Some aspects of acoustic emission signal pre-processing

Krzysztof Jemielniak
*
Warsaw University of Technology, Institute of Manufacturing Engineering, Narbutta 86, 02-524 Warsaw, Poland
Abstract
The acoustic emission (AE) sensor and the pre-amplier either built-in or connected to the sensor are the key elements in any AE based
tool condition monitoring (TCM) system. This paper provides an interpretation of some common AE signal distortions and possible
solutions to avoid such problems. The rst two are AE signal saturation and temporary vanishing of the signal amplitude caused by
overload of the pre-amplier. The other is a result of multiple reections of the AE wave on the different surfaces through the signal's path.
# 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Acoustic emission; Signal pre-processing
1. Introduction
When working with any acoustic emission (AE) based
tool condition monitoring (TCM) system, three basic ele-
ments should be considered, regarding their compatibility:
the AE signal itself, a sensor and a pre-amplier. Reliability
of the AE systemrelies heavily on howthese elements match
each other. Many of the AE sensors with their built-in pre-
ampliers, which are originally designed for the `traditional'
applications of non-destructive material testing, may not be
suitable for use in metal cutting, as the signals originating
fromthe cutting zone can be considerably strong. Because of
the characteristics of pre-processing units, such high ampli-
tude signals sometimes cause overloading of the pre-ampli-
er and distortion of the signal. This can often result in a
misleading evaluation of the data. Fig. 1 presents examples
of distorted AE signals received from two different sensors
and pre-processing units.
The rst one was typical laboratory transducer, and
saturation of the signal (left gure) attests a simple overload
of the amplier. Moreover in both the signals another less
obvious distortion can be seen the AE signal temporarily
vanishes. Discussion of these AE signal distortion and their
possible causes is the main goal of this paper.
As raw AE signal (AE
raw
) has a very high frequency, its
recording and analysis in the original form is expensive.
Therefore, usually root mean square value (AE
RMS
) or some
other form of demodulation is applied. Signals rectied in
this way have much lower frequency, so they are much easier
to handle, being in most cases still useful enough. However,
that kind of signal processing should be carried out with
care, especially as far as integration time constant is con-
cerned. Furthermore, if the raw signal has been deformed,
this deformation can be completely concealed by demodu-
lation and leads to deceptive conclusions. Some aspects of
AE signal demodulation will be discussed here as well.
2. The measuring chain
The typical procedure of processing of the AE signal in
metal cutting follows the pattern schematically illustrated in
Fig. 2. The piezoelectric AE sensor is usually placed as close
as possible to the cutting zone, e.g. to the tool shank, the tool
post, the head stock or to the spindle. Because of high
impedance of the sensor it must be directly connected to
a buffer amplier. Low frequency noise components, which
are inevitably present in AE signal, are considered to be not
correlated with tool's condition and hence useless. Besides,
they can be of high amplitude forcing usage of lower signal
amplication. This results in lower amplication of useful
band of the signal. Therefore, those components should be
eliminated (high-pass ltered) at the earliest possible stage
of signal processing to enable usage of full amplitude range
of the equipment. Sometimes, the AE signal is then fed
through a low-pass lter to get rid of the high frequency
noise components due to electric sparks, etc. or to avoid
aliasing. The ltered AE signal is a subject to further
processing and/or recording. The raw AE signal can be
demodulated in the form of the mean value or RMS to
obtain a low frequency variable, so it can be recorded or
Journal of Materials Processing Technology 109 (2001) 242247
*
Tel.: 48-22-6608656; fax: 48-22-8490-285.
E-mail address: k.jemielniak@wip.pw.edu.pl (K. Jemielniak).
0924-0136/01/$ see front matter # 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S0 9 2 4 - 0 1 3 6 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 8 0 5 - 0
processed with the conventional, less expensive signal pro-
cessing equipment.
Fig. 3 presents AE
raw
signal obtained from broad band
transducer Bruel & Kjr 8312 without ltering, when
cutting carbon steel 45 with a CSRNR 2525 tool with con-
ventional carbide insert SNUN S30S, at v
c
180 m=min,
a
p
2:5 mm, f 0:33 mm=rev and KT 0:25 mm. Long
view (Fig. 3a) shows three bursts of nearly alike maximum
amplitude. In demodulated signal (AE
RMS
, Fig. 3b) the third
burst reaches higher value. Under both gures two fragments
are marked with black rectangulars for closer examination.
They are shown in Fig. 3c, and their amplitude spectra are
Fig. 1. Examples of distorted AE signals: (a) obtained from Bruel & Kjr 8313 sensor with 2637 pre-amplier equipped with 200 kHz octave bandwidth
lter; (b) obtained from Kistler 8152A1 sensor with a Kistler piezotron coupler 5125A with HPS 50 kHz and LPF 1 MHz.
