AET-2006 Reading 1

My Reading on
Acoustic Emission Testing

2016-01 For my ASNT Level III
Examination on coming 2016 August.

3rd June 2016
Fion Zhang/ Charlie Chong
Fion Zhang/ Charlie Chong
Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang
Offshore Drilling
Fion Zhang at St Petersburg

3rd 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://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
Reference Catalog Number

NDT Handbook, Second Edition: Volume 5, Acoustic Emission Testing 130
Acoustic Emission: Techniques and Applications 752
Acoustic Emission
Testing
Reading#1
2.1. Acoustic emission

Acoustic emission (AE) testing is based on the measurement of sound and
vibrations generated by material itself (static method). This process takes
place when the object is exposed to load (of mechanical or thermal nature in
general) that causes material distortions, which are indirectly the source
of the sound.
2.1.1. The source
The acoustic emission phenomenon has its origin in the rapid energy release.
After the release, the energy dissipates in all directions, analogously to circles
created by the stoned thrown to the lake. The amplitude of generated
vibrations decreases with time and to-origin distance, while the outreach of
them depends on:
(1) mechanical properties, (2) shape of the medium and (3) the surrounding.
The following figure illustrates the phenomenon of sound dissipation within a
structure.
AE- analogously to circles created by the stoned thrown to the lake
Figure 2: Acoustic emission propagation

The amplitude of generated
vibrations decreases with time
and to-origin distance, while the
outreach of them depends on:
(1) mechanical properties, (2)
shape of the medium and (3) the
surrounding.
(4) the initial amplitude?
The emitted acoustic signals may exist in two forms transient and
continuous.
The transient signals are treated as the result of e.g. cracks, thus they are
easily differentiated from the noise. They are short and impulsive from their
nature after they expire the only thing that can be measured is the noise
(which is to be filtered out). On the other hand,
The continuous acoustic emission signals come from the defects like
leakages, so they may have changeable amplitude and frequency but they
will never have the tendency to fade to the noise level.
Keywords: Changeable amplitude & frequency and never fade to noise level
In case one works with transient signals, the most important parameter of
acoustic emission is the peak amplitude. Its value may imply the character
and size of the fault that generated the signal. It is assumed that very short
(below 3s) activity periods with low number of threshold outpasses (below 3)
are treated as signal disturbances that are automatically filtered out.
Keywords:
It is assumed that very short (below 3s) activity periods with low number of
threshold outpasses (below 3) are treated as signal disturbances that are
automatically filtered out.
Figure 3: Transient signal
Figure 3: Transient signal (signal disturbances)

It is assumed that very short (below 3s) activity periods with low number of
threshold outpasses (below 3) are treated as signal disturbances that are
automatically filtered out.
3s
3
Terms
Threshold
Peak amplitude
Rising time
Signal duration
Threshold out-passes
Rising time
2.1.2. Application, pros & cons

Acoustic emission measurements and analysis are mainly used on pneumatic
and hydraulic installations and on fluid containers. Application of this nondestructive testing method allows for optimal base and installation designing
and fault detection (cracks, leakages, plastic deformations, corrosion).
What is more AE enables to avoid very expensive stops and launches of
installation (often connected with complex procedures and operations, e.g.
drying, cleaning, etc.). The big advantage of acoustic emission testing is that
it can be performed on the object while it is working (especially under the load)
and it allows for the detection of already existing and expanding defects. On
the other hand, the drawbacks of AE are that it is not sensitive to the flaws of
constant size (unless it is the leakage), it is noise-prone and that the analysis
of acoustic emission signals requires sophisticated processing algorithms that
in turn need experienced operator for conclusion drawing.
2.2. Resonant inspection

The resonant acoustics non-destructive testing (RI) is based on a simplified
modal analysis method. Modal analysis, as a scientific discipline, is
concerned with determining the natural frequencies and vibration modes for
that frequencies of the object. Knowing the characteristics of the dynamics of
the specimen one may define the frequency ranges (of e.g. excitation) within
which relevant component can operate and not resonate.
With the use of resonant inspection it is possible to detect such faults like the
inconsistency of dimension, shape, mass and density or cracks. What is more,
missed or improperly performed technological processes may be identified,
because every manufacturing shortcoming causes the change of the material
structure, that the examined object is made of.
2.2.1. The phenomenon

Every thing has its own and unique vibration characteristics. The resonant
frequencies distribution for sound and defectless objects should be identical
or at least almost identical. The value and amplitude of resonant frequencies
depend on mechanical properties of the item its mass, stiffness and
damping factor. Every change of one ore more mechanical features causes
the change in the response of the object to the excitation, thus the sound
and its spectrum also change. Any kind of difference between the resonant
characteristics of tested object and the reference one implies that one deals
with a flaw.
2.2.2. Testing procedure
The procedure of resonant inspection follows the scheme presented on the
following figure:
Figure 4: Resonant inspection system scheme
The first step in RI procedure is to excite the tested item. This excitation has
in most cases the form of impulse (e.g. hummer hit) and must be controlled to
preserve the repeatability of measurements. Once the item is excited it
sounds in the unique way, and its vibration response is measured by a
microphone within the wide range of frequencies (from audible up to
ultrasound). The following step is the processing of measured data vibration
signal transformation from time to frequency domain with the use of FFT. The
last thing to do is to compare the obtained spectrum with the reference one,
coming from flawless item. The comparing software decides whether the
presumptive shifts of resonant frequencies fit within assumed limits.
The mentioned item classification is based on:
shifts of resonances within amplitude and frequency range,
shifts of resonances within frequency range with amplitude preservation,
shifts and splits of resonances,
decays of resonant frequencies.
2.2.3. Application
The vibration NDT method may be applied to all materials exhibiting resonant
properties from metals, through ceramics up to composites. However the
feature that distinguishes that particular method from other NDT techniques is
that integrating the RI system with the technological line is simple and allows
for examination of 100% of total production.
Modal analysis is the study of the dynamic properties of structures under

vibrational excitation.
Modal analysis is the field of measuring and analysing the dynamic response
of structures and or fluids during excitation. Examples would include
measuring the vibration of a car's body when it is attached to an
electromagnetic shaker, or the noise pattern in a room when excited by a
loudspeaker. Modern day modal analysis systems are composed of:
1) sensors such as transducers (typically accelerometers, load cells), or non
contact via a Laser vibrometer, or stereophotogrammetric cameras
2) data acquisition system and an analog-to-digital converter frontend (to
digitize analog instrumentation signals) and
3) host PC (personal computer) to view the data and analyze it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modal_analysis
Classically this was done with a SIMO (single-input, multiple-output)

approach, that is, one excitation point, and then the response is measured at
many other points. In the past a hammer survey, using a fixed accelerometer
and a roving hammer as excitation, gave a MISO (multiple-input, singleoutput) analysis, which is mathematically identical to SIMO, due to the
principle of reciprocity. In recent years MIMO (multi-input, multiple-output)
have become more practical, where partial coherence analysis identifies
which part of the response comes from which excitation source. Using
multiple shakers leads to a uniform distribution of the energy over the entire
structure and a better coherence in the measurement. A single shaker may
not effectively excite all the modes of a structure.
Typical excitation signals can be classed as impulse, broadband, swept sine,
chirp, and possibly others. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages.
The analysis of the signals typically relies on Fourier analysis. The resulting
transfer function will show one or more resonances, whose characteristic
mass, frequency and damping can be estimated from the measurements.
The animated display of the mode shape is very useful to NVH (noise,
vibration, and harshness) engineers.
The results can also be used to correlate with finite element analysis normal
mode solutions.
Read:http://www.sti-tech.com/dl/feapaper.pdf
Keywords:
SIMO- single-input, multiple-output
MIMO- multi-input, multiple-output
Structures
In structural engineering, modal analysis uses the overall mass and stiffness
of a structure to find the various periods at which it will naturally resonate.
These periods of vibration are very important to note in earthquake
engineering, as it is imperative that a building's natural frequency does not
match the frequency of expected earthquakes in the region in which the
building is to be constructed. If a structure's natural frequency matches an
earthquake's frequency, the structure may continue to resonate and
experience structural damage. Modal analysis is also important in structures
such as bridges where the engineer should attempt to keep the natural
frequencies away from the frequencies of people walking on the bridge.
This may not be possible and for this reasons when groups of people are to
walk along a bridge, for example a group of soldiers, the recommendation is
that they break their step to avoid possibly significant excitation frequencies.
Other natural excitation frequencies may exist and may excite a bridge's
natural modes. Engineers tend to learn from such examples (at least in the
short term) and more modern suspension bridges take account of the
potential influence of wind through the shape of the deck, which might be
designed in aerodynamic terms to pull the deck down against the support of
the structure rather than allow it to lift. Other aerodynamic loading issues are
dealt with by minimising the area of the structure projected to the oncoming
wind and to reduce wind generated oscillations of, for example, the hangers
in suspension bridges.
Although modal analysis is usually carried out by computers, it is possible to
hand-calculate the period of vibration of any high-rise building through
idealization as a fixed-ended cantilever with lumped masses. For a more
detailed explanation, see "Structural Analysis" by Ghali, Neville, and Brown,
as it provides an easy-to-follow approach to idealizing and solving complex
structures by hand.
Car's door attached to an electromagnetic shaker.
A photograph showing the test set-up of a MIMO test on a wind turbine rotor.
The blades are excited using three mechanical shakers and the response is
measured using 12 accelerometers mounted to Blade 3; in the next stage of
the test, the accelerometers can be moved to Blade 2 and 3 to measure
response at those locations.
Electrodynamics
The basic idea of a modal analysis in electrodynamics is the same as in
mechanics. The application is to determine which electromagnetic wave
modes can stand or propagate within conducting enclosures such as
waveguides or resonators.
Reading#2
Acoustic Emission: a Modern and

Common NDT Method to Estimate
Industrial Facilities
Gerald LACKNER, Gert SCHAURITSCH, Peter TSCHELIESNIG
TV Austria, Vienna, Austria
http://mehrce2.persiangig.com/omran/acoustiiic%20emission.pdf
Abstract. Particularly with regard to the effort of the industry to reduce the
shut down time of industrial facilities, the desire for a practicable and
economic NDT method for periodic inspection becomes more and more
interest. In the last few years, the acoustic emission (AE) method achieved to
fulfil this requirement. In addition to the enormous development on hard- and
software-components for AE systems in the last years, the increase of
practical experiences and knowledge leads to a wide range of applications for
this test method in Europe and worldwide. On the other hand, the
implementation of AE in the European standardisation assured a high quality
of certified test personnel. Parallel to this, the evolution of product and
process standards raised the acceptance of AE for industrial application. In
many European countries, for example in Austria, the AE is settled in the
national law for the periodic inspection of several types of storage and
pressure vessels as well as piping systems.
Amongst other, AE is able to detect and locate material defects, corrosion

and leakages with a high sensitivity and accuracy and enfolded usually the
overall shape of the tested structure. Due to this property, AE is particularly
suitable as a test method for large structures. In the practice, the verification
of suspect places detected by AE, will be done with other NDT methods
(visual inspection, ultrasonic, radiographic a.s.o.). Together with the
interpretation of the AE results, an accurate conclusion about the actual
condition of the structure will be possible. The presentation describes the
current situation of AE from the Austrian point of view and explains the
interaction between different NDT methods based on the results of some
practical applications.
1.0 Introduction
In the past years acoustic emission testing (AET) has proven to be a powerful
maintenance tool. Already many different testing techniques are available for
a broad variety of components and test purposes. Metallic components of
plants to be tested after a certain period of service are operated in large
quantities at sites related to chemistry, petrochemistry, gas or pulp and paper.
The most common applications are:
AET on pressure vessels for cracks and corrosion,
AET on pipelines for leakage,
AET on flat bottomed storage tanks for leakage and corrosion.
All applications have in common, that the test conditions should be similar to
normal service conditions. Therefore pressure vessels are tested preferably
by pressurisation with the same medium as used for operation till to a load
exceeding at least the maximum service pressure. Pipeline testing with the
leakage detection pig even requires a pipeline being in service so that the
device is driven by the product from the pig launch to the receiving trap. And
for corrosion testing on flat bottomed storage tanks it is essential to have the
same storage product for the test as used during normal service.
These examples show clearly one major advantage of AET:
it can be performed at a minimum of service interference.
The next major advantage of AET is given by the fact that there is no need
to have a sensor placed right at the defect position. In the course of the
defect indicating process elastic waves are emitted into and propagate
through the surrounding material. Therefore information regarding the
defect is transmitted from the origin till to sensors mounted at fixed,
predefined positions with distances to each other in an array element of
several meters. Thus only few sensors are necessary to cover large areas
completely and ensure a 100 % testing of the component or defined parts
thereof.
Wave propagation takes place with the speed of sound, which is

characteristic for the material and wave type (and the wave mode in case of
lamb waves). Consequently AE is detected by sensors located at different
positions in general at different points in time.
The differences in arrival time are exploited with the help of suited software
algorithms for source location. It aims on obtaining a limited area of the test
object where the elastic wave was emitted into the surrounding material due
to the defect indicating process. This location ability gives another major
advantage of AT and this is the link to other NDT methods. A suspicious area
can be reported to the client and opens the way for performing follow-up tests
economically in order to verify the defect indication and then to characterise
the defect more precisely.
The next step concerns to judge the severity of the indication, especially
during a pneumatic test on pressure equipment. In such a case one further
major advantage of AET is exploited: it is able to give early warnings. Thus,
pressurisation can be stopped before the situation becomes critical. Early
warnings are also essential for testing of flat bottomed storage tanks. Since
AET is able to indicate a corrosion process taking place on the metallic
bottom sheets, the tank may be taken out of service for repair before the tank
bottom becomes leaky at the affected area. Figure 1 summarises the
advantages offered by industrial applications of AET.
Figure 1: Main advantages of acoustic emission testing for industrial

applications.
The philosophy of applying AT is not to replace other methods like ultrasonic

testing (UT) or radiographic testing (RT) at already solved testing problems
where testing techniques are well established and state-of-the-art. It is much
more beneficial to use the results from different methods complementary.
Again, AET is able to indicate degraded components of plants and then to
report affected areas. But for follow-up activities in order to quantify a defect
e.g. in terms of exact size or remaining wall thickness other NDT methods are
required.
AET for in-service inspection
2.0 Acoustic emission testing in Austria

Starting with tests on nuclear power plant components in 1977 by TV
Austria, industrial clients became aware of this powerful NDT method.
Although the measuring systems have been quite simple in those days
compared to todays state-of-the-art like the Vallen AMSY5, the obtained
results were quite impressive. As an example, unreported repairs of pumps
could be detected and roughly located. In the following years AET was
carried out by TV Austria on two large gas storage spheres before they
were set into service the first time. Due to the results obtained by AT during
the hydrostatic pressure test different defects were found. The hydrostatic test
itself just gives the result passed or not passed without any other further
information regarding the condition of the tested component. Therefore these
defects would have stayed undetected without AET. After this successful start
the testing technique was then steadily improved so that the repetition tests
could be performed by pressurisation with natural gas, the storage medium.
Sphere and location result are shown in figure 2.
Figure 2: AT on storage spheres. Repetition test of natural gas storage

sphere (left) and found indications of defects by AET (right)
The successful start also triggered the development of other testing

techniques like leakage testing on flat bottomed storage tanks , repetition
testing on LPG storage tanks or repetition testing on drying cylinders (steam
drums) in paper mills. Till today, with many other applications available, the
way of tackling new testing problems is still the same: homework first in terms
of trial test series in a controlled but representative lab situation and then step
by step adaptation to the situation given in the field. Following this procedure
for every new application carefully there have been no major set-backs in the
market introduction of new testing techniques. Due to the positive experience
AET made its way. For some types of pressure vessels it turned even from an
exceptional applied testing method to the standard application, e.g. for LPG
storage tanks or drying cylinders.
This process was supported also by the progress made in European

standardisation, where among others the following standards have been
developed:
EN 473 (AET personnel),
EN 13477 part 1 and 2 (AET equipment characterisation) and
EN 14584 (AET on metallic pressure equipment).
It is worth noting that the new national regulation addressing periodic
inspection of pressure equipment, the Druckgerteberwachungserordnung, gives a solid basis for further activities in this field. Providing a
proven testing technique is available this regulation enables vessel operators
to choose AET for repetition testing as they find it useful and beneficial for
their plant operation. Till today a total of more than 20,000 tests were
performed by TV Austria since 1977 (other competing AET service
providers have gained their own share of the market) show the broad
acceptance of AT in Austria.
3.0 Examples of practical experience

