normally improved immunity to electromagnetic
noise compared with single-ended sensors. The case may contain a low
noise preamplifier. Incorporating the preamplifier inside the sensor case,
eliminates the cable link between the sensor element and the preamplifier.
This reduces signal loss and improves immunity to electromagnetic noise.
The drawbacks are that the sensor case becomes larger, the maximum
temperature rating is limited by the electronics, and the preamplifier is not
interchangeable, see also 5.1.
4.3 Sensor characteristics

4.3.1 Frequency response
Piezoelectric acoustic emission sensors are either resonant with a peak in a
certain frequency range, i.e. The frequency content of the transient signal is
mostly determined by the resonant frequency of the sensing element, or
broad-band with a rather flat frequency response if properly damped. The
response of a sensor is given in terms of its output voltage versus frequency
for a standard mechanical stimulus. Due to the inertia of piezoelectric sensors
their response will be different to continuous and transient stimuli.
Most piezoelectric devices will be characterised by surface velocity (volts per
metre per second) as a function of frequency for a transient input. An
exception is the ''flat response" device that is often characterised in terms of
surface displacement (volts per unit displacement). Continuous signal
response may be characterised in the same way or in pressure terms (volts
per microbar).
4.3.2 Directionality
The directionality is a measure of the uniformity of the device response to
signals coming from any direction along the surface of the object to which the
device is attached. It is usually called the polar response and quoted as a
deviation about the mean in dB. Sensors may be intentionally directional to
preferentially monitor a specific area.
4.3.3 Wave mode response
Sensors may be made responsive to a particular wave mode, such as: shear,
compressional or other waves.
4.3.4 Operating temperature
This depends on the construction materials and the characteristics of the
sensor element. It shall be used within the temperature range specified by the
manufacturers.
5. Signal conditioning
Included in this section is preamplification, cables and post amplification.
5.1 Preamplifier
The main preamplifier characteristics are the input impedance, noise, gain,
bandwidth, filter characteristics such as roll-off rate, output impedance,
operating temperature range, common-mode rejection ratio (CMRR) and
dynamic range. Preamplification can be of voltage or charge. Voltage
preamplification converts the sensor output, usually a high impedance lowlevel signal, to a low impedance high-level signal for the transmission over
long signal lines to the measurement instrumentation, which may be up to
several hundred metres away. A typical preamplifier has a high input
impedance, 40 dB gain and 50 output impedance to drive a coaxial cable.
The D.C. power supply to the preamplifier is commonly supplied on the same
cable as the signal output and decoupled at each end using a filter network.
The preamplifier input may be single-ended, differential or switchable to fit

different sensor types. For some industrial applications, preamplifiers are an
integral part of the AE sensor, providing greater ruggedness, reliability,
reduced signal loss due to cable impedance and reduced susceptibility to
electromagnetic noise. The design of the preamplifier may allow the sensor to
be used as a pulser transducer for calibration purposes. Charge
preamplification eliminates the effect of cable capacitance on the signal but is
not widely used.
5.2 Cables
5.2.1 Sensor to preamplifier cable
This is the most important cable in the system and should be of lowcapacitance, (< 100 pF/m), fully screened, and kept as short as possible(< 1
m) where voltage preamplification is used.
5.2.2 Preamplifier to instrument cable
This is normally a screened coaxial 50 impedance cable matched to the
preamplifier and measurement instrument. Care shall be taken to avoid
crosstalk problems with multi-conductor cables, particularly if individual
conductors are used to transmit a wide band pulser signal for periodic
calibration during a test.
5.2.3 Screen
A single-point ground for all the screens is normally used at the measurement
instrumentation. The screens of the cables shall not form ground loops.
5.3 Post-amplification and frequency filtering
Post-amplification and further analogue filtering is used at the measurement
instrumentation to increase the signal level and remove unwanted low or high
frequency signals for measurement purposes. The input impedance, dynamic
range, filter characteristics, gain or attenuation are relevant to this section.
The input stage usually provides D.C. power for the preamplifier and,
sometimes, may control pulser operation.
6 Signal measurement
6.1 Continuous signal
A continuous signal is characterised by the measurement of RMS (Root Mean
Square) or ASL (Average Signal Level) with a particular time constant.
Continuous signal measurement systems are used where there is no
requirement to identify and characterise individual emissions (bursts), e.g.,
process monitoring and leak detection. The measured characteristics and
their dynamic range define this type of system.
6.2 Burst signal

Burst signal measurement systems identify and characterise individual
acoustic emissions on the basis of their time above an amplitude threshold.
The parameters of each burst signal may comprise any or all of the following,
depending on the type of system and its user set-up:
peak amplitude;
time to peak amplitude;
arrival time;
rise-time,
duration;
ringdown count;
count to peak amplitude;
energy;
average frequency;
RMS level;
ASL;
detection threshold level;
External slow-varying parameter data, such as pressure, temperature, load or

strain may also be acquired as part of the data set. These parameters may be
sampled at the precise time of the AE and or on a time interval basis. All
these values define an AE data set. The rate at which a system acquires
discrete bursts is defined by two parameters: the peak acquisition rate, which
is sustainable for a short defined period of time; the continuous acquisition
rate, which is sustainable for an indefinite period of time.
6.3 Waveform
The complete characterization of an AE " burst" is obtained by digitization and
storage of the waveform when it exceeds a set amplitude threshold. The
difficulty in using this method is the storage capacity required, typically 100
times that of systems measuring only the primary characteristics of the signal,
and the rate at which data can be transferred to the storage medium. AE
waveform capture is usually triggered periodically by certain characteristics of
an AE data set. Important features of waveform capture systems include their
dynamic range, bandwidth, sampling rate, type and capacity of buffering and
data transfer rate to disk.
7 Analysis and output of results

a) The analysis and the output of results may take the following form: listings
of AE data sets;
b) graph showing:
1. one AE parameter versus time or an external parameter in cumulative or
rate mode e.g. AE burst energy versus pressure;
2. distribution of an AE parameter, e.g. number of AE burst versus peak
amplitude;
3. correlation of one AE parameter against another, e.g. peak amplitude
versus signal duration;
4. location plot, with source clusters;
c) waveform display;
d) classification by pattern recognition;
e) source severity rating if applicable, as a result of combination of different
evaluation criteria;
f) other.
Post-test filtering may be used to remove unwanted signals. Decisions on the
filter characteristics may be based on wave shape analysis or other relevant
factors.
8 Automated system
8.1 Automated analysis
Highly developed AE applications may have their user interface developed to
a high level where AE sources are detected, located and categorised
automatically with little or no AE expertise required. This isimportant in
monitoring applications where on-line analysis and data compression is
necessary to reduce the amount of data stored. These applications are
usually highly procedurized and have software that is specific to the
application.
8.2 Feedback to a control or alarm system
For some application the AE data are used to automatically control a process
in real-time or to trigger an alarm. Here the data are compared with
predefined levels in deciding "acceptance" or "rejection" of the component.
The AE data acquisition is often "gated" with respect to an external parameter
reflecting the loading so that only the relevant part of the process is monitored,
thereby avoiding mechanical interference and other unwanted noise.
Reading#6
EN BS 13477-2:2010
Non-destructive testing Acoustic emission
Equipment characterisation
Part 2: Verification of operatingcharacteristic
1 Scope
This part of the standard specifies methods for routine verification of the
performance of AE equipment comprising one or more sensing channels. It is
intended for use by operators of the equipment under laboratory conditions.
Verification of the measurement characteristics is recommended after
purchase of equipment, modifications, use under extraordinary conditions, or
if one suspects a malfunction. The procedures described in this European
Standard do not exclude other qualified methods, e.g. verification in the
frequency domain.
Comment:
Time domain
Frequency domain
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of
this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including
any amendments) applies.
EN 1330-1:1998, Non destructive testing Terminology Part 1: List of
general terms
EN 1330-2:1998, Non destructive testing Terminology Part 2: Terms
common to the non-destructive testing methods
EN 1330-9:2009, Non-destructive testing Terminology Part 9: Terms
used in acoustic emission testing
EN 13477-1:2001, Non-destructive testing Acoustic emission
Equipment characterisation Part 1: Equipment description
IEC 60050 (all parts), International Electrotechnical Vocabulary
3 Terms and definitions

For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in EN
1330-1:1998, EN 1330-2:1998, EN 1330-9:2009 and IEC 60050 (all parts)
and the following apply.
3.1
AE signal processor
part of an AE channel for the conversion of the output of the preamplifier to
digital signal parameters
NOTE The AE signal processor may include additional support functions, e.g.
preamplifier power supply, test pulse control, transient recorder, and more.
3.2
arbitrary function generator (AFG)
electronic device for generating a programmable test signal (burst)
3.3
DC calibrator
electronic device for generating an adjustable or programmable DC voltage of
appropriate accuracy for stimulating an external parametric input
4 Required test equipment