Fig. 2. A typical measuring chain in an AE measurement system in metal cutting.
Fig. 3. AE signal obtained from Bruel & Kjr 8312 transducer: a long view (a), RMS value of the signal (b), selected fragments of the signal (c) and their
spectra (d).
K. Jemielniak / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 109 (2001) 242247 243
presented in Fig. 3d. The gures reveal existence of domi-
nant low frequency component. It was caused by some
mechanical disturbances, consequently should be ltered
out as irrelevant to tool wear. Of course in AE
RMS
signal, low
and high frequency components cannot be distinguished,
making necessity for the ltering even more imperative.
Fig. 4 presents results of high-pass (150 kHz) and low-
pass (500 kHz) ltering of the signal from Fig. 3. Only two
of the three bursts visible in Fig. 3 remained here, and the
second is much lower than the rst one. The third, biggest
burst visible in Fig. 3 just disappeared. Now amplitude
spectra consist of components only from interesting fre-
quency range.
Efcient processing of AE signal relies heavily on the
characteristics of the pre-amplifying units, which are usually
designed to work with a specic sensor (transducer). The
Bruel & Kjr pre-amplier type 2637, e.g. is primarily
designed to work with the Bruel & Kjr transducers type
8313 and 8314. The pre-amplier is equipped with inter-
changeable plug-in lters (200, 800 kHz octave-band or
``linear'') [1].
Another example is the Kistler AE-Piezotron Coupler
5125A with a built-in RMS converter. This has been
designed for processing AE signals from Kistler sensors
type 8152A1 and 8152A2. The amplier has two series-
connected lters of second order, designed as plug-in ele-
ments. The standard cut-off frequency are: low-pass lter
1000 kHz and high-pass lter 50 kHz. The standard integra-
tion time constant of the RMS converter is 1.2 ms, but 0.12,
12 and 120 ms are also available [4,5].
3. Possible causes of signal distortion
To nd out possible causes of the AE signal distortion
shown in Fig. 1, let us consider what would have happened if
the signal discussed in Figs. 3 and 4 had been four times
stronger. At rst, it would overload the buffer amplier
resulting in characteristical signal saturation (see Fig. 5a
and b). These parts of the signal in which low frequency
component was dominant after quadruple amplication
became rectangular.
Let us assume now that this distorted signal has been fed
through the same lters as described above (LPF 500 kHz
and HPF 150 kHz). Resulting signal presented in Fig. 5c and
e appears to be similar to that shown in Fig. 1a. Therefore,
one can conclude that signal distortion presented in Fig. 1
was caused by the same reasons as described here. Temporal
vanishing of the AE signal reveals to be a result of ltering of
saturated, rectangular signal of low frequency major com-
ponent. Not only did the amplitude spectra (shown in Fig. 5f)
have shape different fromthe proper ones (shown in Fig. 4d),
but their values are merely twice instead of four times
higher. And nally any signal distortion cannot be noticed
in AE
RMS
signal (Fig. 5d), which also reaches no more than a
half of the correct value, and its shape barely resembles the
actual one (Fig. 4b).
It should be pointed out that such signals must be con-
sidered as completely distorted, thus useless. To avoid such
problems the gain of the buffer amplier should be as small
as possible, and any further necessary amplication should
be done after signal ltering. In other words, the AE signals
should be high-pass ltered at the earliest possible stage of
processing, just after the unavoidable buffering. It is parti-
cularly important while using AE
RMS
signals only instead of
AE
raw
.
To avoid the signal distortion presented in Fig. 1a, the
Bruel & Kjr pre-amplier type 2637 used in WUT was
modied by lowering its gain by 10 (20 dB).
4. Shape and duration of AE bursts
The AE transducers can be calibrated by a method after
NielsenHsu [4]. It is based on breaking of a pencil lead on a
steel plate to generate an AE signal, which is detected by the
transducer as surface (Rayleigh) waves. As the duration of
the signal generated by the graphite lead breakage is very
Fig. 4. AE signal from Fig. 3 after ltering (HPF 150 kHz, LPF 500 kHz): a long view (a), RMS value of the signal (b), selected fragments of the signal (c)
and their spectra (d).
244 K. Jemielniak / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 109 (2001) 242247
short, its spectrum can be approximately considered as
rectangular. Ergo, the frequency response of the received
signal waveform can be assumed as the amplitude charac-
teristics of the sensor (and signal processing circuit). The
sensor calibration set-up is shown in Fig. 6 and exemplary
characteristics obtained this way are presented in Fig. 7 [3].
The method can also be applied to analysis of the AE
signal dependence on its path. Acoustic emission undergoes
every rule concerning wave propagation and is considerably
attenuated and signicantly transformed when it nally
reaches the sensor [2]. Fig. 8 presents a comparison of
the three AE signal waveforms obtained from Bruel & Kjr
8313 sensor with modied pre-amplier (third characteristic
in Fig. 7). The rst (Fig. 8a) is a result of NielsenHsu test.