Beside already stated testing techniques the field of application comprises
testing on small and medium sized pressure vessels as well as large
components like storage vessels or chemical reactors. The testing of flat
bottomed storage tanks has been extended to leakage and corrosion testing.
There are still many problems in plant operation, where AET is able to
support. Research works are carried in order to develop new applications of
AET. Currently an EC funded project for corrosion testing on crude oil tankers
and product tankers is co-ordinated by TV Austria, Institute for Technical
Physics. But also the already existing testing techniques are steadily kept
state-of-the-art to obtain the maximum available information from the
measurement and thus to maximise the benefit for the client. The following
examples are an outline of the broad range of testing techniques successfully
applied at industrial plants in Austria and other European countries.
3.1 Drying cylinders (steam drums) in paper mills

The drying cylinders of paper mills made from cast iron are tested with AET
by pressurisation with compressed air. Performing a hydrostatic test on a
built-in drying cylinder would lead to damage of the bearings and deformation
of the cylinder. With AET there is no need to disassemble the drying section
(typically consisting of about 40 cylinders) of the paper mill and the balance of
the drying cylinders is not affected. There have been found casting defects,
crack like defects as well as erosion. These defects are shown in figure 3.
Figure 3: AT on drying cylinders (steam drums) in paper mills. Application of

sensors on cylindrical shell (top left) and defects found at follow-up inside
inspections: casting defect (top right), crack like defect (bottom left) and
erosion (bottom right).
Figure 3:
Figure 3:
Figure 3:
3.2 Leakage testing of pipelines

The testing tool is fed into the operated pipeline at the pig launch and driven
by the liquid product till to the receiving trap at the end of the pipeline. The
tool carries an AET sensor in order to acquire leakage sound along the
pipeline. After it has been recovered from the receiver, the stored data is
transferred to the analysis unit. The testing tool is frequently employed in
Austria at the OMV Schwechat for testing the pipelines connecting the
refinery on the right side of the river Danube with the storage facility on the
other side. Artificial (for qualification purposes) as well as natural leakages
have been detected.
On one job in China at an off-shore installation there were detected two leaks
during one pig run (360 km in total). The uncertainty of localisation was less
than 1% which enabled the client to find and to repair the defects within a
short period of time. Figure 4 shows the offshore installation and the
evaluation of the pig run indicating two leaks.
Figure 4: Leak detection with the ALARM tool employed at a 360 km offshore pipeline (left) and evaluation of the pig run (right). One can easily see
two peaks in the plot at the bottom indicating two different leaks.
Figure 4:
3.3 Flat bottomed storage tanks

The tank containing the liquid storage product may be tested for leakage and
corrosion simultaneously. Corrosion is detected on the inside and for single
floor tanks also on the outside of the bottom. Degradation of the tank floor is
caused by a corrosive environment and is ruled either by the storage product
itself or by the contamination with other corrosive media, e.g. water. After the
tank is built, tested to proof its strength and then set into service, it can be
expected that the tank floor becomes leaky only if it has been affected by
corrosion over many years. Thus corrosion testing prevents leakage and this
is the general attempt for the testing technique. Severe corrosion shall be
indicated in time so that repair can be scheduled as other storage capacity is
available. The testing is completed within two days in case of a large tank
(diameters up to 100 m and more). A smaller tank may be tested even within
a shorter period of time. Interference with normal service is therefore
minimised.
There have been found heavy corroded tank floors affected by general
corrosion as well as localised forms of corrosion. At one crude oil exploitation
field a tank for storage of salt water was tested and resulted in indications of
severe corrosion. This was reported to the client, who did not expect to find a
problem. The inside coating of the tank was in good condition at the last
inside inspection, therefore the test result was questioned. It was finally
decided to opening the tank in order to verify the indicated corrosion source.
The inside inspection revealed that the indicated corrosion source was a
sacrificial anode as shown at the top of figure 5. The tank operator just had
forgotten to mention, although he had been asked for cathodic protection
installation in advance to the test.
Figure 5: AT on flat bottomed storage tanks for corrosion and leakage.

Evaluation of a test on a salt water tank (top left) and found sacrificial anode
(top right). Evaluation of a test on a crude oil tank filled with water for strength
test (bottom left) and found improper welding at an overlap (bottom right).
Another example of tank floor testing concerns a tank, which failed to pass
the concluding hydrostatic test for tightness after renewing the severely
damaged floor. The repair was performed under high pressure in order to get
the tank back into operation within a short period of time. However, the welds
have been leak tested by means of vacuum box testing carried out in the
course of the construction. All weld defects found were repaired and therefore
no problem was expected for the concluding hydrostatic test. The tank has
been loaded with water and after a certain filling height first indications of
leakage were seen at the annular ring. The tank has been erected inside a
metallic retention tank in order to avoid product spillage into the surrounding
environment in case of failure. Water flowed into the small space between the
two metallic floors and leaked at one section below the annular ring of the
tank into the retention area.
The estimated diameter of the defect with respect to the leak rate and
hydrostatic pressure had been in the range of some millimetres. Compared to
a tank size of some thousands of square meters one can easily imagine that
finding the defect by visual inside inspection would have been rather difficult.
AET was able to reduce the follow-up NDT for finding the defect to a
minimum and thus it made considerable contribution to keep the deadline for
tank re-entry into operation. It turned out that at one overlap of three sheets
the fillet weld had left a short gap open (length of 30 mm) as shown at the
bottom of figure 5B. This defect was not detected by vacuum box testing
since there was no indication by bubbles due to the high leak rate.
Figure 5B: AT on flat bottomed storage tanks for corrosion and leakage.
Evaluation of a test on a salt water tank (top left) and found sacrificial anode
(top right). Evaluation of a test on a crude oil tank filled with water for strength
test (bottom left) and found improper welding at an overlap (bottom right).
3.4 Pressure vessel testing

The advantages of applying AET compared to the traditional procedure of
hydrostatic test plus visual inside inspection are numerous. Just to name the
most important: reduction of downtime, omitting of residual humidity and no
risk of product contamination with water. It is a fact that AET provides much
more useful information concerning the condition of the pressure vessel under
test than a simple passed or not passed obtained usually by a hydrostatic
test. Repetition testing after a 10 years service period was performed with
AET on a thermally insulated pressure vessel (storage of liquefied
hydrocarbons), cylindrically shaped with vertically oriented axis and a
capacity of 300 m3. A total of 17 sensors VS150-RIC, Vallen-Systeme with
integrated preamplifier of 34 dB were applied to monitor 100 % of the shell
under load during the pressurisation with nitrogen. During the test indications
for severe damage had been obtained.
The preliminary result of the measurement gave rise to strong concerns

regarding vessel condition. The clusters built from located events of
substantial intensity appeared to be aligned in circumferential direction at
different vertical levels as indicated by dash lines in the location plot of figure
6, left side. Attention was focused on the linear aligned indications near to the
upper head close to or even at the circular weld seam. Right side of figure 6
shows a section of this area after the thermal insulation has been partly
removed. One can see easily the corrosion product just below the circular
weld seam.
Figure 6: Preliminary location result just after the test and visually detected
finding at one suspicious area, sketch on the left unwrapped cylindrical shell
with linear aligned clusters of located events at different vertical levels
indicated by dash lines, photo on the right taken after removal of thermal
insulation at position indicated in the left sketch by an arrowed line with dot at
its origin.
Figure 6:
Figure 6:
Due to undetected damage of the insulation covering at the upper head,

water seeped into the insulation and was retained at the first ring element
(holding the thermal insulation in proper position) just below the circular weld
seam at the upper head. There it caused circumferential aligned corrosion
damage with loss of wall thickness up to 8 mm (more than 50 % of the
nominal wall thickness of 14 mm). Top left side of figure 7 shows a section of
the affected area indicated by AET (see sketch of figure 6) after removal of
the thermal insulation and a close-up taken after grit blasting. When the first
ring element was damaged itself, water was able then to pass downward
more easily to the next position. The vessel shell was corroded in the same
way as above and this led to a loss of wall thickness of up to 7 mm at this
position. Top right side of figure 7 shows a section of the affected area
indicated by AET too (see sketch of figure 6) plus a close-up taken after grit
blasting. Step by step the humidity was able to spread out to lower parts of
the vessel and was trapped at the ring positions. Underneath the thermal
insulation the evolving corrosion damage has been hidden for years until it
was indicated by AET.
It is assumed by experts concerned with the problem, that the vessel would
have passed the traditional procedure for repetition testing. According to
these considerations, the hydrostatic test would not have led to failure
because of safety margins in material strength as well as design. And by
means of a visual inside inspection there has been no chance to find these
defects on the outside of the shell. Thus, AT prevented catastrophic failure
during the next service period of the vessel and contributed significantly to
safe and economic plant operation.
Repair was performed by welding reinforcing segments onto the shell at the
top three positions of circumferential aligned corrosion damage like given in
figure 7, bottom. After completion of repair works the entire shell was grit
blasted, a protective coating was applied, a state-of-the-art thermal insulation
was mounted and finally the vessel was set into operation again.
Figure 7: Follow-up NDT to the AET indications and performed repair, top left
side photo - corrosion damagewith depth up to 8 mm near to circular
weldseam of the upper head, top right side photo next corrosion damage
near to structural ring element of thermal insulation withdepth up to 7 mm,
photo at bottom repairof corrosion damage withreinforcing segments.
4.0 Summary
Testing virtually in-service, a low number of sensors to be mounted compared
to the size of the test object, location ability and early warning ability are the
main characteristics of AET. More than 20,000 tests with AET have been
performed by TV Austria on different kinds of components since 1977 in
Austria and Europe. Storage spheres, flat bottomed storage tanks, drying
cylinders in paper mills, pipelines, LPG-tanks and other pressure equipment
are some examples of regularly tested industrial structures. By means of AET
detailed information regarding the actual condition is obtained. Thus, AET
results are used for predictive maintenance, where repair is done in time
before failure occurs.
Reading#3
ACOUSTIC EMISSION THEORY
http://www.mistrasgroup.gr/acoustic_emission_theory_eng.htm
Acoustic Emission, according to ASTM, refers to the generation of transient

elastic waves during the rapid release of energy from localized sources within
a material. The source of these emissions in metals is closely associated with
the dislocation movement accompanying plastic deformation and the initiation
and extension of cracks in a structure under stress. Other sources of Acoustic
Emission are: melting, phase transformation, thermal stresses, cool down
cracking and stress build up.
Sources of Acoustic Emission are:
Plastid deformation
melting,
phase transformation,
thermal stresses,
cool down cracking and
stress build up.
The Acoustic Emission NDT technique is based on the detection and

conversion of these high frequency elastic waves to electrical signals. This is
accomplished by directly coupling piezoelectric transducers on the surface of
the structure under test and loading the structure. Sensors are coupled to the
structure by means of a fluid couplant and are secured with tape, adhesive
bonds or magnetic hold downs. The output of each piezoelectric sensor
(during structure loading) is amplified through a low-noise preamplifier,
filtered to remove any extraneous noise and furthered processed by suitable
electronic equipment.
The instrumentation of Acoustic Emission must provide some measure of the
total quantity of detected emission for correlation with time and/or load.
AET Detection Transducer Type:

Contact Piezoelectric transducer
Non contact Laser vibrometer, or
Non contact stereophotogrammetric cameras
Applications
Laboratory & R&D studies
In field inspection
Structural integrity evaluation
Vessels testing [ambient, hot or cryogenic, metallic and FRP, spheres]
Tank bottom testing
Nuclear components inspection (valves, lift beams, steam lines)
Corrosion detection
Pipeline testing
Transformers testing (Partial Discharge)
Railroad tank car testing
Tube trailers & high pressure gas cylinders
Reactor & high energy piping testing
Aging aircraft evaluation
Advanced materials testing (composites, ceramics)
Production quality control
Rocket motor testing.
Acoustic Emission for Laboratory Testing

Acoustic Emission inspection is a powerful aid to materials testing and the
study of deformation, fracture and corrosion. It gives an immediate indication
of the response and behavior of a material under stress, intimately connected
with strength, damage and failure. Acoustic Emission is used also for
monitoring chemical reactions including corrosion process, liquid solid
transformations, phase transformations.
Acoustic Emission IN FIELD TESTING
Many codes and standards exist for Acoustic Emission testing of vessels,
from transportation gas cylinders and railroad tanks to thousands tons
storage tanks. Because only active defects and deterioration produce
Acoustic Emission no time is wasted on inactive defects which are not
threatening structural integrity.
Global monitoring- 100% Inspection of the structure

A major advantage of Acoustic Emission inspection is that does not require
access to the whole examination area. E.g. for covering a total area of a 16mdiameter sphere 30-40 sensors are needed. Thus, the cost of the test is
significantly less than inspection with conventional NDT methods (for 100%
inspection and scanning of the whole area). Identified problem areas can be
inspected using conventional NDT methods.
Testing with insulation /high temperature processes
In cases of insulation, only small holes in insulation are required for sensors
mounting, resulting in more cost savings. In cases of high temperature
processes, wave-guides are used to guide the Acoustic Emission waves from
the hot surface to the edge where the sensor is mounted. Finally, in large
cryogenic vessels, permanent sensors are mounted under insulation for
periodic inspection control.
On-line testing
As the method records defects in real time, it offers the possibility of on-line
inspection, e.g. during hydrostatic testing. Other types of on-line stress
application are introducing of gas into the upper vapor space, temperature
control etc.
Rapid inspection
The actual Acoustic Emission test takes a matter of hours, and, in some
cases, even less. There is no comparable technique which can provide 100%
volumetric inspection.
Cost Reduction
The use of Acoustic Emission results in considerable reduction in plant
maintenance costs, while increasing the available information about plant
integrity. Plant downtime for inspection is also minimized.
Permanent recording of test

Acoustic Emission data are digitized and stored on a PC, providing
permanent recording of the test to be used at any time for re-evaluation and
post processing analysis.
Defect Location
When more that one sensors are used, Acoustic Emission source can be
located and, thus, the defective area. Location is based on the wave
propagation principles within the materials and is effectuated by measuring
the signal's arrival time to each sensor. By comparing the signal's arrival time
at different sensors, the flaw location can be defined through triangulation.
Linear location is used on long gas cylinders, planar (2-dimensional) location
for thick walled and gas filled vessels, while 3-dimensional location is used for
power transformers and concrete structures.
ADVANTAGES
Compared to conventional inspection methods the advantages of the
Acoustic Emission technique are:
High sensitivity.
Early and rapid detection of defects, flaws, cracks etc.
Real time monitoring
Cost Reduction
Defective area location: only critical defects provide sustainable Acoustic
Emission sources.
Minimization of plant downtime for inspection, no need for scanning the whole
structural surface.
Minor disturbance of insulation.
Application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Technological Packages: Expert
systems for evaluating the condition of metallic pressure systems and tank
bottoms based on the acquired experience of a huge number of tests are
world wide used.
Acoustic Emission On-Line Tank Floor Inspection with TANKPAC

Acoustic Emission Tank Floor Inspection
No Need to Empty or Clean the Tank
100% Floor Inspection
Verified Reliability
Inspection and Evaluation of Annular Ring
Immediate Results
Rapid testing: 50 meter tank in one day
Identify tanks that need inspection and repair
Leave good tanks on-line and save the shut-down and cleaning costs
Reading#4
http://www.hybridpetroleum.com/pdfs/Ficha%20tecnica%20EA_3_ingles.pdf
About method
Acoustic Emission is the process of detection of the sound produced by
discontinuities in the bottom plate when the storage tank is leaking or
corrosion.
Sensors position
The sensors are usually mounted 1 m and 2 m above the body Number of
sensors recommended according to tank diameter:
Less than 25 meters 6 sensors
From 25 to 30 meters 9 sensors
From 30 to 50 meters 12 sensors
From 50 to 62.5 meters 16 sensors
From 62.5 to 75 meters 18 sensors
From 75 to 87.5 meters 21 sensors
From 87.5 to 100 meters 24 sensors
The sensor cables are activated at the AE computer:
Sensitivity of the method: detects noise discontinuities are even below 2 dB.
Temperature range which can be used: only depends on the temperature
that sensor endure.
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
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.
Conditions of repose of the stored fluids:

Storage tanks to be examined must be at least 50% capacity and preferably
at 90%.
Conditions of repose of the stored fluids:
Storage tanks to be examined must be at least 50% capacity and preferably
at 90%.
Product Resting time
Heavy (raw) 24 hour
Ligth (light naphtha or gasoline) 12 hours
Product Resting time