4.1 List of required equipment
The following minimum test equipment is required:
a) test body;
b) shielding test plate;
c) Hsu-Nielsen source, for sensor sensitivity verification;
d) sweep function/variable pulse generator (if function not included in f));
e) multimeter, e.g. for DC voltage and DC current measurement;
f) test signal generator, e.g. AE calibrator or arbitrary function generator
(AFG);
g) variable attenuator, graduated in decibels, can be part of the test signal
generator;
h) DC-calibrator, for external parameter stimulation;
i) DC-power-supply, for preamplifier supply, with a proper circuit to decouple
and terminate the AE signal, if the power is fed-in over the signal wire;
j) RMS voltmeter, with known or settable time constant or time window;
k) dual channel storage oscilloscope, for preamplifier verification, peak noise
measurement and identification of any artifacts on the AE signal.
NOTE
Items i) to k) can be substituted by a verified AE signal processor comprising
peak amplitude and RMS measurement. The inaccuracy of the test signal
generator shall be significantly lower than the acceptable inaccuracies given
in this standard and summarized in Table 3. Less accurate test signal
generators can be used, if the inaccuracy of each pattern is measured and
considered during verification. The reproducibility of the DC calibrator output
shall be significantly lower than the acceptable inaccuracy of the external
parameter verification. The inaccuracy of the DC calibrator at the used
measurement levels shall be obtained and considered during verification (see
Clause 8). All electric/electronic test items shall be calibrated to ensure
traceability to SI units.
4.2 Test signal waveforms

The following types of test signals shall be used to verify the operating
characteristics of the AE measurement
system:
4.2.1 Continuous sine wave
This type of test signal shall be used to verify the frequency response and
gain of the preamplifier and the continuous signal level accuracy of the AE
signal processor.
4.2.2 Triangular modulated sine wave
This type of wave simulates an AE burst signal, see Figure 1. It is defined by
the following characteristics:
A = amplitude;
R = rise-time;
D = duration;
f = carrier frequency.
Figure 1 Triangular modulated sine wave in time (left) and frequency

(right) domain
Time Domain
Frequency Domain
The measured rise time may be shorter than the visible rise time of the test
signal because rise time measurement starts at the time of the first threshold
crossing. Table 1 shows the dependency of this threshold crossing delay on
the difference between maximum amplitude and threshold setting in an AE
channel.
4.2.3 Sine-modulated sine wave

A sine-modulated signal (see Figure 2) can be used as an alternative to a
triangular modulated sine wave. Due to its smooth begin, peak and end, its
spectrum is very pure and the influence of filter overshoot and filter ring down
behaviour is reduced. This signal can be used to obtain the frequency
response of the bandpass of a preamplifier or AE signal processor by burst
peak amplitude measurement.
Figure 2 Sine-modulated sine wave in time (left) and frequency

domain (right)
NOTE The shown signal corresponds to the following function:

(1)
(2)
where
N = number of each sample in time order;
SpSW = Samples per sine wave (48 in Figure 2);
SWpB = Sine waves per burst (41 in Figure 2);
U[N] = Voltage of sample N;
NOTE The shown signal corresponds to the following function:

(1)
(2)
Where:
N=
SpSW =
SWpB =
U[N] =
Up =
number of each sample in time order;

Samples per sine wave (48 in Figure 2);
Sine waves per burst (41 in Figure 2);
Voltage of sample N;
Peak amplitude (100 mV in Figure 2) of simulated burst.
The resulting carrier frequency fc is a function of the sample time interval (ts):
(3)
(4)
Example in Figure 2: ts = 1/(200 kHz x 48) = 104.167 ns

Similar to the triangular modulated sine wave, the rise time measured by an
AE signal processor is shorter than the visible rise time of the test signal,
because rise time measurement starts at the time of the first threshold
crossing. This so-called first threshold crossing delay depends on the
difference of maximum amplitude and detection threshold in dB and is listed
for the two modulated test signals in Table 1.
Table 1 First threshold crossing delay versus amplitude to threshold

ratio for a sin2 and triangular modulated test signal
4.2.4 Rectangular modulated sine wave

This type of signal is defined by the characteristics A, D and f, see 4.2.2 and
Figure 3.
Figure 3 Rectangular modulated sine wave in time (left) and
frequency domain (right)
4.2.5 Pulse
This test signal shall be used to check the measurement of t. It is defined
by the characteristics A (amplitude) and D (pulse duration). Figure 4 shows
the output of an arbitrary function generator where one sample in a cyclic
output buffer was set to 0,8 V, all others to zero. The buffer was output at a
sample interval of 50 ns. A pulse duration between 50 ns and 500 ns is
recommended. The pulse amplitude shall cause a signal amplitude of about 6
dB above the detection threshold. A much higher amplitude may cause
additional threshold crossings by ring down cycles as shown in Figure 5.
Figure 4 Pulse
Figure 5 A series of transient signals (pulses) 160s apart behind the

band pass
4.2.6 Repetitive signals

This signal is used to verify the signal processing rate. It is a series of pulses
as described in 4.2.5. It is defined by A (amplitude), D (pulse duration) and f
(repetition frequency), typically 1 Hz 10 kHz. Figure 5 shows an example
with 1/f = 160 s, taken after the band pass filter of an AE signal processor.
The maximum reasonable repetition frequency is limited by the ring down
effect of the band pass filter, if a pulse causes multiple threshold crossings.
4.3 Test Body

This can take different forms, e.g. a metallic block, or a plate, or an acrylic rod.
Once chosen, the dimensions, construction material, Hsu-Nielsen source
position, sensor mounting position and usage shall be controlled to ensure
reproducibility of results. The surface in contact with the sensor shall be flat
and smooth. The test body shall be isolated acoustically from the work bench
to avoid interference from external noise sources.
4.4 Shielding test plate This is a small flat metallic plate sufficient in size to
cover the sensors sensitive area. The plate shall be connected to a sine
wave; therefore, it shall be electrically isolated from earth. Once chosen, the
dimension of the plate and the thickness of the non-conductive layer, if
applicable, shall be controlled. The test plate shall be given an identifier for
use in the verification report. See Figure 6 for the setup.
5 Sensor verification
5.1 General
The following procedure allows rapid comparison of the sensitivity of sensors.
The deterioration of the sensors can result from e.g. mechanical shock,
exposure to high temperature, high ionizing radiation or a corrosive
environment, water ingress, a damaged connector or cable.
5.2 Uses
The specific objectives of the procedure for checking sensors are:
warning of degrading response or damaged internal shielding;
determining when a sensor is no longer suitable for use;
checking sensors that are known to have been exposed to high-risk
conditions;
creating matched sets of sensors to achieve uniform performance;
verifying sensors quickly and reliably and assisting trouble shooting, when
a channel shows a fault.
5.3 Procedure
5.3.1 Preliminary examination
Allow the test body, sensors and couplant to adopt the ambient temperature.
Perform a preliminary examination of the sensor to identify any obvious
mechanical damage, paying particular attention to connector and cable, if any.
5.3.2 Sensitivity verification
For the sensitivity verification of a sensor, a verified AE signal processor shall
be used. If the sensor does not comprise a preamplifier, a verified reference
preamplifier and sensor cable of specified length shall be used. The
frequency filters in the preamplifier and AE signal processor shall properly
cover the bandwidth of the sensor.
Mount the sensor on the test body using an appropriate couplant. Be sparing
with the couplant, e.g. approximately 0,1 cm3 of silicone grease is adequate
for most types of sensors. Press the sensor firmly down onto the test body to
insure a good coupling.
Take care the sensor and attachment cannot move during the test. The use of
a constant force device is recommended. Using the Hsu-Nielsen source,
make a minimum of 3 lead breaks at the prescribed position on the test body.
In each case, record the signal amplitude in units of dBAE, on the test record.
The difference between lowest and highest reading shall be within 3 dB.
Before proceeding to the next sensor, remove the couplant from the verified
sensor. The test temperature, lead diameter and hardness, and bandwidth of
preamplifier and AE signal processor shall be recorded.
5.3.3 Verification of electrical shielding

In case of an internal defect of the electrical shielding, the sensor signal can
be overlaid by electrical noise from the test object which is difficult to
differentiate from acoustical noise. This verification step shall observe such a
defect. Mount the sensor on the shielding test plate in acoustically quiet
environment. If the contact surface of the sensor is electro-conductive, use a
thin non-conductive layer of specified thickness, e.g. a self adhesive foil.
Connect the test plate to a sine wave using a shielded cable as shown in
Figure 6.
Connect the cable shield to earth. For each sensor model the sensor
manufacturer shall specify the test voltage US1PP (usually 10 V), the test
frequency fS (usually 2,5 times the sensors main resonance frequency) and
the acceptable maximum for the sensor output voltage before preamplification
US2PP (usually 2 mV). Manufacturer specification and measured values shall
be reported (see Annex A).
Figure 6 Shielding verification set-up
5.3.4 Electrical noise verification of a sensor-preamplifier combination