The second (Fig. 8b) presents AE waveform obtained when
graphite was broken on the tool face (CSRNR 2525-12 with
indexable carbide insert SNUN 120408 S30S) and sensor
was xed on the upper surface of the tool post. The third
(Fig. 8c) is a burst obtained in real cutting with the same tool,
so signal path in the second and the third case was approxi-
mately the same. It has been already said that breakage of the
graphite lead excites very short impulse of AE. Waveform
presented in Fig. 8a is the time response of the sensor on this
excitation. Duration of the signal is much longer than the
exciting impulse, because AE sensors work in their reso-
nance frequency range. When the lead was broken on the
tool xed in the tool post, not only is the signal attenuated
(lower RMS value for the same time) but the same excite-
ment resulted in quite different waveform. Amplitude of the
signal did not rise sharply like in NielsenHsu test and
Fig. 5. AE signal from Fig. 3 after quadruple amplication (a and b), and ltering: a long view (c), RMS value of the signal (d), selected fragments of the
signal (e) and their spectra (f).
Fig. 6. Sensor calibration set-up. Fig. 7. Characteristics of some AE sensors.
K. Jemielniak / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 109 (2001) 242247 245
Fig. 8. Comparison of AE bursts registered in NielsenHsu test (a), after braking the lead on the tool face (b) and in real cutting (c).
Fig. 9. AE signals obtained from Kistler 8152A1 sensor with a piezotron coupler 5125A during interrupted cutting; workpiece: carbon steel 45, tool: CSRNR
2525 SNUN 120408 NT 35 (TiC TiN coated sintered carbide).
246 K. Jemielniak / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 109 (2001) 242247
reached much lower maximum level, however its decrease
lasted much longer. Consequently, resulting overall burst
duration was some 10 times longer. This can be attributed to
multiple reections of the wave on the different surfaces
through the signal's path. Signal in Fig. 7b lasts more or less
as long as typical burst shown in Fig. 8c. Therefore, one can
conclude that bursts recorded by sensor positioned in some
distance from the cutting zone are quite different from actual
AE bursts regarding the shape and duration. In particular, it
can be taken for granted that they last much longer than real
ones.
Duration of registered AE burst can also be severely
affected by an improper integration constant of the RMS
converter which effects in misleading results. Webster et al.
[6] investigated AE signals of grinding recommended an
integration constant of around 1 ms for such applications.
Fig. 9 presents comparison of AE
raw
and AE
RMS
obtained
from Kistler 8152A1 sensor and its pre-amplier while
interrupted turning. Standard integration constant 1.2 ms
was applied here. Both examples have been registered
during tool engagement after the break. First burst shown
in Fig. 9a lasts for some 2 ms which is approximately equal
to AE
RMS
rise time (double integration constant), therefore
burst duration observed by AE
RMS
is about 10 times longer
than the actual one. This can result in burst overlapping as
shown in Fig. 9b, where series of bursts have been trans-
formed into one in AE
RMS
signal, making it useless for, e.g.,
burst counting. For such purposes integration time constant
around 10 times shorter should be applied.
5. Conclusions
1. The AE buffer amplier gain should be as small as
possible to avoid pre-amplier's overloading and
signal's distortion. Any further necessary signal ampli-
cation should be carried out after high-pass ltering.
2. In machine tool's environment the AE signal is multiply
reected from inner surfaces of a structure which results
in prolonged duration of the signal received by the
sensor. Actual duration of AE bursts is much shorter.
3. If AE
RMS
signal is to be used for AE bursts analysis in
cutting, integration time constant should not exceed
about 0.1 ms.
References
[1] Bruel & Kjr, Acoustic Emission Transducers and Preampliers, 1984.
[2] K. Iwata, T. Moriwaki, An application of acoustic emission measurement
to in-process sensing of tool wear, Ann. CIRP 25 (1) (1977) 2126.
[3] K. Jemielniak, O. Belgassim, Characteristics of acoustic emission
sensors employed for tool condition monitoring, in: Proceedings of the
Seventh Workshop on Supervising and Diagnostics of Machining
Systems, Technical University of Wroclaw, CIRP, Karpacz, 1996,
pp. 241252.
[4] Kistler, Instrumentation Corp., Piezotron Acoustic Emission Sensor
8125A, Piezo-Instrumentation, No. 8.8152A, 1994.
[5] Kistler, Instrumentation Corp., AE Piezotron Coupler 5125A, Piezo-
Instrumentation, No. 12.5125, 1995.
[6] J. Webster, W.P. Dong, R. Lindsay, Raw acoustic emission signal
analysis of grinding process, Ann. CIRP 45 (1) (1996) 335340.
K. Jemielniak / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 109 (2001) 242247 247