Heavy (raw) 24 hour
Ligth (light naphtha or gasoline) 12 hours
Blocking conditions:
The tank should be isolated:
The inlet and outlet nozzle of product must be sealed to prevent noise
The equipment that are in the periphery such as pumps, mixers and
heaters should be turned off and there should be no sources of
noise that could interfere such as:
Vibration of adjacent pipes
Leaking valves
Relief valves operation
Noisy activities adjacent tanks
Individual components in the floating dome
Individual components of the tank as pipes and ladders
Hammering
Level indicators or level bubble
Leaking nitrogen damping systems
Product inlet or dripping into the tank
Current water that flow in tank roofs and strings or data plates loose on
the wall of the tank
Reports: Graphics 2D, 3D/ graphics type plot plant of hits, events, clusters,
energy, risk matrices
>| dsssa
>| dsssa
The thickness determination is indirect, since what is measured is the

corrosion activity, allowing us to infer the remaining thickness.
Because of this, the tank bottoms that have high probability of leakage are
sent to reinspection 6 months or 1 year, while those who have little risk of
leak is sent to reinspection to 2, 3 or 4 years.
Risk = Probability of corrosion or deterioration) X Consequences of Failure
Reading#5
http://www.vallen.de/sites/default/files/ec-ast_0.pdf
Inspection of Flat Bottomed Storage

Tanks by Acoustical Methods
Standards, Measurements and Testing: Contract Nr. SMT4 - CT97 - 2177
Inspection of Flat Bottomed Storage Tanks by Acoustical Methods
October 1st, 1997
Project co-ordinator: TV sterreich
Table of contents
1.
2.
4.
Summary
1.1. Key words
1.2. Summary of results and benefits of the project
The consortium
2.1. Partner organisations
2.2. Consortium description
3. Scientific and technical description of the project
3.1. Laboratory tests
3.2. Data evaluation and structuring of a data base
3.3. AE equipment adaption and production of test-guidelines
3.4. Valuation tests
3.5. Diagnostic data base
3.6. Implementation of the AE test method
Results and conclusions
1. Summary
1.1 Key words
Flat bottomed storage tanks, Acoustic Emission Testing, leakage testing,
corrosion testing, frequency content, signal classification, standardisation.
1.2 Summary of results and benefits of the project
All over the world the chemical and petrochemical industries store their raw
materials and products in large above-ground flat bottomed storage tanks
with volumes up to more than 100,000 m3. These tanks, usually produced
from ferritic steel, have to be tested within ascertained time periods.
Especially the bottom sheets have to be inspected for inside and outside
corrosion attack. These normal testing procedures will be done regularly
according the legal requirements and are not connected with the actual status
of the tanks. This testing consists of emptying the tanks, cleaning procedures,
sometimes sand-blasting of the bottoms, visual inspection of the bottom,
sometimes testing with vacuum boxes and other NDT testing of the bottom
plates and a concluding hydrostatic loading. The total cost of such kind of
testing is depending on the size and the age of a tank from 100 to 150 kEUR.
Tank Internal Inspection Vacuum Box
Tank Internal Inspection MFLT
http://slideplayer.com/slide/2493842
To overcome the numerous drawbacks of this kind of testing, the industrialists

would prefer to replace the conventional testing procedure by an Acoustic
Emission Test. For this application Acoustic Emission shall detect and
distinguish active leakage noise and noise of active corroding areas. Inside
inspection in combination with other suited NDT-methods should be
performed only in case of defect indications by AET.
The main objectives of this work have been:
Adapt an available acquisition system and develop a more powerful
specific software for an on-line inspection
The partner Vallen Systeme, an equipment producer in the field of AE,

produces high sophisticated and fully digitised AE testing equipment, mainly
for scientific applications at universities and industrial use for integrity testing
of pressure equipment and piping systems. Such a commercial available
system was used for the first tests and was adapted during the project for
field testing of flat bottomed storage tanks.
Establish in a systematic way a diagnostic data base combining results
from lab tests and transfer these results to field application
Based on the first experiments a frequency based pattern recognition system

was chosen, because it was very well suited to distinguish the gathered lab
data (leakage, corrosion). Furthermore, using frequency domain signal
properties enables further improvements by adding field data to the diagnostic
data base.
Validate these results on a limited number of field tests
A limited number of tanks supplied by the partners was tested with the
adapted system, evaluated according the established criteria and compared
with results of follow-up tests or former acquired data.
The results of the project are:

Test procedure,
Systematic diagnostic data base,
Reliable evaluation criteria to differentiate with high confidence between
tanks requiring further tests from those which do not and
Basis for a common European procedure standard.
2. The consortium
2.1 Partner organisations
2.2 Consortium description

This project unites testing and development organisations, specialised in the
field of Acoustic Emission, the European producer for advanced and high
sophisticated AE equipment and meaningful users of flat bottomed storage
tanks. TV Austria, the project coordinator, is an independent service
company dealing with all aspects of technical safety, quality management and
environment protection. It is accredited in Austria as a testing, inspection and
calibration laboratory and as a certification body. As a research company,
TV Austria develops and applies new NDT techniques for industrial
purposes. The Institute of Technical Physics, which was mainly engaged in
this project, has a big experience in the field of AE since more than 20 years.
It performs annually more than 1400 integrity tests on pressure equipment of
different size and has been the first company, which used Acoustic Emission
for the leak detection of above ground storage tanks.
CESI (former ENEL Ricerca, former CISE) is a research, development and

service organisation mainly in the field of power generation, transmission
network for electric energy and additionally in other fields in order to give
support required by their owner, ENEL, the Italian National Power Utility.
CESI has a long experience in the field of Acoustic Emission and in the
application of computer processed data evaluation.
Vallen Systeme is the only European developer and manufacturer of Acoustic
Emission equipment. The business strategy of this SME has been over years
to search and cover new applications for the AE method, improve the existing
products for solving the prospective applications. Within the project this
partner was important for the supply of a commercial available AE system
and its adaptation for this specific use. Also the frequency based pattern
recognition system was developed by this company.
The two associated industrial partners Shell Global Solutions and DOW are
global player among the chemical and petrochemical industries and therefore
these companies use an enormous number of above-ground, flat bottomed
storage tanks for different kinds of hc-products and obvious crude-oil. Their
experience over many years were used to determine the needs of the
industry. These partners shall give the opportunity to verify the method on
real structures.
3. Scientific and technical description of the project

The fundamental aim was to develop and improve the Acoustic Emission
Testing of the flat bottoms to a stage, where this method is able to replace the
expensive and time consuming conventional inspection. It is done only
according a given period of time since the last inspection without any
influence by the actual tank condition and/or the result of the last inspection.
To gain this improvement the following tests, evaluations, field-test, follow- ps
and concluding actions were done.
3.1 Laboratory tests
This fundamental task was performed in order to collect systematically
transient data produced from the different possible sources (leaks and
corrosion process).
3.1.1 Leakage Tests

The leakage tests were done with a test tank with a replaceable bottom,
where the different artificial leak sources were built in. In this case drilled
holes ( = 1~3 mm) and slots (width = 0,3 mm and length = 9,8 mm) were
machined in the bottom plates. The tank (see figure 1) was equipped for
pressurised up to different loads (maximum 200 kPa). The emitted Acoustic
Emission signals were acquired with different sensors (hydrophone, broadband sensors, narrow-band sensors). These tests were performed multiple
times, also parallel to the corrosion tests and the field tests in order to
determine the best suited sensor for leakage detection.
The tests were also performed with different basements to introduce the
influence of these basements into our results. This was very important
because we expected and could also prove, that not only the turbulence in
the gap produce Acoustic Emission but also additional noise coming from
secondary effects, like liquid running through a gap from metal and concrete,
sand particle are pushed against the bottom plates and others. The upper
limit of the energy range of the detected AE signals was high enough to
ensure that those defects will also be detected in the field.
Figure 1: Lab tank for leakage experiments

Hydrophone
A hydrophone is a microphone designed to be used underwater for recording
or listening to underwater sound. Most hydrophones are based on a
piezoelectric transducer that generates electricity when subjected to a
pressure change. Such piezoelectric materials, or transducers, can convert a
sound signal into an electrical signal since sound is a pressure wave. Some
transducers can also serve as a projector, but not all have this capability, and
some may be destroyed if used in such a manner.
A hydrophone can "listen" to sound in air but will be less sensitive due to its
design as having a good acoustic impedance match to water, which is a
denser fluid than air. Likewise, a microphone can be buried in the ground, or
immersed in water if it is put in a waterproof container, but will give similarly
poor performance due to the similarly bad acoustic impedance match.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrophone
Hydrophone
The earliest widely used design was the Fessenden oscillator, an electrodynamically
driven clamped-edge circular plate transducer (not actually an oscillator) operating at
500, 1000, and later 3000 Hz. It was originally marketed as an underwater telegraph,
rather than as sonar, but was later very successful, its Canadian inventor, Reginald
Fessenden, was awarded the "Scientific American Magazine Gold Medal of Safety" in
1929 from the American Museum of Safety, an organization for ship captains; some
were still in use during World War II.
Ernest Rutherford, in England, led pioneer research in hydrophones using
piezoelectric devices, and his only patent was for a hydrophone device. The acoustic
impedance of piezoelectric materials facilitated their use as underwater transducers.
The piezoelectric hydrophone was used late in World War I, by convoy escorts
detecting U-boats, greatly impacting the effectiveness of submarines.
From late in World War I until the introduction of active sonar, hydrophones were the
sole method for submarines to detect targets while submerged, and remain useful
today.
3.1.2 Corrosion Tests

For the corrosion experiments a test pool was built to immerse the different
plates into different corrosive fluids (figure 2). The selected test-plates, real
corroded plates from field tanks, were cut into 2 samples. One was used as it
was found in the tank and the other one was grit-blasted to remove the
scaling layer. These samples were immersed into plain water plus salt and/or
acetic acid in different concentration. Later on the test samples were fully
coated except of a small area in order to eliminate superposition between
corrosion signals emitted under different surface conditions (with or without
scaling layer).
Figure 2: Test pool for immersion of bottom sheet samples into corrosive
environment
The AE-signal emitted by the test plates were acquired over long periods of
time to detect those signals, which were produced under a equilibrium
condition, especially not immediately after the submersion. Near the final
stage of the project also signals were acquired using a set-up with
superposed slices of scaling layer positioned on a clean surface. The final
sensor and preamplifier was the Vallen VS30-V permanently connected with
a 46 dB preamplifier AEP4H-ISTB and a band-pass filtering between 25 kHz
and 44 kHz. This sensor type showed the best characteristics for the testing
of real structures.
3.2 Data evaluating and structuring of a data base

The test results, which were gained during the lab tests, had to be evaluated
and inserted into a structured data base.
Since the time domain related AE signal parameters depend in general on the
distance between the origin and the sensor position significantly, we decided
to use a frequency domain based pattern recognition system. Sound
propagation in liquids is nearly free of dispersion. Therefore it may be
assumed that the frequency content in the range of 30 kHz does not change
during sound propagation in the liquid stock product. The sound transfer from
the source itself to the liquid product and from the liquid product to the tank
wall/sensor were also given in the lab. Therefore no special consideration
were necessary to compare field data with lab data.
Note: Ultrasounds are sound waves with frequencies higher than the upper audible limit of
human hearing. Ultrasound is no different from 'normal' (audible) sound in its physical properties,
except in that humans cannot hear it. This limit varies from person to person and is
approximately 20 kilohertz (20,000 hertz) in healthy, young adults. Ultrasound devices operate
with frequencies from 20 kHz up to several gigahertz.
Discussion:
Subject: Since the time domain related AE signal parameters depend in
general on the distance between the origin and the sensor position
significantly, we decided to use a frequency domain based pattern recognition
system. Sound propagation in liquids is nearly free of dispersion. Therefore it
may be assumed that the frequency content in the range of 30 kHz does not
change during sound propagation in the liquid stock product.
30 kHz
The used pattern recognition system Visual Class was developed by the
partner Vallen Systeme and was adapted for this specific application. After a
lot of test trials we came to the already mentioned sensor-preamplifier
combination VS30-V - AEP4H-ISTB. We found out, that the classification
process must be done in two steps like shown in figure 3.
The first classifier leak or corrosion gave very clear results as long as the
differential pressure was equal or greater than 100 kPa. For smaller
differential pressure values the distinction between both different processes
became weak, but even then an estimation could be done in any way.
The two second step classifiers are:
Leak,
which enables a distinction between a circular and a longitudinal leak (opens
a distinction between pitting corrosion and perhaps defects in the welds), and
Corrosion.
Figure 3:
The most important information of the corrosion classifier is, if the monitored
process takes place in the presence of a scaling layer or not. We assumed
that an old corrosion has always a scaling layer and found out, that a
distinction between this two different type of signals is possible. The presence
of a scaling layer indicates loss of wall thickness.
At this point we want to underline that we did no further investigations
according the source mechanism. It is possible that the AET is emitted mainly
due to secondary processes related to the primary effect of active corrosion.
Nevertheless we showed that it is possible to detect active corrosion with
AET. It makes no difference, if we detect the primary process itself or
secondary effect(s), which might come from the layer and/or the corrosion
region itself but are connected to the primary process.
All data (lab born or from field tests) were inserted into a structured data base
and were divided into the following classes
Leaks
Circular leaks
Longitudinal leaks
Corrosion
New corrosion
Old corrosion
Noise
3.3 AE equipment adaptation and production of test-guidelines

The next step for transferring the test method into the field in order to validate
the gained results was the adaptation of the commercial available Vallen
AMSY4 equipment and the production of test-guidelines. The adaptation of
the AET equipment was done parallel to the lab tests and also to the first field
tests. Most of the necessary actions focused on improvements and/or
additional features of the software.
At the beginning of the field tests the first draft for the test guidelines was
established and altered many times till to the final stage: Test Specification
2000/08 Acoustic Emission Testing (AET) of Flat Bottomed Storage Tanks.
This specification shall be the basis of an European performance standard,
which will be explained later on.
3.4 Validation tests

The main target of this task was to acquire data of real structures for the
insertion into permanent improvement of the structured data base.
The tanks ought to have been in one of the following conditions
Without a specific defect and in good condition
With minor defects, which do not require any further reaction
With medium sized defects, which have to be re-checked in a certain time
period
With big defects, where an immediate reaction is necessary
With the occurrence of leaks, which require the emptying of the tank at
once.
In the beginning these tests were only used to acquire data in the field. The
raw data of the measurements were stored for the later-on evaluation. After
some progress, the AE system improvements and adaptations were
performed as well as the evaluation data base was established,
measurements were performed and evaluated like it will be done in the future
for commercial tests. Between spring 1998 and summer 200026 (twentysix)
tanks were tested at different test sites in the Netherlands, Germany and
Austria. The diameter of the tanks were from 10m up to 59m. Figure 4 shows
a photo of a thermal insulated tank. The results of the measurement cover the
whole range of the required situations, only the class with leaky tanks was
underrepresented, although some tank owner offered us their worst tanks.
The last 9 tanks were reported to the tank owner and classified in the different
categories.
Figure 4: Flat bottomed storage tank with thermal insulation
3.5 Diagnostic data base

Beside the normal data evaluation (logical filtering and application of location
algorithms) all data (lab and field) were treated with the Visual Class pattern
recognition system. The lab test data were used for training the classifier, the
field test data were used for updating the data base and of course they were
evaluated by using the established classifiers. The logical way for the
evaluation and the data treatment can be taken from the flowchart shown in
figure 5.
Figure 5: Flow diagram for data treatment and classifier analysis
This procedure gives the option to have first an estimation about the overall
condition of the tank bottom, then to have the classification of all localised AEevents available and at the end to see how each event inside a cluster is
assigned to one source mechanism. Due to the statistical way of evaluation
this last point is very important, because e.g. the classification for all localised
sources can have perhaps only 5 % leakclass, but if this is concentrated in
one cluster with about 80 90 % of the leak-class the overall situation for the
tank will be a grade IV (leaky). The exception are tanks with very low AET
activity. In this case the class I can be validated based on the lack of signals,
which means that no active leaks or active corrosions exist on the tank
bottom.
Due to the fact that we dont use a time domain based evaluation system, we
were not able to implement an easy working filter criteria into the software of
the equipment. The complete evaluation procedure, how it was established, is
applied on the data of every tested structure and the results were
implemented in a firm-ware of the system manufacturer.
3.6 Implementation of the AE test method

