A Fast Beamforming Method to Localize an Acoustic Emission Source under Unknown Wave Speed

Area of Science:

• Structural Health Monitoring
• Acoustic Emission Testing
• Wave Propagation Analysis

Background:

• Traditional beamforming methods for acoustic emission source localization in large structures are accurate but time-consuming and sensitive to wave speed assumptions.
• Online monitoring of thin-walled structures requires efficient and robust damage localization techniques.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a fast and accurate method for localizing acoustic emission sources in thin-walled structures, even with unknown wave speeds.
• To adapt the Bartlett beamforming method (BBM) for broadband Lamb wave signal processing in thin-walled structures.
• To develop a computationally efficient algorithm for real-time damage source identification.

Main Methods:

• Introduction of the Bartlett beamforming method (BBM) for processing broadband Lamb wave signals.
• Development of a fast Bartlett beamforming method (FBBM) leveraging BBM characteristics for enhanced speed.
• Validation using pencil-lead break tests on thin-walled structures with an L-shape array.

Main Results:

• The proposed fast beamforming method (FBBM) accurately localizes acoustic emission damage sources.
• FBBM demonstrates significantly higher speed compared to traditional delay-and-sum beamforming.
• The method effectively handles unknown wave speeds in thin-walled structures.

Conclusions:

• The fast Bartlett beamforming method (FBBM) offers a rapid and accurate solution for acoustic emission source localization in thin-walled structures.
• FBBM overcomes the limitations of traditional methods regarding wave speed dependency and processing time.
• This technique is suitable for online monitoring applications requiring efficient damage detection.