Acoustic emission source location in composite materials using Delta T Mapping

The location capability of the acoustic emission (AE) technique is often considered its most powerful attribute. However, assumptions made in the calculation of location by current algorithms can be limiting in complex geometries and materials. This work forms a detailed study into the use of a novel mapping technique for AE source location in fibre reinforced composite materials. Both the performance and the robustness of the approach are assessed using artificial and real AE sources. Furthermore a large fatigue specimen was used to demonstrate detection and location of damage onset and development, where findings were validated using a thermo-elastic stress analysis (TSA) system. Substantial improvements in location accuracy were observed and early detection of damage onset was seen to outperform TSA.