The implementation of the AE test method shall be done two-fold, on the one
hand at the tank user and on the other hand by introducing the test method
into the European standardisation. Tank user The tank user gets two
brochures:
Basic Information 2000/08 Performance and validation of the AE test
method
Demands on the tank user 2000/08
The first informs about the methodology and performance of an AET of flat
bottomed storage tanks, the used classification system and what the different
classes stand for. The second one includes the actions, which have to be
performed by the tank user to enable a successful test. An annually revision
is planned for these information brochures.
3.6.1 European standardisation

The consortium sent a proposal to the CEN/TC 138/WG 7 for a new work
item of an AE application standard for the inspection of flat bottomed storage
tanks. The basis for this standard shall be the Test Specification 2000/08
Acoustic Emission Testing of Flat Bottomed Storage Tanks At the annual
meeting of the CEN/TC 138 in Rome, October this year the TC decided to
accept this work item under the precondition, that no TC dealing with flat
bottomed storage tanks will interfere.
4. Results and Conclusion

The results of the project were produced as determined. The following
deliverables are available.
Guidelines for the tank-user and procedure for the tank testing, intended to
establish a basis for the acceptance of the testing method by the relevant
supervisory agency,
Adapted software for the testing agency, including evaluation criteria
Data base available for supervisory agencies to be included in their
acceptance procedure
Basis for the preparation of a CEN application standard.
Due to the fact that within a validation procedure the number of tests under
controlled circumstances have to be enlarged, the consortium decided to ask
the EC for a supported demonstration project, to help to introduce the method
into industrial standard accepted by the supervisory agencies.
Reading#6
FIELD TESTING OF FLAT BOTTOMED

STORAGE TANKS WITH ACOUSTIC
EMISSION A REVIEW ON THE
GAINED EXPERIENCE
Gerald Lackner, TUV Austria, Vienna, Austria
Peter Tscheliesnig, TUV Austria, Vienna, Austria
KEYWORDS
Corrosion and leakage testing, aboveground storage tank (AST), tank floor
ABSTRACT
A new testing technique for corrosion and leakage testing of the flat bottoms
of atmospheric, aboveground storage tanks (AST) with acoustic emission (AE)
was developed in the frame of an EC funded project. Frequency domain
based pattern recognition is used to identify the source mechanism of the
found AE sources located at the tank floor. The basics of the applied method
and the testing technique itself are outlined as well as results of performed
tests are given together with statistical numbers regarding the grading of
tested tank floors. Conventional non-destructive testing (NDT) of tank floors
relies mainly on visual testing and wall thickness measurements and
therefore reflects the past service periods of the tank in total. On the other
hand AE enables to monitor the active processes taking place at the time of
test on the tank floor at conditions similar to normal tank service. The
combination of both leads to a complementary view of the tank floor condition,
taking advantage of both approaches: determination of the total degradation
of the tank floor and monitoring of the actual degradation processes taking
place under current service conditions.
More Reading on
Frequency Domain
In electronics, control systems engineering, and statistics, the frequency
domain refers to the analysis of mathematical functions or signals with
respect to frequency, rather than time. Put simply,
a time-domain graph shows how a signal changes over time, whereas a
frequency-domain graph shows how much of the signal lies within each given
frequency band over a range of frequencies.
A frequency-domain representation can also include information on the phase
shift that must be applied to each sinusoid in order to be able to recombine
the frequency components to recover the original time signal.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_domain
The Fourier transform relates the function's time domain, shown in red, to
the function's frequency domain, shown in blue. The component
frequencies, spread across the frequency spectrum, are represented as
peaks in the frequency domain.
Insert 2
A given function or signal can be converted between the time and frequency
domains with a pair of mathematical operators called a transform. An
example is the Fourier transform, which converts the time function into a
sum of sine waves of different frequencies, each of which represents a
frequency component. The 'spectrum' of frequency components is the
frequency domain representation of the signal. The inverse Fourier
transform converts the frequency domain function back to a time function. A
spectrum analyzer is the tool commonly used to visualize real-world signals in
the frequency domain.
Some specialized signal processing techniques use transforms that result in a
joint time-frequency domain, with the instantaneous frequency being a key
link between the time domain and the frequency domain.
Magnitude and phase

In using the Laplace, Z-, or Fourier transforms, a signal is described by a
complex function of frequency: the component of the signal at any given
frequency is given by a complex number. The magnitude of the number is the
amplitude of that component, and the angle is the relative phase of the wave.
For example, using the Fourier transform a sound wave, such as human
speech, can be broken down into its component tones of different frequencies,
each represented by a sine wave of a different amplitude and phase. The
response of a system, as a function of frequency, can also be described by a
complex function. In many applications, phase information is not important.
By discarding the phase information it is possible to simplify the information in
a frequency domain representation to generate a frequency spectrum or
spectral density. A spectrum analyzer is a device that displays the spectrum,
while the time domain frequency can be seen on an oscilloscope.
The power spectral density is a frequency-domain description that can be
applied to a large class of signals that are neither periodic nor squareintegrable; to have a power spectral density, a signal needs only to
be the output of a wide-sense stationary random process.
Different frequency domains

Although "the" frequency domain is spoken of in the singular, there are a
number of different mathematical transforms which are used to analyze time
domain functions and are referred to as "frequency domain" methods. These
are the most common transforms, and the fields in which they are used:
Fourier series repetitive signals, oscillating systems

Fourier transform nonrepetitive signals, transients
Laplace transform electronic circuits and control systems
Z transform discrete signals, digital signal processing
Wavelet transform - image analysis, data compression
More generally, one can speak of the transform domain with respect to any
transform. The above transforms can be interpreted as capturing some form
of frequency, and hence the transform domain is referred to as a frequency
domain.
Discrete frequency domain

The Fourier transform of a periodic signal only has energy at a base
frequency and its harmonics. Another way of saying this is that a periodic
signal can be analyzed using a discrete frequency domain. Dually, a discretetime signal gives rise to a periodic frequency spectrum. Combining these two,
if we start with a time signal which is both discrete and periodic, we get a
frequency spectrum which is both periodic and discrete. This is the usual
context for a discrete Fourier transform.
History of term
The use of the terms "frequency domain" and "time domain" arose in
communication engineering in the 1950s and early 1960s, with "frequency
domain" appearing in 1953. See time domain: origin of term for details.
1.0 INTRODUCTION
More than 200 tanks have been tested at refineries, chemical sites and tank
farms since the testing technique was introduced into the maintenance and
inspection market. Where available, results obtained with other NDT methods
are compared with AE test results. In order to be able to combine the
information from different NDT techniques a precise knowledge of the service
conditions, current as well as previous, of all performed maintenance actions
and of all preparation works in order to clean the tank for inside inspection is
necessary. Compared to an AE test, which occupies the tank with the stock
product for only one or two days, the cleaning procedure and the inside
inspection leads to a downtime of the tank for weeks or even months. This
underlines the increase in tank availability and the benefit related to
employing AE corrosion and leakage testing of ASTs.
In many countries the duration of the service period till to the next inside
inspection is restricted to a few years. Then the tank has to be put out of
service and very often the inside inspection is carried out to confirm again a
good floor condition. This procedure is still questioned by many tank
operators, who know the overall conditions of their tanks according to
documented service histories very well. Floor degradation due to corrosion,
especially general corrosion, can be prevented quite effective by appropriate
measures, e.g. Inside coating and cathodic protection. So if the service
conditions are kept well inside the known boundaries of safe operation, the
tank floor should not suffer from serious degradation.
But still unforeseen situations might occur, which lead to more severe types of
corrosion with higher corrosion rates than expected. This could be the case at
areas on the tank floor where the inside coating has been damaged or due to
contamination of the stock product with corrosive agents accumulating at the
tank floor. Thus, the time driven inside inspection intervals may detect the
onset of corrosion only by accident, more likely the present corrosion damage
may just be documented in order to repair the affected floor areas.
In contrary acoustic emission testing (AET) enables to indicate tanks with

active corrosion processes and does nearly not interfere with tank operation.
AET is therefore a valuable maintenance and inspection tool supporting the
tank operator to prevent serious damage in time. Optimal conditions for this
kind of monitoring are given, when it starts after the tank has been put back
into service after an inside inspection. At that occasion the current status of
the tank floor is usually estimated precisely by floor scanning techniques,
hence it follows that an early measurement with AET gives an ideal reference
for future repetition tests. A tank history built up in such a way may be
exploited by prolonging substantially the service period till to the next intrusive
tank maintenance activities. The costs of preparing the tank for inside
inspection may reach easily some 100.000 Euro, therefore significant savings
may be gained by using non-intrusive AET.
2.0 TESTING TECHNIQUE

The sources of costs due to corrosion are manifold and the economic costs of
corrosion are obviously enormous. Beside direct costs also indirect costs, e.g.
plant downtime or loss of product, are important factors. The presented
testing technique enables to detect and to locate active corrosion processes
at the tank floor and, in case of an already penetrated floor, to detect and to
locate active leakage. Thus, it is a useful maintenance tool to handle tank
floor degradation economically. Acoustic emission is in general limited to the
detection of active defects. But this limitation turns out to be a strength, since
this NDT method indicates only defects, which have an impact on tank floor
degradation (progressive loss of wall thickness) or on tank safety (actual loss
of product). Figure 1 shows a typical example of an AST for crude oil.
Figure 1: AST for crude oil
Using AET enables to focus maintenance on tanks, which show indications of

severe corrosion or even leakage. It has to be stated, and this will be
underlined by statistics later on in this paper, that the majority of tanks are in
good condition when continuously well maintained. These tanks should be
kept in operation and the floor condition should be monitored further on. The
test result states the condition of the tank floor regarding the defects under
consideration in terms of grades, the applied grading system is given in table
1.
Table 1: Grading system for AE testing on ASTs
The recommended maximum duration of the following service period is with

respect to the service condition present at the time of test. And it is
communicated very clear to the responsible contact person on-site, that the
conditions set by the tank operator in order to prepare the tank for the test
have to be as close as possible to usual service conditions. So if the service
conditions are kept like they were before the test, then a prediction for the
floor condition is possible. Hence it follows that after a change in service
conditions the tank floor grading is not valid any more and a repetition test is
necessary to assess the new service conditions. If the tank floor is assigned
to grade IV, then an inside inspection in order to verify the indications found
with AET is recommended.
The preparation works for AT start with the determination of the tank
properties (construction details, storage product, etc.). For this purpose we
usually send out a questionnaire together with basic information regarding our
testing technique. After evaluating the filled in statements of the responsible
contact person on-site, all necessary resources have to be allocated. Our
testing personnel is certified for AET according to EN 473 and the used
combinations of measuring systems AMSY-5, Vallen-Systeme are state-ofthe-art. Figure 2 shows a system set-up within a testing van, which is
positioned nearby the tank.
Figure 2: Combination of AMSY-5 measuring systems for AST corrosion

and leakage testing
It is also communicated very clear before each test to the responsible

customer representative that every AET measurement is affected by noise of
different origin (mechanical, electrical, etc.). Much noise data can be identified
by software procedures and therefore it can be filtered and does not flaw the
test result. But the most important part in preparing a tank on-site is simply to
avoid noise so that it is not picked up by the AE sensors. If appropriate
measures are taken before the test, e.g. elimination of noise sources or
avoiding noisy time periods, then the noise content is already limited to a low
extend and the noise rejection algorithms need not to be stressed till to their
very limits. Thus, the reliability of the test result increases, which is of major
importance, especially if costly follow-up actions are recommended.
The standard arrangement requires an AET sensor at least after every 15 m

along the circumference in a height of approximately 1 m. The bottom row of
sensors enables to locate AET events within the horizontal cross-section of
the tank (2-d location).
The considered path of sound wave propagation (see figure 3) from the
source at the tank floor to the AET sensor on the tank shell is via the liquid
stock product, therefore the location uses the speed of sound of the liquid
stock product. This arrangement is suitable in case AET events originating at
other parts than the floor (e.g. a floating roof) can be ruled out. In every other
case we strongly recommend a sensor arrangement in two rows of sensors.
With the help of these additional sensors in a height of approximately 3 to 5 m
above the floor and exactly above the sensors near the bottom, it is possible
to reject AET events from upper regions of the tank from evaluation and
increases the reliability of the floor grading additionally. An example for AET
sensors mounted onto the tank shell may be seen in figure 3 left.
Figure 3: AE sensors mounted onto the tank shell, path of wave

propagation
2nd row sensor
Bottom row sensor

propagation

propagation
The considered path of sound wave propagation
(see figure 3) from the source at the tank floor to
the AET sensor on the tank shell is via the liquid
stock product, therefore the location uses the
speed of sound of the liquid stock product.
Once an AE source is detected at the tank floor, it is important to state the

source mechanism in order to grade the tank floor properly. Source
mechanism identification involves essentially the three following aspects
1. data acquisition and preprocessing,
2. data representation and
3. decision making,
which lead to the design of a pattern recognition system. For choosing the
best way of data representation one has to take into account, that a tank floor
covers an area up to some 1,000 square metres. Thus, the distance from the
source at the tank floor to the sensor at the tank shell may vary within a wide
range and so do AE signal parameters like signal peak amplitude, signal
duration, signal energy etc. accordingly. The applied testing technique takes
advantage of the waveforms, which are acquired and stored in parallel to the
other AE signal parameters. From the waveform data the frequency response
of the sound waves may be calculated and used for data representation.
Figure 4 shows a typical AE signal waveform together with its frequency

response. Sound wave propagation in liquids is free of frequency dispersion;
thus, the frequency response is independent of the distance from the source
to the sensor.
Furthermore, the attenuation of the concerned frequency bandwidth around
30 kHz may be regarded to be uniformly. Hence it follows that the frequency
response of the AE signal does not depend on the distance from the source
to the AE sensor.
A classifier was designed with the help of a reference data base comprising
signal waveforms with well known source mechanisms. This tool is then
applied on unknown data in order to decide whether the found AE source is
related to corrosion or to leakage.
Figure 4: AE signal waveform and its frequency response
If corrosion is detected, then the test result may vary from grade II to grade
IV according the source activity. Moreover, in a second classification step the
found corrosion source is assigned either to well-established corrosion, which
is indicated by the presence of a layer of corrosion product, or to the onset of
corrosion, when a scaling layer is about to develop. In case no active source
is detected, then the tank is free of any active defect and therefore from the
AE point of view it may be operated for another five years without any further
maintenance.
Discussion:
Subject: Furthermore, the attenuation of the concerned frequency bandwidth
around 30 kHz may be regarded to be uniformly. Hence it follows that the
frequency response of the AE signal does not depend on the distance from
the source to the AE sensor.
3.0 STATISTICS OF THE PERFORMED TESTS