The electrical noise level of a sensor and preamplifier combination shall be
measured in acoustically quiet environment with the sensor dismounted from
a structure. The measurement set-up is according to 6.3.4. The noise level is
measured in specified units and shall not exceed the noise specification of
the manufacturer. The measured value shall be reported on the test record
(see Annex A).
6 Preamplifier verification
6.1 General
Annex B shows an example for a preamplifier verification report that includes
the manufacturers acceptance limits and results of measurements.
Perform a preliminary examination of the preamplifier to identify any
obvious mechanical damage, paying particular attention to connectors and
cables, if any. The following procedure applies to voltage preamplifiers.
6.2 Verification of DC-current consumption

Figure 7 shows the test set-up for the verification of the DC current
consumption.
The following applies to a preamplifier with 28V DC supply fed-in over the
signal wire. For preamplifiers with other power requirements, the setup shall
be properly adapted.
1. Connect the 28 V DC power supply as shown in Figure 7 to the
preamplifier output over a DC current meter and a 50 Ohm resistor in
parallel with a 10 mH inductor.
2. With no input from the sine wave generator measure and record the stand
by current, ISB in mA.
3. Use a sine wave of a frequency within the pass band of the preamplifier
and set the preamplifier AC output to full scale. Measure and record the
full scale current IFS in mA.
4. Standby current ISB and full scale current IFS shall not exceed the
manufacturers specifications.
Figure 7 Set-up for measurement of DC current consumption
6.3 Measurement of preamplifier characteristics

6.3.1 General
For the following measurements, the preamplifier power supply shall be at the
prescribed voltage. Good measurement practice requires:
correct impedance matching throughout the measurement chain;
avoidance of ground loops;
avoidance of electromagnetic interference.
6.3.2 Gain
The gain factor is the ratio of the output (UOUT) to the input voltage (UIN) of an
amplifier at the geometric mean frequency (see 6.3.3). It is converted to dB by
the following formula:
Figure 8 shows the recommended set-up.

The output of the test signal generator is connected over an attenuator to the
input of the preamplifier under verification. A proper termination resistor shall
be connected in parallel to the high impedance preamplifier input. The
attenuation is to be set to the same dB value as the nominal gain. The test
signal shall be set to 50 % of the preamplifiers output range and to the mean
frequency of its bandwidth. At correct gain, both channels of the oscilloscope
shall show equal amplitudes. For the verification of the preamplifier function
with a burst type AE signal, a sine-modulated sine wave shall be used.
Alternatively, for the verification of the preamplifier function with a continuous
AE signal, a continuous sine wave shall be used.
Figure 8 Test set-up for the verification of preamplifier gain and

bandwidth
6.3.3 Bandwidth
Figure 8 shows the test set-up for the verification of preamplifier bandwidth
and gain.
The bandwidth shall be obtained from the -3 dB points on the frequency
response curve, compared to their geometric mean frequency. The -3dB
points are also called cut-off frequencies FLO and FHI. The geometric
mean frequency is calculated as follows:
Where:
FM geometric mean of FLO and FHI;
FLO nominal lower cut-off frequency, hereafter called FHP (for high-pass);
FHI nominal upper cut-off frequency, hereafter called FLP (for low-pass).
See Figure 9, an example where both roll-offs are 48 dB/octave.
Figure 9 Characteristics of a bandpass filter with 48 dB/octave roll-off

for the lower and upper cutoff frequencies
The test signal amplitude shall be set to 50 % of the preamplifiers output

range at the geometric mean frequency FM. This output voltage refers to 0 dB
in the frequency response curve. The corner frequency FHP shall be obtained
at the lower -3 dB frequency point (95 kHz in Figure 9). FLP shall be obtained
at the upper -3 dB frequency point (850 kHz in Figure 9).
HP roll-off means the signal level reduction in dB/octave of the high-pass, to
be obtained at 0,5 x FHP (-48 dB at 47,5 kHz in Figure 9).
LP roll-off means the signal level reduction in dB at twice of FLP. Accordingly,
LP roll-off shall be obtained at 2xFLP (-48 dB at 1,7 MHz in Figure 9).
The verification results FHP, HP roll-off, and FLP, LP roll-off shall be reported
(see Annex B) and checked for compliance with the acceptance limits.
6.3.4 Electronic noise

For the reproducibility of the noise measurement the following items shall be
specified and reported in the test
record:
input termination of the preamplifier under test. Usually, a shielded 50
resistor is used. In order to unveil a contribution of noise current (in
addition to noise voltage) to the total noise, a shielded capacitor, e.g. 100
pF or 330 pF, or a sensor of specified model, can be used as input
termination;
reference point for noise scaling, usually the input of the preamplifier under
verification;
nominal bandwidth of the preamplifier (the wider the bandwidth the larger
the noise);
bandwidth, input noise and resolution of the noise measurement device;
time window ( 1 s) and sampling rate for determination of peak noise
and, if applicable, RMS noise.
Two alternative set-ups are shown in Figures 10 and 11. When DCsupplyinput and AC-signal output of an amplifier runs over a common wire, an
appropriate AC/DCdecoupling circuit shall be used.
This can be a 50 resistor in parallel to a 10 mH inductor, as shown in
Figure 10. Alternatively, see Figure 11, an AE signal processor with built-in
preamplifier supply can be used to supply the preamplifier under verification.
Figure 10 Set-up for preamplifier noise measurement using a DC

power supply and storage
oscilloscope
Figure 11 Set-up for preamplifier noise measurement using a postamplifier and two AE signal
processors
It is recommended to use a second preamplifier and AE signal processor to

measure the amplified noise of the preamplifier under verification with proper
resolution. The peak noise is measured by a storage oscilloscope (Figure 10)
or a verified AE signal processor (AE signal processor #2 in Figure 11). In
both cases either the peak noise has to be determined by searching the
lowest threshold level that causes less than one false hit per second, or the
peak noise has to be taken from a seamless waveform record of at least one
second duration. In addition, the electronic noise can be characterised using
an RMS voltmeter, or a verified AE signal processor with RMS voltmeter
function. The time constant or time window of RMS processing shall be at
least 1 s. The noise level shall refer to the input of the preamplifier under
verification and be reported as peak (UPN) and optionally as RMS voltage
(URMS) of the noise in V (see Annex B). The bandwidth for the noise
measurement device shall be chosen according to the bandwidth of the
preamplifier under test. Should the noise of a wideband preamplifier be
characterized for one or several certain ranges of bandwidth, corresponding
post-filter(s) shall be used with the noise measuring device. Such
use of bandpass filtering shall be reported.
6.3.5 Dynamic range

The dynamic range is the ratio of the largest peak signal voltage (without
distortion) UPS to the peak electronic noise voltage UPN, both measured at
the output of the preamplifier under verification at the geometric mean of
the bandwidth. The dynamic range shall be specified in dB given by:
Where
UPS maximum peak output voltage before saturation, divided by the gain
factor;
UPN maximum peak noise output voltage (over 1 second), divided by the gain
factor, input terminated by 50 (see 6.3.4).
When increasing the amplitude the onset of distortion at the preamplifier
output can be seen at the waveform of an oscilloscope, when the usually
round maximum and/or minimum of the sine wave becomes flat, or at
increasing harmonics in the FFT. For UPS the input peak amplitude just below
saturation shall be reported and checked for compliance with the acceptance
limits.
6.3.6 Pulsing test

If the preamplifier model employs the feature to pass an electric pulse to the
piezo electric element, this function shall be verified according to the
manufacturers instructions.
7 AE signal processor verification

7.1 Overview
AE signal processor verification shall be performed by comparing the
measured values of the AE parameters with the actual settings of the
calibrated test signal generator. Figure 12 shows the recommended test
setup. The use of a DC-blocker (a capacitor of about 10 F/50 V) is
recommended to avoid an inadvertent damage of the function generator by
the 28 V power supply. A proper termination of the function generator shall be
assured either by a signal processor-internal or an external termination
resistor.
Figure 12 Test set-up for AE signal processor verification
The characterisation of the AE signal processor shall be performed using

simulated burst signal parameters in a range covering the equipment
specification. The recommended test signal patterns' frequency, dynamic
range and acceptable inaccuracy of each measurement is given in the
corresponding clause of this standard and summarized in Table 3.
Less accurate test signal generators can be used, if the inaccuracy of each
pattern is measured and considered during verification. The test signal
frequency shall always be within the bandwidth of the measurement chain.
Only the verification of the bandpass filter characteristics needs frequencies
outside of the nominal bandwidth. If a filter is changed, the gain shall be
checked and adjusted accordingly. Before proceeding to verify the measured
AE parameters, the bandwidth, detection threshold and AE signal processor
noise shall be checked.
7.2 Bandwidth and filter roll-off verification

Bandwidth verification of the AE signal processor has to be performed as
described in 6.3.3 for the preamplifier.
The results FHP, HP roll-off, and FLP, LP roll-off shall be reported according to
the example in Annex and compliance with the acceptance limits checked
(see Annex C).
7.3 Detection threshold verification

