Acoustic emission for fatigue damage characterization in metal plates

Acoustic emission (AE) supplies information on the fracturing behavior of different materials. In this study, AE activity was recorded during fatigue experiments in metal coupons. The plates were characterized by a symmetric V-shape notch and were loaded in tension–tension fatigue until final failure with concurrent AE activity monitoring. The relatively broad bandwidth of the sensors enabled the recording of a wide range of frequencies up to 1 MHz. AE parameters like energy and duration exhibited a certain increase with the accumulation of damage although the hit rate was not significantly influenced. Furthermore the behavior of RA value (ratio of rise time to amplitude of the waveforms) which quantifies the shape of the first part of the AE signals and has been used for characterization of the cracking mode, showed a certain shift indicating the transition from tensile mode to shear which can be confirmed by the visual observation of the crack geometry after the experiment. The time history of RA is similar to the crack propagation rate (da/dN) curve but exhibits the rapid hyperbolic growth consistently about 1000 cycles earlier than final failure. Therefore, the use of acoustic emission parameters is discussed both in terms of characterization of the damage mechanisms, as well as a tool for the prediction of ultimate life of the material under fatigue.