More than 200 tanks have been tested using the described testing technique
in the past years since its introduction into the maintenance and inspection
market mainly in Germany, Austria and Italy. The diameter range of the tested
ASTs (fixed roof or floating roof) is from 4,5 m (4~5?) (product tank of a
chemical plant) to 98 m (crude oil tank of a pipeline tank farm). The stock
product had been at ambient temperature as well as at elevated temperatures
(80 C maximum surface temperature at the sensor position) with tank shells
thermal isolated or not. Figure 5 shows the distribution according the stock
product, grouped into the three main categories. Distillates like naphtha,
gasoline, gas oil or fuel oil have been assigned to refinery products, whereas
chemicals like acetone, trichloroethylene, propylene oxide and also caustic
soda have been added to (classed as) products.
Figure 5: Stock product distribution of tested ASTs (total of 218 tanks)
Altogether the applicability of the testing technique covers a broad variety of

stock products, which are used frequently in different industries and the
respective ASTs have been tested already with AET successfully.
Figure 6 gives a distribution of the test results ccording the four different
grades from table 1. One can take from this distribution, that the majority of
tanks (52 %) is assigned to grade I, indicating the best floor condition. This
underlines the experience of many tank operators that the time driven inside
inspection intervals lead to costly openings of tanks being still in good
condition. By integrating AET into the regular maintenance and inspection
programme it is possible to indicate these tanks in order to have their service
period prolonged for some further years of safe operation till to the next
inside inspection.
Figure 6: Result distribution of tested ASTs (total of 218 tanks)
The reliability of our testing technique has been proven twofold: by safe tank
operation for the recommended service period and by many follow-up
inspections. Since AT results in a statement regarding active defects at
conditions present during the test, it is complementary to the result of an
inside inspection, which aims on the estimation of the total tank floor
degradation. This has to be kept in mind when comparing both kind of testing.
One has to have a very detailed knowledge of the tank service history and
also the actions performed in order to clean the tank have to be considered
when finally assessing the floor condition in comparison to the AET result.
As an example we experienced one case where the inside coating has been
removed by the cleaning procedure due to insufficient bonding at an area of
already established corrosion damage. Since the tank floor had been
assigned to grade I, it appeared at first glance that this defect has not been
detected.
After studying the tank history it was found well documented, that the inside
coating was applied onto the given corrosion damage after grit-blasting but
without repair. Finally it turned out that the AET result was true, it represented
the actual tank floor condition present before the tank cleaning procedure. Of
course also the result of the inside inspection was true as a matter of fact, it
showed the total tank floor degradation. This case should just underline that
the beneficial combination of both results requires sometimes a precise
knowledge of the tank history and of the preparation activities before entering
the tank. In the majority of experienced cases this detailed discussion could
be dropped due to congruent results: a tank floor in good condition.
According to figure 6 quite a number of ASTs in rather bad condition have

been tested. Tank floors have been found with severe general corrosion as
well as tank floors with localized forms of corrosion and leaking tanks. As one
may have already assumed, also at other end of the grading system some
indications have to be clarified first before taking further actions. Since AT is
capable of detecting active corrosion, it does detect sacrificial anodes within
the tank. Together with the tank operator we could identify the found
corrosion indications to be at locations were sacrificial anodes had been
placed. At another site a serious corrosion source was detected not on the
tank floor but at the floating roof. Since a sensor arrangement in two rows like
show in figure 3 had been applied, the found corrosion source could be
assigned definitely to the floating roof. There a weld had already been
penetrated and product was found on the sheets.
Floating roof corrosion causes AE indications and therefore flaws the grading
of the tank floor if not properly identified. With the help of two rows of sensors,
this can be done quite simple and effective. In general every indication for a
serious defect is first analysed regarding other possible causes to avoid
costly false calls. Figure 7 hows both kinds of evaluation for the roof corrosion
example, without and with the help of the econd row sensors. The horizontal
cross-section of the tank is shown in the x- y plane together with the ensor
positions and identifications of the bottom row, whereas in the vertical
direction the number of located AE events within the reference area per hour
is given. It can be seen easily that the indication (red column on the left)
disappears when taking advantage of the improved sensor arrangement
(right).
Figure 7: 3-d diagram of location result without and with two rows of sensors
4.0 CONCLUSION
Non-intrusive tank floor testing with acoustic emission (AET) is able to detect
active corrosion (progressive loss of wall thickness) and active leakage
(actual loss of product). The testing covers 100 % of the tank floor as well as
bottom side and top side of the floor sheets. Integrated into the regular
maintenance and inspection programme it is a valuable tool to separate tanks
in good condition, capable for some further years of safe operation, from
tanks in bad condition, which should be opened for inside inspection and
repair.
The application of the presented testing technique enables to open tanks

based on the tank floor condition and not on a time driven schedule. Thus,
maintenance may be focused on tanks, which show an indication of a severe
defect. The regulations for tank operation are not the same in all European
countries. There are different restrictions for the duration of the service period
till to the next inside inspection. To receive an official approval for prolonging
a service period requires from the tank operator to convince the responsible
authority, which has already led to first successful results. Corrosion testing
with AET is not restricted to ASTs. A new research project funded by the
European Commission (EVG1-CT-2002-00067) has been started to test ship
tanks, especially those of crude oil tankers, for active corrosion. It has already
been shown, that this application is feasible despite of the harsh environment
present on sea. Ongoing research activities together with the experience from
hundreds of tests ensure continuous improvements, so that AET is able to
strengthen its position for supporting economical and safe plant operation.
Reading#7
Introduction to Acoustic Emission

Testing
NSF-ATE (Advanced Technological Education) program through grant #DUE
0101709.
https://www.nde-ed.org/EducationResources/CommunityCollege/Other%20Methods/AE/AE_Index.htm
1.0 Introduction to Acoustic Emission Testing
Acoustic Emission (AE) refers to the generation of transient elastic waves

produced by a sudden redistribution of stress in a material. When a structure
is subjected to an external stimulus (change in pressure, load, or
temperature), localized sources trigger the release of energy, in the form of
stress waves, which propagate to the surface and are recorded by sensors.
With the right equipment and setup, motions on the order of picometers (10-12
m) can be identified. Sources of AE vary from natural events like earthquakes
and rockbursts to the initiation and growth of cracks, slip and dislocation
movements, melting, twinning, and phase transformations in metals. In
composites, matrix cracking and fiber breakage and debonding contribute to
acoustic emissions. AEs have also been measured and recorded in polymers,
wood, and concrete, among other materials.
Detection and analysis of AE signals can supply valuable information
regarding the origin and importance of a discontinuity in a material. Because
of the versatility of Acoustic Emission Testing (AET), it has many industrial
applications (e.g. assessing structural integrity, detecting flaws, testing for
leaks, or monitoring weld quality) and is used extensively as a research tool.
Acoustic Emission is unlike most other nondestructive testing (NDT)

techniques in two regards. The first difference pertains to the origin of the
signal. Instead of supplying energy to the object under examination, AET
simply listens for the energy released by the object. AE tests are often
performed on structures while in operation, as this provides adequate loading
for propagating defects and triggering acoustic emissions.
The second difference is that AET deals with dynamic processes, or changes,
in a material. This is particularly meaningful because only active features (e.g.
crack growth) are highlighted. The ability to discern between developing and
stagnant defects is significant. However, it is possible for flaws to go
undetected altogether if the loading is not high enough to cause an acoustic
event. Furthermore, AE testing usually provides an immediate indication
relating to the strength or risk of failure of a component. Other advantages of
AET include fast and complete volumetric inspection using multiple sensors,
permanent sensor mounting for process control, and no need to disassemble
and clean a specimen.
Unfortunately, AE systems can only qualitatively gauge how much damage is

contained in a structure. In order to obtain quantitative results about size,
depth, and overall acceptability of a part, other NDT methods (often ultrasonic
testing) are necessary. Another drawback of AE stems from loud service
environments which contribute extraneous noise to the signals. For
successful applications, signal discrimination and noise reduction are crucial.
Note: Stem from ()
2.0 A Brief History of AE Testing

Although acoustic emissions can be created in a controlled environment, they
can also occur naturally. Therefore, as a means of quality control, the origin of
AE is hard to pinpoint. As early as 6,500 BC, potters were known to listen for
audible sounds during the cooling of their ceramics, signifying structural
failure. In metal working, the term "tin cry" (audible emissions produced by the
mechanical twinning of pure tin during plastic deformation) was coined
around 3,700 BC by tin smelters in Asia Minor. The first documented
observations of AE appear to have been made in the 8th century by Arabian
alchemist Jabir ibn Hayyan. In a book, Hayyan wrote that Jupiter (tin) gives
off a harsh sound when worked, while Mars (iron) sounds much during
forging.
Many texts in the late 19th century referred to the audible emissions made by
materials such as tin, iron, cadmium and zinc. One noteworthy correlation
between different metals and their acoustic emissions came from Czochralski,
who witnessed the relationship between tin and zinc cry and twinning. Later,
Albert Portevin and Francois Le Chatelier observed AE emissions from a
stressed Al-Cu-Mn (Aluminum-Copper-Manganese) alloy.
The next 20 years brought further

verification with the work of Robert
Anderson (tensile testing of an aluminum
alloy beyond its yield point), Erich Scheil
(linked the formation of martensite in steel
to audible noise), and Friedrich Forster,
who with Scheil related an audible noise to
the formation of martensite in high-nickel
steel. Experimentation continued
throughout the mid-1900s, culminating in
the PhD thesis written by Joseph Kaiser
entitled "Results and Conclusions from
Measurements of Sound in Metallic
Materials under Tensile Stress.
Soon after becoming aware of Kaisers efforts, Bradford Schofield initiated
the first research program in the United States to look at the materials
engineering applications of AE. Fittingly, Kaisers research is generally
recognized as the beginning of modern day acoustic emission testing.
Modern Tensile Testing Machine
Jabir ibn Hayyan
Martensite
3.0 Theory - AE Sources

As mentioned in the Introduction, acoustic emissions can result from the
initiation and growth of cracks, slip and dislocation movements, twinning, or
phase transformations in metals. In any case, AEs originate with stress.
When a stress is exerted on a material, a strain is induced in the material as
well. Depending on the magnitude of the stress and the properties of the
material, an object may return to its original dimensions or be permanently
deformed after the stress is removed. These two conditions are known as
elastic and plastic deformation, respectively.
The most detectible acoustic emissions take place when a loaded material
undergoes plastic deformation or when a material is loaded at or near its yield
stress. On the microscopic level, as plastic deformation occurs, atomic planes
slip past each other through the movement of dislocations. These atomicscale deformations release energy in the form of elastic waves which can be
thought of as naturally generated ultrasound traveling through the object.
When cracks exist in a metal, the stress levels present in front of the crack tip
can be several times higher than the surrounding area. Therefore, AE activity
will also be observed when the material ahead of the crack tip undergoes
plastic deformation (micro-yielding).
Dislocation- When cracks exist in a metal, the stress levels present in front of the crack tip
can be several times higher than the surrounding area. Therefore, AE activity will also be
observed when the material ahead of the crack tip undergoes plastic deformation (micro-yielding).
http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/8/8/5250
Two sources of fatigue cracks also cause AEs:

The first source is emissive particles (e.g. nonmetallic inclusions) at the
origin of the crack tip. Since these particles are less ductile than the
surrounding material, they tend to break more easily when the metal is
strained, resulting in an AE signal.
The second source is the propagation of the crack tip that occurs through
the movement of dislocations and small-scale cleavage produced by
triaxial stresses.
Two sources of fatigue cracks also cause AEs: Dislocation Movement

and Fracturing of emissive inclusions
Two sources of fatigue cracks also cause AEs: Dislocation Movement

and Fracturing of emissive inclusions
emissive particles
movement of dislocations
Two sources of fatigue cracks also cause AEs: Movement of

Dislocations
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dislocation
Two sources of fatigue cracks also cause AEs: Movement of

Dislocations
Figure B Schematic diagram (lattice

planes) showing an edge dislocation.
Burgers vector in black, dislocation
line in blue.
Figure C Schematic diagram (lattice

planes) showing a screw dislocation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dislocation
Two sources of fatigue cracks also cause AEs: Emissive Inclusions
http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?pid=S0038-223X2013000200004&script=sci_arttext

Figure 1: SEM image of a complex, non-metallic inclusion taken by secondary
electrons, scale bar: 8 m.
http://steeldata.info/inclusions/demo/data/570.html
Figure 1: SEM image of a complex, non-metallic inclusion taken by secondary

electrons, scale bar: 8 m.
Table 1: Semi-quantitative analysis of the inclusion in the studied spring steel in wt%.
Inclusion name: Calcium sulfide and aluminium oxide
Inclusion No.: 570
Inclusion formula: CaS, Al2O3
Inclusion type (Macro/Micro/Nano): Micro
Inclusion type (Exogenous/Indigenous): Indigenous
Inclusion classification: Sulfide, oxide
Inclusion composition in weight %: See the table
Sample: 51CrV4 spring steel
Steel composition in weight %: 0.52% C, 0.35% Si, 0.96% Mn, 0.93% Cr, 0.12% V, 0.007% S,
0.010% Al.
Additional links: http://steeldata.info/inclusions/demo/data/570.html
Note: Fig. 1 shows a typical complex inclusion. Three analyses were performed on this inclusion
to reveal the detailed composition, mainly of calcium sulfide and aluminum oxide.
http://steeldata.info/inclusions/demo/data/570.html
Figure 2: Non-deformable inclusion (v=0) in rolled steel with conical gap in

steel phase. Scale bar: 50 m.
http://www.steeldata.info/inclusions/demo/data/77.html
The amount of energy released by an acoustic emission and the amplitude of

the waveform are related to the magnitude and velocity of the source event.
The amplitude of the emission is proportional to the velocity of crack
propagation and the amount of surface area created. Large, discrete crack
jumps will produce larger AE signals than cracks that propagate slowly over
the same distance.
Detection and conversion of these elastic waves to electrical signals is the
basis of AE testing.
Analysis of these signals yield valuable information regarding the origin and
importance of a discontinuity in a material. As discussed in the following
section, specialized equipment is necessary to detect the wave energy and
decipher which signals are meaningful.
3.1 Activity of AE Sources in

Structural Loading
AE signals generated under different
loading patterns can provide valuable
information concerning the structural
integrity of a material. Load levels that
have been previously exerted on a
material do not produce AE activity. In
other words, discontinuities created in a
material do not expand or move until
that former stress is exceeded. This
phenomenon, known as the Kaiser
Effect, can be seen in the load versus
AE plot to the right.
As the object is loaded, acoustic

emission events accumulate (segment
AB). When the load is removed and
reapplied (segment BCB), AE events
do not occur again until the load at
point B is exceeded. As the load
exerted on the material is increased
again (BD), AEs are generated and
stop when the load is removed.
However, at point F, the applied load is
high enough to cause significant
emissions even though the previous
maximum load (D) was not reached.
This phenomenon is known as the
Felicity Effect. This effect can be
quantified using the Felicity Ratio,
which is the load where considerable
AE resumes, divided by the maximum
applied load (F/D).
Felicity Effect
Felicity Ratio= F/D
Kaiser Effect
Kaiser Effect
Felicity Ratio= F/D
Felicity Effect
Knowledge of the Kaiser Effect and Felicity Effect can be used to determine if
major structural defects are present. This can be achieved by applying
constant loads (relative to the design loads exerted on the material) and
listening to see if emissions continue to occur while the load is held. As
shown in the figure, if AE signals continue to be detected during the holding
of these loads (GH), it is likely that substantial structural defects are present.
In addition, a material may contain critical defects if an identical load is
reapplied and AE signals continue to be detected. Another guideline
governing AEs is the Dunegan corollary, which states that if acoustic
emissions are observed prior to a previous maximum load, some type of new
damage must have occurred. (Note: Time dependent processes like corrosion
and hydrogen embrittlement tend to render the Kaiser Effect useless)
Key points:
Kaiser effect: Load levels that have been previously exerted on a material
do not produce AE activity.
Felicity effect: the applied load is high enough to cause significant
emissions even though the previous maximum load (D) was not reached.
Felicity ratio: is the load where considerable AE resumes, divided by the
maximum applied load (F/D).
Dunegan corollary, which states that if acoustic emissions are observed
prior to a previous maximum load, some type of new damage must have
occurred. (Note: Time dependent processes like corrosion and hydrogen
embrittlement tend to render the Kaiser Effect useless)
Corollary
In mathematics a corollary typically follows a theorem. The use of the
term corollary, rather than proposition or theorem, is intrinsically
subjective. Proposition B is a corollary of proposition A if B can be readily
deduced from A or is self-evident from its proof, but the meaning of
readily or self-evident varies depending upon the author and context. The
importance of the corollary is often considered secondary to that of the
initial theorem; B is unlikely to be termed a corollary if its mathematical
consequences are as significant as those of A. Sometimes a corollary
has a proof that explains the derivation; sometimes the derivation is
considered self-evident.
3.2 Noise
The sensitivity of an acoustic emission system is often limited by the amount
of background noise nearby. Noise in AE testing refers to any undesirable
signals detected by the sensors. Examples of these signals include frictional
sources (e.g. loose bolts or movable connectors that shift when exposed to
wind loads) and impact sources (e.g. rain, flying objects or wind-driven dust)
in bridges.
Sources of noise may also be present in applications where the area being
tested may be disturbed by mechanical vibrations (e.g. pumps).
To compensate for the effects of background noise, various procedures can
be implemented. Some possible approaches involve fabricating special
sensors with electronic gates for noise blocking, taking precautions to place
sensors as far away as possible from noise sources, and electronic filtering
(either using signal arrival times or differences in the spectral content of true
AE signals and background noise).
AST Tank
3.3 Pseudo Sources

In addition to the AE source mechanisms described above, pseudo source
mechanisms produce AE signals that are detected by AE equipment.
Examples include liquefaction and solidification, friction in rotating bearings,
solid-solid phase transformations, leaks, cavitation, and the realignment or
growth of magnetic domains (See Barkhausen Effect).
Type of Noises/Pseudo Sources