The detection threshold setting may be either fixed with variable gain,
variable with fixed gain or floating at a fixed relation to the background noise.
The test set-up is shown in Figure 12.
A triangle modulated sine wave with at least 20 cycles rise and 20 cycles
decay time, or a sin2-modulated sinewave with at least 40 sine waves per
burst shall be used. Threshold test values of 40dBAE and 70dBAE shall be
verified. The amplitude of the test signal shall be varied until approximately 50
% of the test signals are detected by the AE signal processor. The obtained
test signal amplitude represents the actual detection threshold setting. The
acceptable threshold inaccuracy is equal to the acceptable peak amplitude
inaccuracy 1dB. For floating threshold, if applicable, the manufacturer shall
provide details about verification and acceptance limits.
7.4 AE signal processor noise verification

All three main components, AE sensor, AE preamplifier and AE signal
processor, contribute to the total noise of a measurement chain. The AE
signal processor noise defines the minimum threshold without getting false
hits, while no preamplifier is connected. It is important that increased AE
signal processor noise is observed in order to avoid noise contaminated data
or the need of a threshold increase above the level foreseen by an applicable
test instruction.
For the reproducibility of AE signal processor noise verification the following

shall be specified and recorded:
reference point for noise scaling (usually the preamplifier input at 100
mV full scale range);
input termination used, (e.g. high impedance or 50 Ohm);
bandpass filter(s) used;
time window ( 1 second) and sampling rate for determination of peak
noise and, if applicable, RMS noise.
For the verification of AE signal processor noise, no preamplifier shall be

connected. Either the peak noise has to be determined by searching the
lowest threshold level that causes less than one hit per second, or the peak
noise has to be taken from a seamless waveform record of at least one
second duration. The determined noise level shall be reported as peak value
in V and optionally as RMS value in V with reference to the measurement
range of the preamplifier input, usually 100 mV. The peak noise can be
converted from V to dBAE. An example of a report form is shown in Annex C.
7.5 Burst signal parameter verification

7.5.1 General
This section gives the procedure for verifying the measured AE burst signal
parameters. The test parameters, test signal, required tests and minimum
acceptance limits are given in this clause. Acceptance limits derived from the
manufacturers specifications may be tighter. The range of test signals used
shall properly cover the dynamic range of all verified burst signal parameters.
For the verification of energy counts and duration, by using a rectangular
modulated sine wave, the signal behind the application specific filter may
exhibit additional ring down counts at the end of the signal. An example is
shown in Figure 13. The effect of those additional ring down counts on the
readings of energy, counts and duration can be compensated: an additional
reference measurement of short duration is used to determine an offset value
for each of the results energy, counts and duration, which should be constant
for all durations. Accordingly, all other measurement values of a test series of
varied duration can be corrected by considering the determined offset values.
Figure 13 Example of the influence of an application specific

bandpass filter on begin and end of a rectangular modulated test signal
7.5.2 Peak amplitude

The input test signal shall be a triangular or a sine-modulated sine wave of at
least 20 cycles rise and 20 cycles decay. The amplitude shall be referred to
the input of the preamplifier at a certain measurement range, usually 100
mV. The measured values shall be reported in dBAE and compared against
the nominal values. The verification shall be carried out at least at 4 steps 20
dB apart, e.g. at 38 dBAE, 58 dBAE, 78 dBAE, 98 dBAE, with a threshold setting
at 6 dB below the lowest test amplitude. For larger amplitudes the threshold
may be increased in order to avoid false hits from noise of the test signal
generator. For the determination of the acceptance limits for peak amplitude
verification two variables MA and MB have to be specified by the
equipment manufacturer. MA determines the acceptable deviation in dB,
especially for high amplitude levels; MB determines an additional tolerance
in terms of V related to a certain measurement range, usually 100 mV.
MB allows for accepting larger dB-deviations at low amplitude levels and

considers equipment specific ADC resolution and digitization noise. Table 2
shows acceptance limits for nominal input levels from 30 dBAE to 100 dBAE
obtained as follow. The upper acceptance limit is calculated by converting the
result of nominal dBAE value plus MA from dBAE into V, adding MB in V,
and converting the result back into dBAE. The lower acceptance limit is
calculated by converting the result of nominal dBAE value minus MA from
dBAE to V, subtracting MB in V, and converting the result back into dBAE.
Where:
MA and MB are manufacturer specifications (see above);
default values are: MA = 1 dB, MB = 6 V at 100 mV input range.
EXAMPLE For the determination of acceptance limits for the peak amplitude
verification:
MA = 1 dB, MB = 6 V at 100 mV range, a nominal amplitude value = 30
dBAE
Determination of the upper acceptance limit:

Step 1: (30 dBAE + 1 dB) converted to V is 35,5 V
Step 2: 35,5 V + 6 V is 41,5 V
Step 3: 41,5 V converted to dBAE. is 32,4 dBAE
Upper Acceptance Limit for an accurate 30 dBAE input = 32,4 dBAE
Determination of the lower acceptance limit:
Step 1: (30 dBAE 1 dB) converted to V is 28,2 V
Step 2: 28,2 V 6 V is 22,2 V
Step 3: 22,2 V converted to dBAE is 26,9 dBAE
Lower Acceptance Limit for an accurate 30 dBAE input = 26,9 dBAE
Table 2 Acceptance limits for nominal values from 30 to 100 dBAE

and 28 to 98 dBAE for MA = 1dB, MB = 6 V at 100 mV range
7.5.3 Duration
The verification of the signal duration shall be carried out at a minimum of
three specified settings using a rectangular modulated sine wave of variable
duration. A 4th setting can be used to obtain an offset reference as pointed
out in 7.5.1. Reference setting: 0,1 ms, test settings: 0,2 ms; 4 ms; 80 ms.
Recommended amplitude is 70 dBAE, threshold 64 dBAE. Acceptable
inaccuracy: (2/fc + 5 %) (fc = carrier frequency) after compensation of the
reference offset. The sequence of test signals generated for duration
verification can also be used for the verification of ring down counts (7.5.5)
and energy (7.5.6).
7.5.4 Rise time

The verification of the rise time shall be carried out using a triangular or sin2
modulated signal. Recommended amplitude is 70 dB, recommended
detection threshold setting is 40 dB. Using a triangular modulated sinewave
the recommended rise time test settings are 250 s and 1 000 s. Using a
sin2-modulated test signal with about 41 sine waves per burst the
recommended test settings for the carrier frequencies are 110 % FHP and 90
% FLP (for definition of FXX see 6.3.3). In both cases the acceptable
inaccuracy is 3/fc (fc means the carrier frequency). The systematic first
threshold crossing delay as described in 4.2.3 and listed in Table 1 shall be
considered for the nominal rise time interpretation.
7.5.5 Ring down count

The verification of the ring down counts shall be carried out at a minimum of
three specified settings using a rectangular modulated sine wave of variable
duration. A 4th setting can be used to obtain an offset reference as pointed
out in 7.5.1. It is recommended to perform ring down count verification on the
test signals stimulated for duration verification. The acceptable inaccuracy is
(2/fc +5 %) (fc = carrier frequency). Depending on frequency and duration
of the test signal, the ring down counter may reach its maximum; for a 16 bit
counter this is 65535. This maximum is acceptable for this verification step.
7.5.6 Energy
The energy is assumed to be proportional to the square of the signal
amplitude measured in volts, integrated over the signal duration. The
verification shall be carried out in two steps. Using a triangular or sinemodulated sine wave, the amplitude dependency shall be verified and using a
rectangular modulated sine wave the duration dependency. It is
recommended to combine step 1 with the amplitude verification (see 7.5.2,
whereby two values 20 dB apart are sufficient), and step 2 with the duration
verification (see 7.5.3) using the same reference compensation principle. For
both steps, the acceptable inaccuracy is (10 % +4 eu). (eu = energy units
of 10-14 V2s).
7.6 Parameters for continuous signal

The verification of the continuous signal level results (RMS, AVG,ASL,
floating threshold), where applicable, shall be carried out according to
instructions provided by the manufacturer.
8 External parameter verification

The output of a DC calibrator shall be used as test signal.
If different parametric inputs use a common analogue to digital converter
(ADC), all channels shall be verified individually, one channel at a minimum of
6 input levels per polarity, predominantly at 0 %, 1 %, 3 %, 10 %,
30 %, 90 % of the input range, the others at 0 % and 90 %. Unused
channels shall be terminated (0 to 50 ) and a zero result verified, so any
cross talk problem between the parametric channels would be discovered. If
parametric inputs use individual ADCs, all parametric inputs can be verified in
parallel in one setup with a minimum of 6 input levels per polarity
predominantly at 0 %, 1%, 3%, 10%, 30%, 90% of the input
range. The accuracy of the DC calibrator at these levels shall be verified and
considered in the interpretation of the readings.
8 External parameter verification

