The Development of Acoustic Emission for Structural Integrity Monitoring of Aircraft,

Abstract

This paper reviews procedures for distinguishing between acoustic emission (AE) from fatigue crack propagation and from spurious sources in aircraft applications. Particular emphasis is placed on the development at the ARL of procedures applicable during AE monitoring of complex-shaped components. First procedures to eliminate extraneous sources are evaluated, including the use of guard sensors and source location systems. The capabilities of additional signal-processing (which in principle can range from adaptive to non-adaptive) for identifying and locating AE from fatigue crack propagation are then evaluated. The problems in applying adaptive processing are illustrated by AE results from a Macchi aircraft in-flight and Mirage aircraft during full-scale fatigue testing. The ARL development of semi-adaptive processing based on background research on AE sources, sensors, calibration and other techniques is described. Successful application of this processing to the Mirage test above is then detailed, and the value of using reduced adaptation in processing is demonstrated. Keywords: Fatigue crack growth, Nondestructive testing; Signal processing; Australia.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1988
Accession Number
ADA196264

Entities

People

  • C. M. Scala
  • I. G. Scott
  • S. J. Bowles

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Sensors

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acoustic Emissions
  • Acquisition
  • Air Force
  • Aircraft Equipment
  • Aircrafts
  • Aluminum Alloys
  • Computer Programming
  • Computer Programs
  • Computers
  • Crack Propagation
  • Detection
  • Jet Training Aircraft
  • Materials
  • Pattern Recognition
  • Signal Processing
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Training

Readers

  • Phased Array Antenna Design.
  • Sensor Fusion and Tracking Systems.
  • Structural Health Monitoring of Composite Structures.