Frictional sources (e.g. loose bolts or movable connectors that shift when
exposed to wind loads) and
Impact sources (e.g. rain, flying objects or wind-driven dust) in bridges.
External mechanical vibrations (e.g. pumps).
Solid-solid phase transformations,
leaks,
cavitation,
Barkhausen effect
Basic AE history plot: showing Kaiser effect (BCB), Felicity effect (DEF),
and emission during hold (GH) 2
The Barkhausen effect is a name given to the noise in the magnetic

output of a ferromagnet when the magnetizing force applied to it is changed.
Discovered by German physicist Heinrich Barkhausen in 1919, it is caused by
rapid changes of size of magnetic domains (similarly magnetically oriented
atoms in ferromagnetic materials).
Barkhausen's work in acoustics and magnetism led to the discovery, which
became the main piece of experimental evidence supporting the domain
theory of ferromagnetism proposed in 1906 by Pierre-Ernest Weiss. The
Barkhausen effect is a series of sudden changes in the size and orientation of
ferromagnetic domains, or microscopic clusters of aligned atomic magnets
(spins), that occurs during a continuous process of magnetization or
demagnetization. The Barkhausen effect offered direct evidence for the
existence of ferromagnetic domains, which previously had been postulated
theoretically. Heinrich Barkhausen discovered that a slow, smooth increase of
a magnetic field applied to a piece of ferromagnetic material, such as iron,
causes it to become magnetized, not continuously but in minute steps
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barkhausen_effect
Origin of the Barkhausen noise: as a domain wall moves it gets caught on

a defect in the crystal lattice, then "snaps" past it, creating a sudden change
in the magnetic field.
Insert03
German physicist named Heinrich Barkhausen, a pioneer in things to do

with magnetism, sound and feedback. He also has a nice face. Among his
discoveries are two named after him:
4.0 Theory - Acoustic Waves

4.1 Wave Propagation
A primitive wave released at the AE
source is illustrated in the figure right.
The displacement waveform is a steplike function corresponding to the
permanent change associated with the
source process. The analogous velocity
and stress waveforms are essentially
pulse-like. The width and height of the
primitive pulse depend on the dynamics
of the source process.
Source processes such as microscopic

crack jumps and precipitate fractures
are usually completed in a fraction of a
microsecond or a few microseconds,
which explains why the pulse is short in
duration. The amplitude and energy of
the primitive pulse vary over an
enormous range from submicroscopic
dislocation movements to gross crack
jumps.
Waves radiates from the source in

all directions, often having a
strong directionality depending on
the nature of the source process,
as shown in the second figure.
Rapid movement is necessary if a
sizeable amount of the elastic
energy liberated during
deformation is to appear as an
acoustic emission.
Primitive AE wave released at a source. The primitive wave is essentially a

stress pulse corresponding to a permanent displacement of the material. The
ordinate quantities refer to a point in the material.
Stress Velocity
Angular dependence of acoustic emission radiated from a growing

microcrack. Most of the energy is directed in the 90 and 270 directions,
perpendicular to the crack surfaces.
Angular dependence of acoustic emission radiated from a growing

microcrack. Most of the energy is directed in the 90 and 270 directions,
perpendicular to the crack surfaces.
As these primitive waves travel through a material, their form is changed

considerably. Elastic wave source and elastic wave motion theories are being
investigated to determine the complicated relationship between the AE
source pulse and the corresponding movement at the detection site. The
ultimate goal of studies of the interaction between elastic waves and material
structure is to accurately develop a description of the source event from the
output signal of a distant sensor.
However, most materials-oriented researchers and NDT inspectors are not
concerned with the intricate knowledge of each source event. Instead, they
are primarily interested in the broader, statistical aspects of AE. Because of
this, they prefer to use narrow band (resonant) sensors which detect only a
small portion of the broadband of frequencies emitted by an AE. These
sensors are capable of measuring hundreds of signals each second, in
contrast to the more expensive high-fidelity sensors used in source function
analysis. More information on sensors will be discussed later in the
Equipment section.
The signal that is detected by a sensor is a combination of many parts of the

waveform initially emitted. Acoustic emission source motion is completed in a
few millionths of a second. As the AE leaves the source, the waveform travels
in a spherically spreading pattern and is reflected off the boundaries of the
object. Signals that are in phase with each other as they reach the sensor
produce constructive interference which usually results in the highest peak of
the waveform being detected. The typical time interval from when an AE wave
reflects around the test piece (repeatedly exciting the sensor) until it decays,
ranges from the order of 100 microseconds in a highly damped, nonmetallic
material to tens of milliseconds in a lightly damped metallic material.
Note:
The typical time interval:
10-4 ~ 10-1 seconds
4.2 Attenuation
The intensity of an AE signal detected by a sensor is considerably lower
than the intensity that would have been observed in the close proximity of the
source. This is due to attenuation. There are three main causes of attenuation:
1. beginning with geometric spreading. As an AE spreads from its source in
a plate-like material, its amplitude decays by 30% every time it doubles its
distance from the source. In three-dimensional structures, the signal
decays on the order of 50%. This can be traced back to the simple
conservation of energy.
2. Another cause of attenuation is material damping, as alluded to in the
previous paragraph. While an AE wave passes through a material, its
elastic and kinetic energies are absorbed and converted into heat.
3. The third cause of attenuation is wave scattering. Geometric
discontinuities (e.g. twin boundaries, nonmetallic inclusions, or grain
boundaries) and structural boundaries both reflect some of the wave
energy that was initially transmitted.
Measurements of the effects of attenuation on an AE signal can be performed

with a simple apparatus known as a Hsu-Nielson Source. This consists of a
mechanical pencil with either 0.3 or 0.5 mm 2H lead that is passed through a
cone-shaped Teflon shoe designed to place the lead in contact with the
surface of a material at a 30 degree angle. When the pencil lead is pressed
and broken against the material, it creates a small, local deformation that is
relieved in the form of a stress wave, similar to the type of AE signal produced
by a crack. By using this method, simulated AE sources can be created at
various sites on a structure to determine the optimal position for the
placement of sensors and to ensure that all areas of interest are within the
detection range of the sensor or sensors.
4.3 Wave Mode and Velocity

As mentioned earlier, using AE inspection in conjunction with other NDE
techniques can be an effective method in gauging the location and nature of
defects. Since source locations are determined by the time required for the
wave to travel through the material to a sensor, it is important that the velocity
of the propagating waves be accurately calculated. This is not an easy task
since wave propagation depends on the material in question and the wave
mode being detected.
For many applications, Lamb waves are of primary concern because they
are able to give the best indication of wave propagation from a source whose
distance from the sensor is larger than the thickness of the material. For
additional information on Lamb waves, see the wave mode page in the
Ultrasonic Inspection section.
Fig. 1. Draft of the Hsu-Nielsen calibration head
http://mqa.ogpta.polsl.pl/files-articles/25/pdf/177-192_Boczar_Lorenz.pdf
Fig 2. Overall view of the transducer calibrated by the Hsu-Nielsen

method, installed on a transformer
Lamb waves propagate in solid plates. They are elastic waves whose
particle motion lies in the plane that contains the direction of wave
propagation and the plate normal (the direction perpendicular to the plate). In
1917, the English mathematician Horace Lamb published his classic analysis
and description of acoustic waves of this type. Their properties turned out to
be quite complex. An infinite medium supports just two wave modes traveling
at unique velocities; but plates support two infinite sets of Lamb wave modes,
whose velocities depend on the relationship between wavelength and plate
thickness.
Since the 1990s, the understanding and utilization of Lamb waves has
advanced greatly, thanks to the rapid increase in the availability of computing
power. Lamb's theoretical formulations have found substantial practical
application, especially in the field of nondestructive testing.
The term RayleighLamb waves embraces the Rayleigh wave, a type of
wave that propagates along a single surface. Both Rayleigh and Lamb waves
are constrained by the elastic properties of the surface(s) that guide them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamb_waves
Lamb waves with cylindrical symmetry; plate waves from point sources
While Lamb's analysis assumed a straight wavefront, it has been shown[6]
that the same characteristic equations apply to cylindrical plate waves (i.e.
waves propagating outwards from a line source, the line lying perpendicular
to the plate). The difference is that whereas the "carrier" for the straight
wavefront is a sinusoid, the "carrier" for the axisymmetric wave is a Bessel
function. The Bessel function takes care of the singularity at the source, then
converges towards sinusoidal behavior at great distances.
These cylindrical waves are the eigenfunctions from which the plate's
response to point disturbances can be composed. Thus a plate's response to
a point disturbance can be expressed as a combination of Lamb waves, plus
evanescent terms in the near field. The overall result can be loosely
visualized as a pattern of circular wavefronts, like ripples from a stone
dropped into a pond but changing more profoundly in form as they progress
outwards. It should be noted always that Lamb wave theory relates only to
motion in the (r,z) direction; transverse motion is a different topic.
Guided Lamb waves

This phrase is quite often encountered in non-destructive testing. "Guided
Lamb Waves" can be defined as Lamb-like waves that are guided by the finite
dimensions of real test objects. To add the prefix "guided" to the phrase
"Lamb wave" is thus to recognize that Lamb's infinite plate is, in reality,
nowhere to be found.
In reality we deal with finite plates, or plates wrapped into cylindrical pipes or
vessels, or plates cut into thin strips, etc. Lamb wave theory often gives a
very good account of much of the wave behavior of such structures. It will not
give a perfect account, and that is why the phrase "Guided Lamb Waves" is
more practically relevant than "Lamb Waves". One question is how the
velocities and mode shapes of the Lamb-like waves will be influenced by the
real geometry of the part. For example, the velocity of a Lamb-like wave in a
thin cylinder will depend slightly on the radius of the cylinder and on whether
the wave is traveling along the axis or round the circumference. Another
question is what completely different acoustical behaviors and wave modes
may be present in the real geometry of the part. For example, a cylindrical
pipe has flexural modes associated with bodily movement of the whole pipe,
quite different from the Lamb-like flexural mode of the pipe wall.
Lamb waves in ultrasonic testing

The purpose of ultrasonic testing is usually to find and characterize individual
flaws in the object being tested. Such flaws are detected when they reflect or
scatter the impinging wave and the reflected or scattered wave reaches the
search unit with sufficient amplitude.
Traditionally, ultrasonic testing has been conducted with waves whose
wavelength is very much shorter than the dimension of the part being
inspected. In this high-frequency-regime, the ultrasonic inspector uses waves
that approximate to the infinite-medium longitudinal and shear wave modes,
zig-zagging to and from across the thickness of the plate. Although the lamb
wave pioneers worked on nondestructive testing applications and drew
attention to the theory, widespread use did not come about until the 1990s
when computer programs for calculating dispersion curves and relating them
to experimentally observable signals became much more widely available.
These computational tools, along with a more widespread understanding of

the nature of Lamb waves, made it possible to devise techniques for
nondestructive testing using wavelengths that are comparable with or greater
than the thickness of the plate. At these longer wavelengths the attenuation of
the wave is less, so that flaws can be detected at greater distances.
A major challenge and skill in the use of Lamb waves for ultrasonic testing is
the generation of specific modes at specific frequencies that will propagate
well and give clean return "echoes". This requires careful control of the
excitation. Techniques for this include the use of comb transducers, wedges,
waves from liquid media and electro magnetic acoustic transducers (EMAT's).
Lamb waves in acousto-ultrasonic testing

Acousto-ultrasonic testing differs from ultrasonic testing in that it was
conceived as a means of assessing damage (and other material attributes)
distributed over substantial areas, rather than characterizing flaws individually.
Lamb waves are well suited to this concept, because they irradiate the whole
plate thickness and propagate substantial distances with consistent patterns
of motion.
Lamb waves in acoustic emission testing
Acoustic emission uses much lower frequencies than traditional ultrasonic
testing, and the sensor is typically expected to detect active flaws at distances
up to several meters. A large fraction of the structures customarily testing with
acoustic emission are fabricated from steel plate - tanks, pressure vessels,
pipes and so on. Lamb wave theory is therefore the prime theory for
explaining the signal forms and propagation velocities that are observed
when conducting acoustic emission testing. Substantial improvements in the
accuracy of AE source location (a major techniques of AE testing) can be
achieved through good understanding and skillful utilization of the Lamb wave
body of knowledge.
Ultrasonic and acoustic emission testing contrasted

An arbitrary mechanical excitation applied to a plate will generate a
multiplicity of Lamb waves carrying energy across a range of frequencies.
Such is the case for the acoustic emission wave. In acoustic emission testing,
the challenge is to recognize the multiple Lamb wave components in the
received waveform and to interpret them in terms of source motion. This
contrasts with the situation in ultrasonic testing, where the first challenge is to
generate a single, well-controlled Lamb wave mode at a single frequency. But
even in ultrasonic testing, mode conversion takes place when the generated
Lamb wave interacts with flaws, so the interpretation of reflected signals
compounded from multiple modes becomes a means of flaw characterization.
More Reading on surface and plate waves here.

Surface (or Rayleigh) waves
travel the surface of a relatively thick solid material penetrating to a depth of
one wavelength. Surface waves combine both a longitudinal and transverse
motion to create an elliptic orbit motion as shown in the image and animation
below. The major axis of the ellipse is perpendicular to the surface of the solid.
As the depth of an individual atom from the surface increases the width of its
elliptical motion decreases. Surface waves are generated when a longitudinal
wave intersects a surface near the second critical angle and they travel at a
velocity between .87 and .95 of a shear wave. Rayleigh waves are useful
because they are very sensitive to surface defects (and other surface features)
and they follow the surface around curves. Because of this, Rayleigh waves
can be used to inspect areas that other waves might have difficulty reaching
Plate waves
are similar to surface waves except they can only be generated in materials a
few wavelengths thick. Lamb waves are the most commonly used plate
waves in NDT. Lamb waves are complex vibrational waves that propagate
parallel to the test surface throughout the thickness of the material.
Propagation of Lamb waves depends on the density and the elastic material
properties of a component. They are also influenced a great deal by the test
frequency and material thickness. Lamb waves are generated at an incident
angle in which the parallel component of the velocity of the wave in the
source is equal to the velocity of the wave in the test material. Lamb waves
will travel several meters in steel and so are useful to scan plate, wire, and
tubes.
With Lamb waves, a number of modes of particle

vibration are possible, but the two most common
are symmetrical and asymmetrical. The complex
motion of the particles is similar to the elliptical
orbits for surface waves. Symmetrical Lamb
waves move in a symmetrical fashion about the
median plane of the plate. This is sometimes
called the extensional mode because the wave
is stretching and compressing the plate in the
wave motion direction. Wave motion in the
symmetrical mode is most efficiently produced
when the exciting force is parallel to the plate.
The asymmetrical Lamb wave mode is often
called the flexural mode because a large
portion of the motion moves in a normal direction
to the plate, and a little motion occurs in the
direction parallel to the plate. In this mode, the
body of the plate bends as the two surfaces
move in the same direction.
Fig 2. Overall view of the transducer calibrated by the Hsu-Nielsen

method, installed on a transformer
5.0 Equipment
Acoustic emission testing can be performed in the field with portable
instruments or in a stationary laboratory setting. Typically, systems contain a
sensor, preamplifier, filter, and amplifier, along with measurement, display,
and storage equipment (e.g. oscilloscopes, voltmeters, and personal
computers). Acoustic emission sensors respond to dynamic motion that is
caused by an AE event. This is achieved through transducers which convert
mechanical movement into an electrical voltage signal. The transducer
element in an AE sensor is almost always a piezoelectric crystal, which is
commonly made from a ceramic such as lead zirconate titanate (PZT).
Transducers are selected based on operating frequency, sensitivity and
environmental characteristics, and are grouped into two classes: resonant
and broadband. The majority of AE equipment is responsive to movement in
its typical operating frequency range of 30 kHz to 1 MHz. For materials with
high attenuation (e.g. plastic composites), lower frequencies may be used to
better distinguish AE signals. The opposite holds true as well.
Ideally, the AE signal that reaches the mainframe will be free of background
noise and electromagnetic interference. Unfortunately, this is not realistic.
However, sensors and preamplifiers are designed to help eliminate unwanted
signals. First, the preamplifier boosts the voltage to provide gain and cable
drive capability. To minimize interference, a preamplifier is placed close to the
transducer; in fact, many transducers today are equipped with integrated
preamplifiers. Next, the signal is relayed to a bandpass filter for elimination of
low frequencies (common to background noise) and high frequencies.
Following completion of this process, the signal travels to the acoustic system
mainframe and eventually to a computer or similar device for analysis and
storage. Depending on noise conditions, further filtering or amplification at the
mainframe may still be necessary.
Schematic Diagram of a Basic Four-channel Acoustic Emission Testing