The output of a DC calibrator shall be used as test signal.
If different parametric inputs use a common analogue to digital converter
(ADC), all channels shall be verified individually, one channel at a minimum of
6 input levels per polarity, predominantly at 0 %, 1 %, 3 %, 10 %,
30 %, 90 % of the input range, the others at 0 % and 90 %. Unused
channels shall be terminated (0 to 50 ) and a zero result verified, so any
cross talk problem between the parametric channels would be discovered. If
parametric inputs use individual ADCs, all parametric inputs can be verified in
parallel in one setup with a minimum of 6 input levels per polarity
predominantly at 0 %, 1%, 3%, 10%, 30%, 90% of the input
range. The accuracy of the DC calibrator at these levels shall be verified and
considered in the interpretation of the readings. The acceptable inaccuracy of
the parametric input under verification shall be less than: (MPA % of
reading + MPB % of full scale input). EXAMPLE MPA = 0,5 %, MPB = 0,1 %,
Full scale: 10 V = 20 V, Nominal value: 1 V
Acceptable inaccuracy = (0,5 % x 1 V + 0,1 % x 20 V) = 2 mV.
9 System acquisition rate verification

The peak and continuous AE signal acquisition rate for the system, see 6.2 in
EN 13477-1:2001, when set-up for the relevant test conditions, shall be
verified. The maximum hit rate a channel can separate depends on the
duration and ring down of the repetitive test signal and the relevant timing
parameters. The maximum hit rate a computer can read from the AE
channels, process and store, depends on the maximum transfer speed
between AE-channel and AE controller, AE controller and PC, PC to hard
disk, the data volume of each hit (especially if waveform data are acquired),
the performance of the CPU, the complexity of online data analysis and the
presence of service tasks of the operation system, e.g. a virus scanner
working on an online data file.
Therefore all relevant settings are to be determined carefully and recorded for
reproducibility of the verification. For this verification step, the AE-system
manufacturer shall provide procedure(s) for the reproducible verification of
peak and continuous AE-signal acquisition rate, with and without waveform
storage. These procedures shall ensure the discovery of unexpected
degradations of PC speed performance, e.g. As experienced with highly
fragmented hard disks. If the AE system uses an external PC for data
acquisition, the verification report shall clearly identify the PC used for the
verification. The AE test agency shall ensure that each PC used for data
acquisition is verified in defined intervals.
10 t measurement verification
For AE systems that derive t from the absolute arrival time of each hit, only
the synchronisation of the time counters of all channels shall be verified. For
this, a repetitive pulse shall be fed into a reference channel and the channel
under verification in parallel. The difference of arrival times for the same pulse
at different channels shall be less than 2 units of the time counter resolution,
provided that both channels employ the same filter configuration. To ensure
the verification of proper long term synchronisation the above described
verification step shall be made some minutes after starting data acquisition. If
the AE system manufacturer warrants that the hardware and software design
performs a continuous self test of clock synchronisation among all channels
in all involved system boxes with clearly identifiable error messages, this
verification step can be skipped. If t measurement is based on a delay
measurement, two pulse signals with known and varied delay are to be fed
into the reference channel and the channel under verification. Comparison is
made between the measured time difference and the set delay time.
11 Documentation
A verification report including the following information shall be generated:
identification of equipment under verification (manufacturer, type, serial
numbers);
identification and last calibration date of test equipment used;
name of test person;
date of verification;
channel numbers and parameters under test;
test signal parameters used for verification;
test results;
manufacturer's specifications and acceptance limits;
environmental temperature during verification;
relative humidity.
Table 3 Parameters for AE signal processor verification
Test signals and parameters, required tests and acceptable inaccuracies at 100 mV input range.
(1), (2) one of two verifications required;
(3), (4) both verifications required
(5) after offset compensation 7.5.1
Reading#7
Detecting Crack Initiation Based on

Acoustic Emission
Azadeh Keshtgar*, Mohammad Modarres
Center for Risk and Reliability, University of Maryland
keshtgar@umd.edu
University of Maryland
Preface
Acoustic Emission (AE) is a non-destructive testing (NDT) with potential
applications for locating and monitoring fatigue cracks during structural health
management.
In this paper, the AE signal properties for identifying the presence of a small
initial crack is assessed to provide the presence of the onset of a potential
growing crack. The approach is based on establishing any association
between particular features of AE and fatigue crack initiation.
Experimental investigation from uniform cyclic loading tests performed on
compact tension samples of 7075 aluminium alloys indicated that onset of
crack can be identified through a multivariate statistical analysis of AE data.
Optical microscopy is used as a measurement tool to size the actual small
crack. Result from this testing showed that certain properties of the AE events
noticeably change after crack initiation. It was concluded that AE technology
can successfully detects crack initiation. The proposed method has
significant potential to be used for in-situ monitoring and evaluation of health
of structures.
Keypoint:
It was concluded that AE technology can successfully detects crack
initiation. The proposed method has significant potential to be used for insitu monitoring and evaluation of health of structures.
1. Introduction
One of the major concerns in engineering structures is early detection of a
growing crack to prevent subsequent damage, predict remaining useful life,
schedule maintenance and reduce costly downtime.
Acoustic Emission (AE) is a non-destructive testing (NDT) with potential
applications for locating and monitoring fatigue cracks during structural health
management and prognosis.
This paper focuses on insitu monitoring of structural health specifically
detection of small crack growth and crack initiation using AE technology
(Keshtgar and Modarres, 2012)
The fatigue behavior of small cracks is often very different from large cracks.
(?)
There is no universally accepted definition of a small crack, but most experts

consider cracks less than 1mm long (<0.04 in. or <0.001 m) as small
(Anderson, 1995). The crack initiation has subjective definitions as well, for
example US Navy defines the presence of a crack 0.25 mm in length, as the
crack initiation (Iyyer et al., 2007).
In this research, small cracks correspond to the crack lengths less than 0.25
mm (250 m) with low crack growth rates, mostly in threshold region (Region
1) of the fatigue crack growth curve.
In this paper the subjectivity of crack initiation will be addressed by
determination of the smallest detectable crack size that corresponds to the
occurrence of significant AE activities. A crack propagates at a very low
growth rate at the first stage.
Discussion
Statement: In this paper the subjectivity of crack initiation will be addressed
by determination of the smallest detectable crack size that corresponds to the
occurrence of significant AE activities. A crack propagates at a very low
growth rate at the first stage.
Comment:
AET is able to detect micro AE phenomenon; SSC, SCC, dislocation movements and
twinning
Therefore, it is very difficult to capture such microscopic crack growths. Of the

various test techniques that have been used to record the growth of small
fatigue cracks, only a few can provide useful measurements of small-crack
growth (Forth et al. 2005). Some measurement methods involve stopping the
test to observe and measure the size of small crack. However,, these
methods provide post-test information, making real-time monitoring of the
small crack behavior impossible (Larson and Allison 1992). It is desirable to
not only measure crack length and crack growth rate of small fatigue cracks,
but to do so in real time in order to correlate the crack growth rate to AE
signal properties.
Fatigue Crack Growth
http://www.intechopen.com/books/light-metal-alloys-applications/mechanical-behavior-of-precipitation-hardened-aluminum-alloys-welds
2. Acoustic Emission Theory

Acoustic Emission may be defined as a transient elastic wave generated by
the rapid release of energy within a material (Morton et al. 1973).
(& continuous AE)
An AE signal is the electrical signal produced by a sensor in response to this
wave (Gong et al. 1992). The characteristics of the AE signal are determined
by the mechanism that generated the signal, the means by which it travels
through the material, and the sensor that transforms the emission into the
signal (Beattie, 1983). The most commonly used AE feature for fatigue is the
exceedance counts, which is defined as the number of times that the AE
signal amplitude exceeds a predefined subjective threshold value (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Features of AE signal
Several attempts have been made to relate other AE parameters such as

energy and amplitude to fatigue crack growth properties such as stress
intensity factor range (K), maximum stress intensity factor (Kmax) and crack
growth rates (some references include: Lindley et al. 1978, Bassim et al.,
1994; Berkovits and Fang 1995, Gerberich and Hartbower 1963, Gong et al.
1998, Roberts and Talebzadeh, 2003; Biancolini et al., 2006; Rabiei et al.,
2010). In addition to recording the number of AE counts and correlating this
number to the measured damage, it is also helpful to record some certain
properties of the AE waveform including peak amplitude which is related to
the intensity of the source in the material producing an AE, and Rise Time
which measures the time it takes to reach the peak amplitude of an event
(see Figure 1).
Comments:
Rise Time for noise discrimination and source characterization.
3. Experimental
3.1 Material and Specimens
The material used in this study was a 7075-T6 aluminium alloy supplied in the
form of compact tension (CT) specimens. The test specimens were
manufactured from 3.175 mm (0.125 in.) thick plates.
The geometry of the specimens is shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2. Drawing of CT specimen used in fatigue testing
3.2 System and Test Set Up

