Influence of attenuation on acoustic emission signals in carbon fiber reinforced polymer panels

• We determined mode and frequency dependent attenuation coefficients in two types of CFRP laminates.
• Stress waves from microscopic damage events in composite laminates were simulated.
• A0 modes of wave propagation experience higher level of attenuation than S0 modes.

Influence of attenuation on acoustic emission (AE) signals in Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) crossply and quasi-isotropic panels is examined in this paper. Attenuation coefficients of the fundamental antisymmetric (A0) and symmetric (S0) wave modes were determined experimentally along different directions for the two types of CFRP panels. In the frequency range from 100 kHz to 500 kHz, the A0 mode undergoes significantly greater changes due to material related attenuation compared to the S0 mode. Moderate to strong changes in the attenuation levels were noted with propagation directions. Such mode and frequency dependent attenuation introduces major changes in the characteristics of AE signals depending on the position of the AE sensor relative to the source. Results from finite element simulations of a microscopic damage event in the composite laminates are used to illustrate attenuation related changes in modal and frequency components of AE signals.