System
AET Transducer
AET Transducer
AET Processor
After passing the AE system mainframe, the signal comes to a

detection/measurement circuit as shown in the figure directly above. Note that
multiple-measurement circuits can be used in multiple sensor/channel
systems for source location purposes (to be described later). At the
measurement circuitry, the shape of the conditioned signal is compared with a
threshold voltage value that has been programmed by the operator. Signals
are either continuous (analogous to Gaussian, random noise with amplitudes
varying according to the magnitude of the AE events) or burst-type. Each time
the threshold voltage is exceeded, the measurement circuit releases a digital
pulse. The first pulse is used to signify the beginning of a hit. (A hit is used to
describe the AE event that is detected by a particular sensor. One AE event
can cause a system with numerous channels to record multiple hits.) Pulses
will continue to be generated while the signal exceeds the threshold voltage.
Once this process has stopped for a predetermined amount of time, the hit is
finished (as far as the circuitry is concerned). The data from the hit is then
read into a microcomputer and the measurement circuit is reset.
Hit Driven AE Systems and Measurement of Signal Features

Although several AE system designs are available (combining various options,
sensitivity, and cost), most AE systems use a hit-driven architecture. The hitdriven design is able to efficiently measure all detected signals and record
digital descriptions for each individual feature (detailed later in this section).
During periods of inactivity, the system lies dormant. Once a new signal is
detected, the system records the hit or hits, and the data is logged for present
and/or future display.
Also common to most AE systems is the ability to perform routine tasks that
are valuable for AE inspection. These tasks include quantitative signal
measurements with corresponding time and/or load readings, discrimination
between real and false signals (noise), and the collection of statistical
information about the parameters of each signal.
6.0 AE Signal Features

With the equipment configured and setup
complete, AE testing may begin. The
sensor is coupled to the test surface and
held in place with tape or adhesive. An
operator then monitors the signals which
are excited by the induced stresses in
the object. When a useful transient, or
burst signal is correctly obtained,
parameters like amplitude, counts,
measured area under the rectified signal
envelope (MARSE), duration, and rise
time can be gathered. Each of the AE
signal feature shown in the image is
described below.
MARSE: measured area under the rectified signal envelope
Amplitude, A, is the greatest measured voltage in a waveform and is

measured in decibels (dB). This is an important parameter in acoustic
emission inspection because it determines the detectability of the signal.
Signals with amplitudes below the operator-defined, minimum threshold will
not be recorded.
Rise time, R, is the time interval between the first threshold crossing and the
signal peak. This parameter is related to the propagation of the wave between
the source of the acoustic emission event and the sensor. Therefore, rise time
is used for qualification of signals and as a criterion for noise filter.
Duration, D, is the time difference between the first and last threshold
crossings. Duration can be used to identify different types of sources and to
filter out noise. Like counts (N), this parameter relies upon the magnitude of
the signal and the acoustics of the material.
MARSE, E, sometimes referred to as energy counts, is the measure of the
area under the envelope of the rectified linear voltage time signal from the
transducer. This can be thought of as the relative signal amplitude and is
useful because the energy of the emission can be determined. MARSE is
also sensitive to the duration and amplitude of the signal, but does not use
counts or user defined thresholds and operating frequencies. MARSE is
regularly used in the measurements of acoustic emissions.
Counts, N, refers to the number of pulses emitted by the measurement
circuitry if the signal amplitude is greater than the threshold. Depending on
the magnitude of the AE event and the characteristics of the material, one hit
may produce one or many counts. While this is a relatively simple parameter
to collect, it usually needs to be combined with amplitude and/or duration
measurements to provide quality information about the shape of a signal.
7.0 Data Display

Software-based AE systems are able to generate graphical displays for
analysis of the signals recorded during AE inspection. These displays provide
valuable information about the detected events and can be classified into four
categories:
1. location,
2. activity,
3. intensity, and
4. data quality (crossplots).
Location displays identify the origin of the

detected AE events. These can be graphed
by X coordinates, X-Y coordinates, or by
channel for linear computed-source location,
planar computed-source location, and zone
location techniques. Examples of each graph
are shown to the right.
Activity displays show AE activity as a function of time on an X-Y plot

(figure below left). Each bar on the graphs represents a specified amount
of time. For example, a one-hour test could be divided into 100 time
increments. All activity measured within a given 36 second interval would
be displayed in a given histogram bar. Either axis may be displayed
logarithmically in the event of high AE activity or long testing periods. In
addition to showing measured activity over a single time period,
cumulative activity displays (figure below right) can be created to show
the total amount of activity detected during a test. This display is valuable
for measuring the total emission quantity and the average rate of
emission.
Intensity displays are used to give statistical information concerning the

magnitude of the detected signals. As can be seen in the amplitude
distribution graph to the below, the number of hits is plotted at each amplitude
increment (expressed in dBs) beyond the user-defined threshold. These
graphs can be used to determine whether a few large signals or many small
ones created the detected AE signal energy. In addition, if the Y-axis is
plotted logarithmically, the shape of the amplitude distribution can be
interpreted to determine the activity of a crack (e.g. a linear distribution
indicates growth).
The fourth category of AE displays, crossplots, is used for evaluating the

quality of the data collected. Counts versus amplitude, duration versus
amplitude, and counts versus duration are frequently used crossplots. As
shown in the final figure, each hit is marked as a single point, indicating the
correlation between the two signal features. The recognized signals from
AE events typically form a diagonal band since larger signals usually
generate higher counts. Because noise signals caused by electromagnetic
interference do not have as many threshold-crossing pulses as typical AE
source events, the hits are located below the main band. Conversely,
signals caused by friction or leaks have more threshold-crossing pulses
than typical AE source events and are subsequently located above the
main band. In the case of ambiguous data, expertise is necessary in
separating desirable and unwanted hits.
8.0 AE Source Location Techniques

Multi-Channel Source Location Techniques:
Locating the source of significant acoustic emissions is often the main goal of
an inspection. Although the magnitude of the damage may be unknown after
AE analysis, follow up testing at source locations can provide these answers.
As previously mentioned, many AE systems are capable of using multiple
sensors/channels during testing, allowing them to record a hit from a single
AE event. These AE systems can be used to determine the location of an
event source. As hits are recorded by each sensor/channel, the source can
be located by knowing the velocity of the wave in the material () and the
difference in hit arrival times among the sensors (T) , as measured by
hardware circuitry or computer software.
Material Sound Velocities- Ultrasonic Velocities in Common Materials

The table below lists typical longitudinal wave ultrasonic velocities in a variety of common materials that can be measured with
ultrasonic thickness gages. Note that this is only a general guide. The actual velocity in these materials may vary significantly due
to a variety of causes such as specific composition or microstructure, grain or fiber orientation, porosity, and temperature. This is
especially true in the case of cast metals, fiberglass, plastics, and composites. For best accuracy in thickness gaging, the sound
velocity in a given test material should always be measured by performing a velocity calibration on a sample of known thickness.
http://www.olympus-ims.com/en/ndt-tutorials/thickness-gage/appendices-velocities/
Material Sound Velocities- Ultrasonic Velocities in Common Materials

The table below lists typical longitudinal wave ultrasonic velocities in a variety of common materials that can be measured with
ultrasonic thickness gages. Note that this is only a general guide. The actual velocity in these materials may vary significantly due
to a variety of causes such as specific composition or microstructure, grain or fiber orientation, porosity, and temperature. This is
especially true in the case of cast metals, fiberglass, plastics, and composites. For best accuracy in thickness gaging, the sound
velocity in a given test material should always be measured by performing a velocity calibration on a sample of known thickness.
http://www.olympus-ims.com/en/ndt-tutorials/thickness-gage/appendices-velocities/
By properly spacing the sensors in this manner, it is possible to inspect an

entire structure with relatively few sensors.
Source location techniques assume that AE waves travel at a constant
velocity in a material. However, various effects may alter the expected
velocity of the AE waves (e.g. reflections and multiple wave modes) and can
affect the accuracy of this technique. Therefore, the geometric effects of the
structure being tested and the operating frequency of the AE system must be
considered when determining whether a particular source location technique
is feasible for a given test structure.
Linear Location Technique

Several source location techniques have been developed based on this
method. One of the commonly used computed-source location techniques is
the linear location principle shown to the below. Linear location is often used
to evaluate struts on truss bridges.
When the source is located at the midpoint, the time of arrival difference for
the wave at the two sensors is zero. If the source is closer to one of the
sensors, a difference in arrival times is measured (T). To calculate the
distance of the source location from the midpoint, the arrival time is multiplied
by the wave velocity. Whether the location lies to the right or left of the
midpoint is determined by which sensor first records the hit. This is a linear
relationship and applies to any event sources between the sensors.
Because the above scenario implicitly assumes that the source is on a line
passing through the two sensors, it is only valid for a linear problem. When
using AE to identify a source location in a planar material, three or more
sensors are used, and the optimal position of the source is between the
sensors. Two categories of source location analysis are used for this situation:
(1) zonal location and (2) point location.
Planar Location Technique
Planar Location Technique: by triangulations
Zonal Location Technique

As the name implies, zonal location aims to trace the waves to a specific zone
or region around a sensor. This method is used in anisotropic materials or in
other structures where sensors are spaced relatively far apart or when high
material attenuation affects the quality of signals at multiple sensors. Zones
can be lengths, areas or volumes depending on the dimensions of the array.
A planar sensor array with detection by one sensor is shown in the upper right
figure. The source can be assumed to be within the region and less than
halfway between sensors.
When additional sensors are applied, arrival times and amplitudes help
pinpoint the source zone. The ordered pair in lower right figure represents the
two sensors detecting the signal in the zone and the order of signal arrival at
each sensor. When relating signal strength to peak amplitude, the largest
peak amplitude is assumed to come from the nearest sensor, second largest
from the next closest sensor and so forth.
Point Location
In order for point location to be justified, signals must be detected in a
minimum number of sensors: two for linear, three for planar, four for
volumetric. Accurate arrival times must also be available. Arrival times are
often found by using peak amplitude or the first threshold crossing. The
velocity of wave propagation and exact position of the sensors are necessary
criteria as well. Equations can then be derived using sensor array geometry
or more complex algebra to locate more specific points of interest.
Keypoints:
In order for point location to be justified, signals must be detected in a
minimum number of sensors:
two for linear,
three for planar,
four for volumetric.
Arrival times are often found by using peak amplitude or the first threshold
crossing.
Keypoints:
Arrival times are often found by using peak amplitude or the first threshold
crossing.
9.0 AE Barkhausen Techniques

Barkhausen Effect
The Barkhausen effect refers to the sudden change in size of ferromagnetic
domains that occur during magnetization or demagnetization. During
magnetization, favorably oriented domains develop at the cost of less
favorably oriented domains. These two factors result in minute jumps of
magnetization when a ferromagnetic sample (e.g. iron) is exposed to an
increasing magnetic field (see figure). Domain wall motion itself is determined
by many factors like microstructure, grain boundaries, inclusions, and stress
and strain. By the same token, the Barkhausen effect is too a function of
stress and strain.
Barkhausen Noise
Barkhausen Noise
Barkhausen noise can be heard if a coil of wire is wrapped around the sample
undergoing magnetization. Abrupt movements in the magnetic field produce
spiking current pulses in the coil. When amplified, the clicks can be compared
to Rice Krispies or the crumbling a candy wrapper.
The amount of Barkhausen noise is influenced by material imperfections and
dislocations and is likewise dependent on the mechanical properties of a
material. Currently, materials exposed to high energy particles (nuclear
reactors) or cyclic mechanical stresses (pipelines) are available for
nondestructive evaluation using Barkhausen noise, one of the many branches
of AE testing.
Barkhausen Noise
The amount of Barkhausen noise is influenced by material imperfections and
dislocations and is likewise dependent on the mechanical properties of a
material.
Insert05
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barkhausen_effect
10. Applications
Acoustic emission is a very versatile, non-invasive way to gather information
about a material or structure. Acoustic Emission testing (AET) is be applied
to inspect and monitor pipelines, pressure vessels, storage tanks, bridges,
aircraft, and bucket trucks, and a variety of composite and ceramic
components. It is also used in process control applications such as
monitoring welding processes. A few examples of AET applications follow.
Weld Monitoring
During the welding process, temperature changes induce stresses between
the weld and the base metal. These stresses are often relieved by heat
treating the weld. However, in some cases tempering the weld is not possible
and minor cracking occurs. Amazingly, cracking can continue for up to 10
days after the weld has been completed. Using stainless steel welds with
known inclusions and accelerometers for detection purposes and background
noise monitoring, it was found by W. D. Jolly (1969) that low level signals and
more sizeable bursts were related to the growth of microfissures and larger
cracks respectively. ASTM E 749-96 is a standard practice of AE monitoring
of continuous welding.
Weld Monitoring
ASTM E 749-96 is a standard practice of AE monitoring of continuous

welding.
Bucket Truck (Cherry Pickers) Integrity Evaluation

Accidents, overloads and fatigue can all occur when operating bucket trucks
or other aerial equipment. If a mechanical or structural defect is ignored,
serious injury or fatality can result. In 1976, the Georgia Power Company
pioneered the aerial manlift device inspection. Testing by independent labs
and electrical utilities followed. Although originally intended to examine only
the boom sections, the method is now used for inspecting the pedestal, pins,
and various other components. Normally, the AE tests are second in a chain
of inspections which start with visual checks. If necessary, follow-up tests
take the form of magnetic particle, dye penetrant, or ultrasonic inspections.
Experienced personnel can perform five to ten tests per day, saving valuable
time and money along the way. ASTM F914 governs the procedures for
examining insulated aerial personnel devices.
Bucket Truck (Cherry Pickers) Integrity Evaluation
Gas Trailer Tubes

Acoustic emission testing on pressurized jumbo tube trailers was authorized
by the Department of Transportation in 1983. Instead of using hydrostatic
retesting, where tubes must be removed from service and disassembled, AET
allows for in situ testing. A 10% over-pressurization is performed at a normal
filling station with AE sensors attached to the tubes at each end. A
multichannel acoustic system is used to detection and mapped source
locations. Suspect locations are further evaluated using ultrasonic inspection,
and when defects are confirmed the tube is removed from use. AET can
detect subcritical flaws whereas hydrostatic testing cannot detect cracks until
they cause rupture of the tube. Because of the high stresses in the
circumferential direction of the tubes, tests are geared toward finding
longitudinal fatigue cracks.
Gas Trailer Tubes
Bridges
Bridges contain many welds, joints and connections, and a combination of
load and environmental factors heavily influence damage mechanisms such
as fatigue cracking and metal thinning due to corrosion. Bridges receive a
visual inspection about every two years and when damage is detected, the
bridge is either shut down, its weight capacity is lowered, or it is singled out
for more frequent monitoring. Acoustic Emission is increasingly being used
for bridge monitoring applications because it can continuously gather data
and detect changes that may be due to damage without requiring lane
closures or bridge shutdown. In fact, traffic flow is commonly used to load or
stress the bridge for the AE testing.
Bridges
Bridges
Aerospace Structures
Most aerospace structures consist of complex assemblies of components that
have been design to carry significant loads while being as light as
possible. This combination of requirements leads to many parts that can
tolerate only a minor amount of damage before failing. This fact makes
detection of damage extremely important but components are often packed
tightly together making access for inspections difficult. AET has found
applications in monitoring the health of aerospace structures because
sensors can be attached in easily accessed areas that are remotely located
from damage prone sites. AET has been used in laboratory structural tests,
as well as in flight test applications. NASA's Wing Leading Edge Impact
Detection System is partially based on AE technology. The image to the right
shows a technician applying AE transducers on the inside of the Space
Shuttle Discovery wing structure. The impact detection system was
developed to alert NASA officials to events such as the sprayed-on-foam
insulation impact that damaged the Space Shuttle Columbia's wing leading
edge during launch and lead to its breakup on reentry to the Earth's
atmosphere.
Others
Fiber-reinforced polymer-matrix composites, in particular glass-fiber
reinforced parts or structures (e.g. fan blades) Material research (e.g.
investigation of material properties, breakdown mechanisms, and damage
behavior) Inspection and quality assurance, (e.g. wood drying processes,
scratch tests) Real-time leakage test and location within various components
(small valves, steam lines, tank bottoms) Detection and location of highvoltage partial discharges in transformers Railroad tank car and rocket motor
testing There are a number of standards and guidelines that describe AE
testing and application procedures as supplied by the American Society for
Testing and Materials (ASTM). Examples are ASTM E 1932 for the AE
examination of small parts and ASTM E1419-00 for the method of examining
seamless, gas-filled, pressure vessels.
Rocket Motor testing
ASNT Certification Guide