An advanced DiSP-4 AE system, supplied by Physical Acoustic Corporation
(http:// www.pacndt.com) was used to detect and record the AE signals
resulting from the propagation of a crack.
This monitoring system consists of four main(3,?) parts:
(1) a single AE sensor to collect the signals and an amplifier to amplify them,
(2) a data acquisition module to perform primary filtration and record the
signals, and
(3) a software module to visualize the data and to perform the feature
extraction.
The CT specimens were instrumented with the AE sensor and mounted on an
MTS 312 uni-axial fatigue-testing machine that applied constant amplitude
cyclic loading to conduct the standard fatigue tests. All fatigue experiments
were implemented in accordance with ASTM standard (ASTM, 2010) using
standard CT specimens under cyclic loading with frequency of 20 Hz and
loading ratio of 0.5. The minimum and maximum applied loads were 4.5 kN
and 9 kN, respectively. Tests were conducted in laboratory air at ambient
temperature. An AE transducer was used to capture AE signals.
The fatigue cracks were monitored by direct measurement using an optical

microscope on the front surface. The optical measurement system was
composed of several components: a high magnification microscope, a video
camera attached to the microscope that tracks the behavior of the crack
growth for the duration of the fatigue test, a dual arm fiber optic illuminator, a
high resolution monitor, an image processing software with the time-lapse
photography capability, and a micro-meter scale to calibrate the photographs
taken. This measurement system allows detection of small crack lengths, and
is sufficient forcapturing enough data to correlate observed crack length with
the AE signals.
Figure 3 shows the optical microscopy test

set up used for the small crack experiment.
The assembled optical microscopy unit was
focused on the specimen using 50X
magnification to observe the specimen notch
edge, from which the crack was expected to
initiate. A dual arm gooseneck illuminator
lighted the target area from both sides, and
the camera was used in conjunction with the
software to take time-lapse photos of the
crack growth. Calibrating the optical system
at 50X magnifications using a scale ruler and
ImageJ showed that the smallest crack size
practically measurable on these tests was on
the order of 0.1 mm (100 m). The crack
sizes were monitored until the crack exceeds
the length of 0.5 mm. At this point, sufficient
small crack data was collected so the test
was stopped. A visual record of the crack
size is shown in Figure 4.
Figure 3. Experimental system set up
Figure 4. Optical measurement of crack growth
4. AE Fatigue Test Results

In Region 1 (small crack growth area), crack growth per cycle is extremely
small and the AE count obtained is about an order of magnitude less than that
for large cracks in steady state region (Chaswal et al., 2004); therefore, the
AE threshold of 35 dB was used to capture more crack related signals.
4.1 Data Analysis

Signals from the AE sensor were filtered using a band pass filter (200 kHz- 3
MHz) to eliminate emissions from extraneous sources. Acoustic emission
data during the loading portion of a cycle were considered related to crack
propagation (Robert and Talebzadeh, 2003), and the remaining AE signals
related to unloading part of the cycle were not used in the data analysis. The
majority of researchers have assumed that only events occurring close to the
maximum or peak load are associated directly with crack growth (Rabiei
2011). So, the filtered AE events were separated for different percentages of
the applied load range and it was determined that the AE counts occurring
within the top 40 % of peak load shows the closest correlation with crack
propagation rates.(Keshtgar and Modarres, 2012) The sizes of the pictured
cracks were measured using a Java-based image-processing program called
ImageJ (Ferreira and Rasband, 2011).
Three fatigue specimens were monitored using both acoustic emission and
optical microscopy measurement. The results show that cumulative AE
counts as well as cumulative AE amplitude have increasing correlation with
the measured crack sizes. An example of such a relationship is shown in
Figure 5 for experiment CT1. Obviously there is a remarkable similarity
between the correlation of AE amplitude and AE counts with the small crack
size.
Figure 5. Cumulative AE Count and Amplitude versus Observed Crack

Length
4.2 Detection of crack initiation

Acoustic emission-based detection of crack initiation is the ultimate goal of
this study. The main idea is that the initiation of fatigue crack corresponds to
asudden appearance of a high peak AE count. These High peak signals
might also be due to background noise, micro-crack generation, or plastic
deformation. In order to reduce uncertainties and determine the early abrupt
jumps in AE events, which correspond to crack initiation, a new averaging
index called AE-intensity is proposed to combine multiple features of an AE
signal for detecting the onset of cracks (See Eq. 1). Noise signals have been
shown to have relatively higher rise times when compared to AE signals
related to the crack.
Generally, if the sensor is located near the source, crack related AE signals
have a fast rising time (!) , but mechanical noise rarely has such a fast rise
time (Miller and Hill 2005). In addition, this study showed that crack-related
signals also comprise higher amplitudes as well as higher counts.
Therefore, it can be concluded that the signals with lower rise time (?) , higher
amplitudes and higher counts correspond to crack growth rather than noise.
Estimation of crack initiation time can be implemented by simultaneous
evaluation of these AE features. The first appearance of a high amplitude,
high count, and low-rise time (?) AE signal corresponds to crack initiation.
Comments:
Generally, if the sensor is located near the source, crack related AE
signals
have a fast rising time (!)
Therefore, it can be concluded that the signals with lower rise time (?) ,
higher amplitudes and higher counts correspond to crack growth rather
than noise.
Eq. 1
where C (t) is the normalized number of counts at a specific time t, A (t)

indicates the normalized amplitude of the signal and R (t) is the normalized
rise time of the signal at time t. Weights were subjectively selected as:
Post processing of the data recorded revealed that no AE event believed to

be caused by crack initiation during the first 18,700 cycles of monitoring the
tests, even though some AE signals were recorded due to background noise.
For experiment CT1 the first jump in AE intensity (sudden increase of 62 %)
was detected at approximately 18700 Cycles, which is an indication that
crack initiation was taking place. Similar observation achieved for other tests.
The numbers of cycles for crack initiation were 19,400 and 20620 for
experiment CT2 and CT3, respectively and the jumps observed in AE
intensity were more than 50 % sudden increase (60.5 % for CT2 and 59 % for
CT3) Cumulative AE intensity was calculated for the time of crack initiation
and for the entire crack growth duration.
A linear correlation was observed between the cumulative AE intensity (?)

and crack sizes. As it can be seen in Figure 6, linear correlation between
AEIntensity and small crack growth exists in the entire crack length range.
The slopes of the lines from those three experiments are apparently similar to
within 10 %. The length of initial crack at the estimated initiation time could
be quantified using the linear relationship between the cumulative AE
intensity and crack length. Back extrapolation method was used to estimate
the actual crack initiation length at the time of observation of the first jump in
AE-Intensity event for each experiment.
The results are summarized in Table 1.
Figure 6. Correlation between AE intensity and crack size for different

experiments (a) observed correlation (b) fitted linear lines
Note:
cumulative intensity?
Table 1: Estimated Crack Initiation Lengths
5. Conclusions
A method for detecting crack initiation during high cycle fatigue tests was
demonstrated using AE monitoring. Filtering techniques were employed
during the recording and interpreting of the AE data.
An intensity index for AE events was proposed to reduce the noise and
distinguish the AE signals from initiated crack. Acoustic emission intensity
encompasses the total value of weighted features including count, amplitude
and rise time. It was discussed that the first detected jump (more than 50%
sudden increase) in intensity of AE signals having a relatively fast rise time
and high amplitude, as well as highcount numbers corresponds to the crack
initiation. The small crack lengths were measured experimentally using
optical microscopy in conjunction with image processing methods.
The results proved linear relationships between AE intensity and small crack
growth. The AE intensity monitoring results were in a good agreement with
different experiments. The estimated crack initiation length that corresponds
to the first jump in intensity of AE event was obtained by extrapolation of the
fitted linear model. The proposed method is one example of weighting
features for intensity calculation; other options are being investigated to find
the most consistent detection results. Additional experimental data would be
necessary to establish a probabilistic estimate of the crack length probability
density function at the time of crack initiation.
Reading#8
Study and Application of Acoustic

Emission Testing in Fault Diagnosis of
Low-Speed Heavy-Duty Gears
Lixin Gao, Fenlou Zai, Shanbin Su, Huaqing Wang,
Peng Chen and Limei Liu
www.mdpi.com/journal/sensors
Beijing University of Chemical Technology
Abstract: Most present studies on the acoustic emission signals of

rotating machinery are experiment-oriented, while few of them involve on-spot
applications. In this study, a method of redundant second generation wavelet
transform based on the principle of interpolated subdivision was developed.
With this method, subdivision was not needed during the decomposition. The
lengths of approximation signals and detail signals were the same as those of
original ones, so the data volume was twice that of original signals; besides,
the data redundancy characteristic also guaranteed the excellent analysis
effect of the method. The analysis of the acoustic emission data from the
faults of on-spot low-speed heavy-duty gears validated the redundant second
generation wavelet transform in the processing and denoising of acoustic
emission signals. Furthermore, the analysis illustrated that the acoustic
emission testing could be used in the fault diagnosis of on-spot low-speed
heavy-duty gears and could be a significant supplement to vibration testing
diagnosis.
Keywords: acoustic emission; low-speed and heavy-duty; gear fault
diagnosis; redundant second generation wavelet
Large Digger
1. Introduction
A gear system is a power and motion transmission device that is applied most
extensively in various kinds of industrial equipment. Its operational state
directly affects the function of the whole equipment. Faults and failures of
gears can cause great damage to the whole production. Therefore, the
diagnosis of gear faults is of significant importance. The background noise in
the fault signals of low-speed heavy-duty gears is complicated and of low
energy, so conventional vibration testing methods are not effective. The
acoustic emission is the high-frequency stress-wave signal emitted due to
structural imperfections. Compared with vibration signals, the frequency
spectra of acoustic emission signals are broader, and their high frequencies
can inhibit (distinguished?) the noise interferences effectively and improve the
diagnosis accuracy.
Besides, any dynamic imperfections can be detected through acoustic

emission, and it is unnecessary to force the detected piece to approach the
detection device. Therefore, there are great advantages in predicting and
diagnosing the faults of low-speed heavy-duty gears with acoustic emission.
It is worth noting that most previous studies have been focused on the
analysis of laboratory data. On the one hand, they make the necessary
preparations for the on-spot application of acoustic emission testing; on the
other hand, noises interfere with the on-spot testing of acoustic emission. The
application of acoustic emission to the fault diagnosis of low-speed heavyduty gears is presently a research hot spot and of great practical significance
to the industrial production management.
2. Principles of Acoustic Emission Testing

