Acoustical emission source location in thin rods through wavelet detail crosscorrelation

• Main Author: Jerauld, Joseph G.
• Other Authors: Edward M. Wu
• Language: en_US
• Published: Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School 2012
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10945/7843

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited === Flaws in structural elements release strain energy in the form of stress waves that can be detected through acoustical emission techniques. The transient nature of a stress wave is analytically inconsistent to Fourier Transforms, and the wave characteristics under the effects of dispersion and attenuation deviate from the formal basis of the Windowed Fourier Transform. The transient solid body elastic waves contain multiple wave types and frequency components which lend themselves to the time and frequency characteristics of Wavelet Analysis. Software implementation now enables the exploration of the Wavelet Transform to identify the time of arrival of stress wave signals for source location in homogeneous and composite materials. This investigation quantifies the accuracy and resolution of two existing source location methods and develops a third technique using the Discrete Wavelet Transform on a windowed portion of the stress wave signal. A refined method for the spatial location of material damage induced stress waves can be used to directly monitor the safe life of structures and provide a quantitative measure for the risk assessment of critical and aging structures.