NDT Level III / PdM Level III
Certification Requirements
ASNT NDT Level III certification is available in eleven (11) NDT methods: AE, ET, IR, LT, MT, NR, PT, RT, UT, VA, and
VT. ASNT PdM Level III certification is a available in two (2) PdM methods: IR and VA. Certification will be granted after
eligibility requirements have been documented and the candidate has passed the required examinations. Either
certification will be valid for five (5) years, beginning on the date that the method examination was passed.
Candidates must meet education and experience requirements prior to taking examinations by satisfying one of the
following eligibility criteria:
Graduated from a minimum four-year college or university curriculum with a degree in engineering or a physical
science, plus one year (12 months) of experience in nondestructive testing in an assignment comparable to that of
an Level II in the applicable test method(s), as defined in ASNTs Recommended Practice No. SNT-TC-1A, latest
edition; OR
Completed with passing grades at least two full academic school years of engineering or a physical science study
at a university, college, or technical school, plus two years (24 months) of experience in nondestructive testing in
an assignment comparable to that of an Level II in the applicable test method(s), as defined in ASNTs
Recommended Practice No. SNT-TC-1A, latest edition; OR
Four years (48 months) of experience in an assignment at least comparable to that of an Level II in the applicable
test method(s), as defined in ASNTs Recommended Practice No. SNT-TC-1A, latest edition.
First time candidates must take a Basic examination. To become certified as an ASNT NDT Level III in any method, the
NDT Basic examination and the Method examination must be passed. To become certified as an ASNT PdM Level III, the
PdM Basic examination and the IR and/or VA Method examinations must be passed. Additional certifications may be
attained by taking and passing additional Method examinations. A Basic examination need only be taken once as long as
certification is continuously maintained.
References
For a more detailed description of topical outlines, review the topical outlines listed in ASNT's ANSI/ASNT CP-105-2006,
ASNT Standard Topical Outlines for Qualification of Nondestructive Testing Personnel. All the references listed here are
available from ASNT. Note that other texts are listed as references in CP-105, but are not currently available from ASNT.
These additional references may be found at any good engineering or materials science library.
Question And Answer (Q & A) Books

Each Q & A book contains recommended Level I, II, and III questions and answers. An excellent way to learn vital
material and prepare yourself for testing situations.
Individual Books
Catalogue Number
Acoustic Emission Testing Method (Book G), 1995
2032
Eddy Current/Flux Leakage Testing Method (Book E), 1995
2030
Magnetic Particle Testing Method (Book B), 1994
2027
Neutron Radiographic Testing Method (Book F), 1994
2031
Liquid Penetrant Testing Method (Book D), 2003
2029
Radiographic Testing Method (Book A), 1996
2026
Ultrasonic Testing Method (Book C), 1994
2028
Visual and Optical Testing Method (Book I), 1999
2034A
Leak Testing Books:
Bubble Leak Testing (Book HB), 2003
2033B
Halogen Diode Detector (Book HH), 1994
2033H
Mass Spectrometer Leak Testing (Book HM), 1996
2033M
Pressure Change Measurement Testing (Book HP), 2003
2033P
Packages
All four leak testing methods
2033A
Any two leak testing methods
2033C
Complete Set of Q&A books, plus the 2006 SNT-TC-1A & the CP-105 Topical Outlines
2191
Info-LIII - 1-08
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Rev. 1/12/08
NDT Basic
Length: 4 hours
PdM Basic
Questions: 135
Length: 2 hours
1. Personnel Qualification and Certification Programs

SNT-TC-1A, 2001 edition
ASNT CP-189, 2001 edition
ASNT Level III certification
2. Basics of Common NDT Methods, including:
Acoustic emission testing
Electromagnetic testing
Leak testing
Liquid penetrant testing
Magnetic particle testing
Neutron radiographic testing
Radiographic testing
Thermal/infrared testing
Ultrasonic testing
Visual testing
3. Materials, fabrication, and production technology,
including:
Properties of materials, origin of discontinuities,
and failure modes
Materials processing (casting, welding, forging,
brazing, soldering, machining, heat treatment,
surface treatment, adhesive bonding, etc.)
Dimensional metrology
Questions: 90
2. Personnel Qualification and Certification Programs

SNT-TC-1A, 2001 edition
ASNT CP-189, 2001 edition
ASNT Level III certification
3. Basics of Common PdM Methods, including:
Infrared testing
Vibration analysis
Oil/lube analysis
Motor circuit analysis
Alignment
Thermal testing
System performance
4. Machinery Technology
Machine design
Electrical components
Maintenance practice
Machine components
Engineering mechanics
Lubrication
Reference
Catalog Number
NDT Handbook: Volume Nine,
nd
Special NDT Methods, 2 ed.
134A
SNT-TC-1A (2006 edition)*
2070
ANSI/ASNT CP-189 (2006 edition)*
2507
Reference
Catalog Number
NDT Handbook, Second Edition: Volume 10,
NDT Overview
135
ASNT Level III Study Guide: Basic
2251R
SNT-TC-1A (2006 edition)*
2070
ANSI/ASNT CP-189 (2006 edition)*
2507
Materials and Processes for NDT Technology
2250
ASM Handbook Vol. 17, NDE and QC
105
* CP-105, ASNT Standard Topical Outlines for

Qualification of Nondestructive Testing Personnel. is
included when SNT-TC-1A or CP-189 is purchased.
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Rev. 1/12/08
AE - Acoustic Emission Testing
ET - Electromagnetic Testing
Length: 4 hours
Length: 4 hours
5
6
7
Questions: 135
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)
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
Techniques
Equipment calibration and set up for test
Establishing loading procedures
Precautions against noise
Special test procedures
Data displays
Interpretation and Evaluation
Data interpretation
Data evaluation
Reports
Procedures
Safety and Health
Applications
Laboratory studies (material characterization)
Structural applications
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Questions: 135
Principles/Theory
Generation of eddy currents
Effect of fields created by eddy currents
(impedance changes)
Properties of eddy current
Equipment Materials
Probes
Through, encircling, or annular coils
Factors affecting choice of sensing elements
Read out selection
Instrument design considerations
Techniques/Calibrations
Factors which affect coil impedance
Selection of test frequency
Coupling
Field strength
Comparison of techniques
Calibrations
Techniques - general
Interpretation/Evaluation
Flaw detection
Sorting for properties
Thickness gaging
Process control
General interpretations
Procedures
Reference
Catalog Number
NDT Handbook, Third Edition: Volume 5,
Electromagnetic Testing
145
ASNT Level III Study Guide: Eddy Current
Testing
2257
Fundamentals of Eddy Current Testing
470
Reference
Catalog Number
130
Acoustic Emission: Techniques and Applications 752
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Rev. 1/12/08
IR - Thermal/Infrared Testing
Length: 4 hours
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Principles/Theory
Conduction
Convection
Radiation
The nature of heat and heat flow
Temperature measurement principles
Proper selection of Thermal/Infrared testing
Equipment/Materials
Temperature measurement equipment
Heat flux indicators
Performance parameters of non-contact devices
Techniques
Contact temperature indicators
Non-contact pyrometers
Infrared line scanners
Thermal/Infrared imaging
Heat flux indicators
Exothermic or endothermic investigations
Friction investigations
Fluid Flow investigations
Thermal resistance (steady state heat flow)
Thermal capacitance investigations
Exothermic or endothermic investigation
Friction investigations
Fluid flow investigations
Differences in thermal resistance
Thermal capacitance investigations
Procedures
Existing codes and standards
Job procedure development
Safety and health
Safety responsibility and authority
Safety for personnel
Safety for client and facilities
Safety for testing equipment
3.
4.
5.
6.
Reference
Catalog Number
Leak Testing
141
ASNT Level III Study Guide: Leak Testing
2266
MT - Magnetic Particle Testing

Length: 2 hours
1.
Reference
Catalog Number
Infrared and Thermal Testing
143
Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer
952
ASNT Level III Study Guide: Infrared and
Thermal Testing
2265
2.
3.
LT - Leak Testing
Length: 4 hours
1.
2.
4.
Questions: 135
Principles theory
Physical principles in leak testing
Principles of gas flow
Proper selection of LT as method of choice
Equipment/Material
Leak testing standards
Detector/instrument performance factors
Vacuum pumps
Bubble testing practices and techniques
Absolute pressure testing equipment
Absolute pressure hold testing of containers
Absolute pressure leakage rate testing of
containers
Info-LIII - 1-08
Analysis of data for determination of accurate

results
Halogen testing equipment
Helium mass spectrometer testing equipment
Technique/Calibration
Bubble test
Pressure change/measurement test
Halogen diode detector leak test
Mass spectrometer leak testing
Basic techniques and/or units
Test materials and equipment effects
Effects of temperature and other atmospheric
conditions
Calibration for testing
Probing/scanning or measurement/monitoring
Leak interpretation evaluation
Acceptance and rejection criteria
Procedures
Leak testing procedures
Leak testing specifications
Safety and Health
Safety considerations
Safety precautions
Pressure precautions
Safety devices
Hazardous and tracer gas safety
Types of monitoring equipment
Safety
Questions: 135
5.
6.
Questions: 90
Principles/Theory
Principles of magnets and magnetic fields
Characteristics of magnetic fields
Equipment/Materials
Magnetic particle test equipment
Inspection materials
Technique/Calibrations
Magnetization by means if electric current
Selecting the proper method of magnetization
Demagnetization
Magnetic particle test indications and
interpretations
Effects of discontinuities on materials
Procedures
Safety and Health
Reference
Catalog Number
Magnetic Particle Testing
131
ASNT Level III Study Guide: Magnetic Particle
Testing (Revised)
2253R
Principles of Magnetic Particle Testing
436
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NR - Neutron Radiographic Testing
PT - Liquid Penetrant Testing
Length: 4 hours
Length: 2 hours
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Questions: 135
Principles/Theory
Nature of penetrating radiation
Interaction between penetrating radiation and
matter
Neutron radiography imaging
Radiometry
Equipment/Materials
Sources of neutrons
Radiation detectors
Nonimaging devices
Blocking and filtering
Multifilm technique
Enlargement and projection
Stereoradiography
Triangulation methods
Autoradiography
Flash Radiography
In-motion radiography
Fluoroscopy
Electron emission radiography
Microradiography
Laminography (tomography)
Control of diffraction effects
Panoramic exposures
Gaging
Real time imaging
Image analysis techniques
Image-object relationships
Material considerations
Codes, standards, and specifications
Procedures
Imaging considerations
Film processing
Viewing of radiographs
Judging radiographic quality
Safety and Health
Exposure hazards
Methods of controlling radiation exposure
Operation and emergency procedures
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Questions: 90
Principles/Theory
Principles of liquid penetrant process
Theory
Proper selection of PT as method of choice
Liquid penetrant processing
Equipment/Materials
Methods of measurement
Lighting for liquid penetrant testing
Materials for liquid penetrant testing
Testing and maintenance of materials
General
Factor affecting indications
Indications from discontinuities
Relevant and nonrelevant indications
Procedures
Safety and Health
Toxicity
Flammability
Reference
Catalog Number
Liquid Penetrant Testing
142
ASNT Level III Study Guide: Liquid Penetrant
nd
Testing, 2 ed.
2255R
Reference
Catalog Number
Radiographic Testing
144
ASM Handbook Vol. 17, NDE and QC
105
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RT - Radiographic Testing
Length: 4 hours
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
UT - Ultrasonic Testing
Questions: 135
Length: 4 hours
Principles and Theory

Nature of penetrating radiation
Interaction between penetrating radiation and
matter
Radiographic imaging
Radiometry
Equipment/Materials
Electrically generated sources
Particulate radiation sources
Radiation detectors
Gamma
Techniques/Calibration
Imaging considerations
Film processing
Viewing of radiographs
Judging radiographic quality
Exposure calculations
Radiographic techniques
Interpretation and Evaluation
Materials processing as it affects test results
Causes and effects of discontinuities
Radiographic appearance of discontinuities
Nonrelevant indications
Film artifacts
Procedures
Safety and Health
Exposure hazards
Methods of controlling radiation exposure
Operational and emergency procedures
Dosimetry and Film Badges
Gamma leak testing
Transportation regulations
1.
2.
3.
4.
Reference
Catalog Number
Radiographic Testing
144
ASNT Level III Study Guide: Radiographic
nd
Testing, 2 ed.
2259R
Working Safety in Gamma Radiography
232
Info-LIII - 1-08
5.
Questions: 135
Principles/Theory
Nature of sound waves
Modes of sound wave generation
Velocity, frequency, and wavelength of sound
waves
Attenuation of sound waves
Acoustic impedance
Reflection
Refraction and mode conversion
Snells law and critical angles
Fresnel and Fraunhofer effects
Equipment/Materials
Pulse/echo instrumentation
Digital thickness instrumentation
Transducer operation and theory
Transducer operation/manipulations
Resonance testing equipment
Couplants
Calibration blocks
Cables/connectors
Test specimen
Miscellaneous materials
Contact
Immersion
Comparison of contact and immersion methods
Remote monitoring
Calibration (electronic and functional)
Interpretation/Evaluations
Evaluation of base metal product forms
Evaluation of weldments
Evaluation of bonded structures
Variables affecting test results
Evaluation (general)
Procedures
Specific applications
Codes/Standards/Specifications
Reference
Catalog Number
Ultrasonic Testing
132
ASNT Level III Study Guide: Ultrasonic Testing 2261A
Ultrasonics: Fundamentals, Technology,
Applications
341
6 of 8
Rev. 1/12/08
VA - Vibration Analysis
Length: 4 hours
VT - Visual Testing
Length: 2 hours
Questions: 135
1.
1. Principles/Theory
Physical Concepts
Data Presentation
Sources of Vibration
Correction Methods
2. Equipment
Sensors
Signal Conditioning
Instruments
On-Line Monitoring
Equipment Response to Environments
Performance Based
3. Techniques/Calibration
Calibration
Measurement and Techniques
Correction Techniques
4. Analysis/Evaluation
Data Analysis
Data Evaluation
5. Procedures
6. Safety and Health
2.
3.
Reference
Catalog Number
Special NDT Methods
134
The Vibration Analysis Handbook
177
4.
5.
6.
Questions: 90
Fundamentals
Vision and light
Ambient conditions
Test object characteristics
Equipment Accessories
Magnifiers/microscopes
Mirrors
Dimensional
Borescopes
Video systems
Automated systems
Video technologies
Machine vision
Replication
Temperature sensitive markers and surface
comparators
Chemical aids
Photography
Eye
Techniques/Calibration
Diagrams and drawings
Raw materials
Primary process materials
Joining processes
Fabricated components
In-service materials
Coatings
Other applications
Requirements
Interpretation/ Evaluation
Equipment including type and intensity of light
Material including the variations of surface finish
Discontinuity
Determination of dimensions (i.e.: depth, width,
length, etc.)
Sampling/scanning
Process for reporting visual discontinuities
Personnel (human factors)
Detection
Procedures and Documentation
Hard copy
Photography
Audio/video
Electronic and magnetic media
Safety
Electrical shock
Mechanical hazards
Lighting hazards
Chemical contamination
Radioactive materials
Explosive environments
Reference
Catalog Number
NDT Handbook: Second Edition: Volume 8,
Visual and Optical Testing
133
ASNT Level III Study Guide: Visual and
Optical Testing
2263
ASM Handbook: Vol. 17, NDE and QC
105
Info-LIII - 1-08
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Rev. 1/12/08
The American Society for Nondestructive Testing, Inc.

1711 Arlingate Lane PO Box 28518 Columbus, OH 43228-0518
Phone: (614) 274-6003 (800) 222-2768 Fax: (614) 274-6899
Order books online at www.asnt.org
Good Luck!

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My Reading on

Acoustic Emission Testing

Examination on coming 2016 August.

Fion Zhang/ Charlie Chong

Acoustic Emission Testing

Fion Zhang/ Charlie Chong

Acoustic Emission Testing

Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang

Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang

Acoustic Emission Testing

Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang

Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang

Acoustic Emission Testing

Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang

Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang

Fion Zhang at St Petersburg

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SME- Subject Matter Expert

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Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang

Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang

The Magical Book of Tank Inspection ICP

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ASNT Certification Guide

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2 Equipment and Materials

Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang

Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang

4 Interpretation and Evaluation

Reference Catalog Number

Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang

Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang

Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang

Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang

Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang

Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang

2.1. Acoustic emission

AE- analogously to circles created by the stoned thrown to the lake

Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang

Figure 2: Acoustic emission propagation

Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang

Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang

Figure 3: Transient signal

Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang

Figure 3: Transient signal (signal disturbances)

Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang

Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang

2.1.2. Application, pros & cons

Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang

2.2. Resonant inspection

Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang

2.2.1. The phenomenon

Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang

Figure 4: Resonant inspection system scheme

Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang

Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang

Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang

Modal analysis is the study of the dynamic properties of structures under

Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang

Classically this was done with a SIMO (single-input, multiple-output)

Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang

Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang

Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang

Car's door attached to an electromagnetic shaker.