Acoustic emission testing refers to a technique of testing, recording and
analyzing acoustic emission signals using apparatus as well as speculating
on the status of an acoustic emission source as normal or not based on
acoustic emission signals.
The principle of acoustic emission testing is shown in Figure 1: the elastic
waves sent from the acoustic emission source are transmitted to the material
surface via a transmission media and converted to electric signals by sensors
before being magnified, processed and recorded. Through the analysis and
processing of acquired signals, any defects inside the material could be
detected.
Figure 1. Principle of Acoustic Emission Testing.
As for the methods of processing the acoustic emission signals of rotating

machinery, presently there are (1) parameter analysis methods and (2)
waveform analysis methods.
The former ones are dominated by methods based on basic parameters such
as the ring, energy and amplitudes [1]; compared with the original waveforms
of signals, however, these parameters lose massive information and have
difficulties in characterizing the essence of defects. Technicians at home and
abroad have done a lot of research on waveform analysis methods.
By building a theoretical model, Bashir simulated the acoustic emission

energy which was sent upon the extension of the fine cracks on the rolling
bearings in a helicopter gearcase.
The extension course of cracks could be tested in real time, and the bearing
faults could be detected before surface materials were peeled off bearings [2].
McFadden employed acoustic emission sensors to test the signals of angular
contact thrust bearings under low-speed rotation. He noticed that, in lowspeed rotation, the acoustic emission sensors could detect the acoustic
emission signals induced by the concentrated load of rolling elements [3].
Mba et al. distinguished the types of bearing faults using the acoustic
emission technique and auto-regressive coefficients. They obtained
substantial results, but did not validate them in practice.
In recent years, wavelet technology has been widely applied to the testing
and diagnosis of heavy-duty equipment in China and other countries. Based
on the general framework of morphological undecimated wavelets, Zhang et
al. employed the morphological opening operation and the multi-scale TopHat transform as the analysis operators for the approximation signals and the
detail signals in wavelet decomposition, respectively. Through tests, they
verified the feasibility and validity of the method [9]. He et al. used wavelet
scalograms to analyze in detail the time-frequency, propagation and
dispersion characteristics of rubbing acoustic emission [10]. Deng et al.
extracted the high-frequency components containing the fault signals of
spindles for envelopment analysis and detected successfully fault frequencies
[11].
Classical wavelet construction generally depends on the Fourier transform in

the frequency domain. After the construction, the wavelet shape is fixed and
difficult to match waveforms with different signal characteristic. In order to
overcome the above drawbacks, Sweldens put forward a promotion algorithm
for the construction of wavelet functions, which was known as the second
generation wavelet transform [12]. With promotion steps and corresponding
principles being applied to the design of predictors and updaters, wavelets
with expected characteristics can be constructed and applied in the fault
diagnosis of mechanical equipment. Li et al. analyzed the drawbacks of the
promotion algorithm and the redundant promotion algorithm. Aiming at the
cause for the generation of error transfer in the redundant promotion
algorithm, they put forward an improved redundant promotion algorithm
based on normalizing factors and extracted successfully the characteristics of
faint fault signals using the shock pulse method [13].
faint fault signals using the shock pulse method [13]. Zhao eliminated the
background noise of acoustic emission signals through wavelet analysis and
reconstruction, and then identified the faults of rolling bearings using the
wavelet envelopment spectrum analysis method. Test results proved that the
faults of rolling bearings could be detected effectively with the wavelet
envelopment spectrum analysis [14]. Using the wavelet packet technique,
Yao extracted the characteristics of the acoustic emission signals during the
crack extension on bearings and identified acoustic emission sources through
soft demodulation [15].
The above research achievements show that, although acoustic emission

signals are one of a few effective carriers that can be acquired from the
testing diagnosis information of low-speed heavy-duty equipment, there are
still great difficulties in identifying the early faults in such equipment by using
acoustic emission signals. So far, the research has basically been limited to
the laboratory stage, and inadequate studies have made about the
applicability of on-spot engineering. The low-speed heavy-duty equipment in
real operation bears enormous alternating load and various kinds of shock.
With the motions and mechanical frictions, etc. of water, oil, gas and other
types of liquid being taken into account, there are abundant signals and one
of the acknowledged puzzles has been how to identify early faults effectively
in the presence of strong background noise. In this study, a redundant second
generation wavelet transform method was constructed and it was validated
that the redundant second generation wavelet transform was effective in the
processing and denoising of acoustic emission signals through the analysis of
the acoustic emission data from the faults of on-spot low-speed heavy-duty
gears.
3. Study on Redundant Second Generation Wavelet

Algorithm
3.1. Redundant Second Generation Wavelet Construction Algorithm
The redundant second generation wavelet transform includes two processes:
decomposition and reconstruction.
The decomposition includes two parts: prediction and renovation. The
reconstruction includes the reconstruction recovery and the renovation
recovery.
During the decomposition and reconstruction, the length of a signal sequence
remains fixed. Symbols P and U in the algorithm represent the predictor and
the updater, respectively. The decomposition is as follows: the original signal
sequence is denoted by s(n), with the data length as L. The course of the
redundant second generation wavelet decomposition is expressed as follows:
1) Prediction. Each sample in the signal sequence is predicted with adjacent

samples through predictor P, and prediction error
is defined as detail signals:
(2) Renovation. Based on detail signal , updater is used to renovate each

sample in the signal sequence using 2lN detail signals. The signal sequence
s l+1 (n) obtained after the renovation is defined as approximation signals:
(1) Renovation recovery. Sample sequence is recovered with approximation

signal and detail signal d l+1 :
(2) Prediction recovery. Sample sequence spl is recovered with

approximation signal sul and detail signal sul
(3) Sample sequence sul after the renovation recovery and sample sequence
spl after the prediction recovery are averaged, and the result is used as
reconstruction signal sl
3.2. Construction Method of Predictor and Updater

~
The updater length can be different from the predictor length, e.g., N =8 In
~
order to calculate the updater coefficient at N =8 , the predictor coefficient at
N =8 needs to be calculated first, then a half of the predictor coefficient is the
result. Figures 2 and 3 show the decomposition and reconstruction processes
at the predictor length of 2 and the updater length of 4.
Figure 2. The decomposition process of redundant second generation

wavelet.
Figure 3. The reconstruction process of redundant second generation

wavelet.
3.3. Comparison between the Denoising Effect of Redundant Second

Generation Wavelet and General Wavelet
We construct a high-frequency attenuation oscillator signal with the frequency
of 500 Hz, as shown in Figure 4(a). White Gaussian noise is superposed in
the signal, as shown in Figure 4(b). The traditional wavelet and the redundant
second generation wavelet are used to conduct the denoising on signals.
DB10 wavelet is selected as the traditional wavelet for the 3-layer wavelet
decomposition,
while soft threshold and adaptive noise reduction are chosen as the denoise
threshold, the denoising results as shown in Figure 4(c); the signals were
decomposed with redundant second generation wavelet into three-layer and
the lengths of the predictor and the updater were set at 8, soft threshold
denoising and self-adaptive denoising were employed, and the empirical
value c was set to 2.9, the denoising results as shown in Figure 4(d).
The energy ratio and standard deviation of signals were calculated using the
two wavelets denoising. The energy ratio and standard deviation of signal
using DB10 wavelet denoising are 0.5012, 16.2809; the energy ratio and
standard deviation of signal using redundant second generation wavelet
denoising are 0.3755, 18.2142. From the denoising results, it can be seen
that the redundant second generation wavelet has de-noised more noise
signals than traditional wavelet; from the comparison between energy ratio
and standard deviation, it can be seen that the redundant second generation
wavelet is more ideal.
Figure 4. Comparison illustrations for signal denoising.
4. Analysis of Acoustic Emission Data from Faults of

On-Spot Gears Based on Redundant Second Generation
Wavelet
The acoustic emission testing was conducted on seven rough bar mills in a
particular steel plant on 23 June 2010; the employed testing apparatus was a
SAEU2S acoustic emission scanner produced by the Beijing Shenghua
Xingye Technological Co. Ltd.
Before beginning the signal acquisition, we needed to conduct sensitivity
calibration for the sensors. The signals generated by the pencil lead-breaking
is very similar to the signals produced by the metal crack propagation,
therefore, we can use the pencil lead as a source of simulated AE signals to
conduct detection. The collected signal is as shown in Figure 5.
From Figure 5, it can be clearly seen that burst-type acoustic emission signal
is generated by pencil lead break, which indicates that the sensitivity of the
sensor has met the requirements, so the data acquisition is feasible.
Figure 5. AE signals of lead-breaking in time domain.
The installation site for sensors was shown in Figure 6. Set the sampling
frequency to 800 KHz and the sampling site number to 262144.
Figure 6. Installation site of sensors.
Figure 7 shows the time-domain and the frequency-domain of the acoustic

emission. From the time-domain figure, no significant cyclic shock component
could be seen; from the original frequency-spectrum figure, harmonics with
intervals about 261 Hz could be seen. The AE signals were denoised with
redundant second generation wavelet; afterwards, the Hilbert demodulation
was performed.
Figure 7. AE signals in time-domain and frequency-domain.
From the original frequency-spectrum figure, harmonics with intervals about

261 Hz could be seen
The procedure for redundant second generation wavelet denoising being

performed on signals is the following:
Step 1: Determine the number of signal decomposition layers of redundant
second generation wavelet; in this paper, the AE signals were decomposed
with redundant second generation wavelet into four-layer and the lengths of
the predictor and the updater were set at 20;
Step 2: Determine the threshold; in this paper, soft threshold denoising and
self-adaptive denoising were employed. The empirical value c was set to 2.9.
Step 3: Reconstruct the details signal processed with the threshold and
approximation signal, and then the denoised signal is obtained.
Figure 8 shows as AE partial enlarged view of frequency spectra after

redundant second generation wavelet denoising and Hilbert demodulation.
From Figure 8, it could be seen that the gear wheel of the epicyclic gearbox
has a gear-mesh frequency of 259.4 Hz, a double frequency of 518.8 Hz, a
triple frequency of 778.2 Hz, a quadruple frequency of 1,044 Hz, a quintuple
frequency of 1300 Hz and high-order harmonics. Besides, the frequency
spectra were more significant than those in the original image within 2,500 Hz.
Figure 8. AE partial enlarged view of frequency spectra after redundant

second generation wavelet denoising and Hilbert demodulation.
From the perspective of mechanism analysis, we can see that if there is no

abrasion, each gear has an involuted shape and the signal generated in the
operation process is the single-frequency harmonic curve whose frequency is
the gear mesh frequency; after the gear abrasion, the shape of gear changes
and the signal generated in the operation process is the approximate periodic
signal curve whose fundamental frequency is the gear mesh frequency; the
more serious the abrasion is, the nearer time-domain curve gets to a square
wave. So as the amplitude of mesh frequency (i.e., fundamental frequency)
increases, the ultra-harmonics (double, triple, quadruple and quintuple
fundamental frequency) amplitude of mesh frequency also significantly
increases. The above analysis indicates that the gear wheel of the epicyclic
gearbox may have suffered abrasion. In the internal check on June 24, 2010,
tooth-face abrasion and peel-off was detected on the gear wheel of the
epicyclic gearbox (see Figure 9). The results of analysis and diagnosis
matched the on-spot conditions.
Figure 9. Picture of tooth-face abrasion and peel-off. The
The vibration sensors mounted on identical sites. Figure 10 shows the

vibration signals in the time-domain and the frequency-domain, no significant
characteristics. The method processing acoustic emission signals were also
used to analyze the vibration signals (see Figure 11), also no significant
characteristics. Therefore, the acoustic emission testing diagnosis was more
effective than the vibration testing diagnosis in certain aspects.
Figure 10. Vibration signals in time-domain and frequency-domain.
Figure 10. Vibration signals in time-domain and frequency-domain.
Figure 11. Spectrum of vibration signal after redundant second generation

wavelet denoising and Hilbert demodulation.
5. Conclusions
The application of redundant second generation wavelet and acoustic
emission testing in gear fault diagnosis was investigated in this study.
Through the analysis of on-spot cases, the following conclusions were
obtained:
(1) The acoustic emission testing diagnosis could be applied to the fault
diagnosis of on-spot low-speed heavy-duty gears and was a crucial
supplement to the vibration testing diagnosis.
(2) The length of the approximation signals and detail signals obtained after
the decomposition of redundant second generation wavelet was the
same as that of original ones, so the amount of information was twice
that of the original. Such a characteristic of redundant second
generation wavelet guaranteed that it could achieve an effect better
than conventional wavelet and second generation one. With the
denoising technique based on redundant second generation wavelet, all
fault shock information could be preserved, which was unmatchable for
other denoising techniques.
(3) The validity of this algorithm of the redundant second generation
wavelet transform during the processing and denoising of acoustic
emission signals was verified.
Acknowledgments
This work is supported by National High Technology Research and Development Program 863
(Grant No. 2009AA04Z417) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.
51075023), Beijing Municipal Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 3112004) and Beijing
Municipal Training Program for Excellent Talents (Grant No. 2010D009016000003).
Reading#9
Structure Inspection Manual Part 5 NDT and PDT

Testing Chapter 6 Acoustic Emission
6. ACOUSTIC EMISSION
6.1 Introduction
Noises occurring in nature are accompanied by, and are probably the result of,
an energy release of some kind. Fatigue cracks, weld discontinuities, and
many other failure causing mechanisms also produce sound energy.
Although a portion of the sound produced by materials under stress may exist
as audible sound, most is low energy and inaudible. This depends on
deformation magnitude and type, and upon flaw growth or failure. An example
of the audible stress release occurred at the Mianus River Bridge in
Greenwich, CT, where various newspapers reported loud noises were heard
by residents days before the actual collapse occurred. This was also the case
at the Hoan Bridge in Milwaukee, where witnesses reported a loud noise at
the time of the brittle fracture of the steel girders.
For the purposes of this discussion, an Acoustic Emission (AE) is defined as

inaudible sound (ultrasound) energy released within a material undergoing
deformation or flaw growth. An AE test is described as a method used to
detect this sound energy.
To detect acoustic emissions, one or more listening transducers are
attached to the test object. Positioning of AE transducers in the path of
anticipated sound propagation enables detection. The detected signals are
then electronically processed to derive information or the location and
severity of growing flaws. It should be noted that guard transducers (master
& slave transducer ) are also used in conjunction with the listening
transducers to differentiate the flaws from just normal bridge noises. Refer to
Figure 6.1-1 for a schematic of a basic acoustic emission test.
Figure 6.1-1: Acoustic Emission Test Configuration (Guard Transducers are

Not Shown for Clarity).
AE testing differs significantly from the other nondestructive testing (NDT)

methods discussed in Part 5. Perhaps the most notable differences are:
The detected signal is produced by the test material itself, not by an
external source (by the transducer) . The AE transducers need only act
as receivers;
tests detect movement, where most other methods typically only detect
existing geometrical discontinuities; and
An applied stress is required to cause flaw growth, and hence, the acoustic
emission. The applied stress can be the result of the components service and
dead loads or an induced load used specifically for the AE test. In many tests,
a combination of the two is necessary.
Various American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Standards
cover AE testing and are dependant on the material and type of structural
component being tested.
6.2 Applications
Acoustic Emission (AE) testing is used to detect cracks, corrosion, weld
defects, and material embrittlement. This method can be used on a wide
variety of materials, such as metal, timber, concrete, fiberglass, composites,
and ceramic.
An entire structure can be monitored with AE testing from a few locations,
reducing the amount of access required. AE testing can also be conducted
while the structure is in-service.
AE testing is a real-time nondestructive testing (NDT) method. In other words,
it is monitoring the actual condition of the component during the test. The AE
test method can also be used to record an accumulation of damage occurring
within a structure. The data obtained can be used as history for a structure,
and possibly to predict failure.
6.3 Limitations
A primary limitation of Acoustic Emission (AE) testing of structures, such as
bridges, is the requirement to differentiate the sound energy released by a
growing flaw from that which is called background noise. Many background
noise generators such as bolts, joint friction, traffic, and others can mimic or
mask the sound energy released from growing cracks. Some AE test
methods avoid this problem by isolating areas known to contain possible
background noise generators.
When a global AE inspection is conducted to determine areas where
structural problems exist, additional nondestructive testing (NDT) or partially
destructive testing (PDT) methods may be required to identify the exact
nature of the emission source defect.
More Reading
http://www.technology.stfc.ac.uk/ERU/AEGIS/aegis.htm
Good Luck!

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2016-02 For my ASNT Level III Examination on

Fion Zhang/ Charlie Chong

Acoustic Emission Testing

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Acoustic Emission Testing

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Acoustic Emission Testing

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Fion Zhang at St Petersburg

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SME- Subject Matter Expert

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The Magical Book of Tank Inspection ICP

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2 Equipment and Materials

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References & Catalog Numbers

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Introduction to Acoustic Emission

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Figure 1. Acoustic emission due to crack growth in a solid material

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