NDT Techniques: Acoustic Emission

Acoustic emission (AE) is dened as the class of

phenomenon whereby transient elastic waves are
generated by the rapid release of energy from localized
sources within a material. Earthquakes and rock-
bursts in mines and tin-cry due to twinning are
naturally occurring sources of AE. In metals, the
sources of AE are generation and propagation of
cracks, movement of dislocations and grain bound-
aries, formation and growth of twins, decohesion and
fracture of inclusions, phase transformations, etc.
There are also secondary or pseudosources, which
include leaks and cavitation, friction, realignment and
growth of magnetic domains (Barkhausen eect),
liquefaction, solidication, etc. Usually, emission oc-
curs in the form of a release of a series of short
impulsive packets of energy, which travel as spherical
wave fronts to be picked up from the material surface
by highly sensitive transducers. Processing and analy-
sis of the transducer output can reveal valuable
information about the source of energy release. AE
has been used for a variety of applications in material
science and engineering. This article discusses the
details of the AE technique and its successful
application for nondestructive testing of metallic
materials.
1. AE Testing
AE signals are classied into two dierent types:
continuous and burst. Continuous emission is
measured by r.m.s. voltage. For characterizing burst-
type AE signals, several threshold-dependent par-
ameters are used (Fig. 1). Threshold is the voltage level
set in the instrument to minimize low-amplitude noise
from AE signals.
Typical AE equipment consists of signal detection,
Figure 1
Characteristics of AE signals.
Figure 2
Types of AEs that occur during plastic deformation of
metals.
data acquisition, processing, and analysis units. The
most commonly used sensors are piezoelectric ones.
Similar to ultrasonic techniques (see NDT Techniques:
Ultrasonic), for good acoustic contact between sensors
and material, couplants such as silicone grease and
natural wax are used. In some applications where
sensors cannot be xed directly, waveguides are used.
Sensors are calibrated for frequency response and
sensitivity before any application.
The test procedure usually species the following: (i)
the type of instrument to be used, (ii) the placement of
the sensor, (iii) the calibration of instrument and
sensor, (iv) the process for applying the stimulus to the
test component, (v) the data to be recorded and
reported, and (vi) the qualication of personnel
operating the instrument and interpreting the results
(see NDT Personnel: Training and Certication).
Codes, standards, specications, and procedures
related to AE are formulated by the American Society
for Testing and Materials (ASTM), the European
Working Group on Acoustic Emission (EWGAE),
the Japanese Society for Nondestructive Inspection
(JSNDI), and others. ASTM standard E569 covers
AE monitoring of structures during controlled stimu-
lation, E749 acoustic emission monitoring during
welding, E1211 standard practice for leak detection
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NDT Techniques: Acoustic Emission
and location using surface-mounted acoustic emission
sensors, etc.
2. Applications of AE Testing
Using AE testing, it is possible to monitor an entire
structure in one stroke for locating growing aws in
large components and for distinguishing dierent
types of aws, etc. The major limitations of AE testing
are (i) placement of sensors on the structure under test,
(ii) stimulation of the test object, and (iii) interference
of extraneous noise, etc. AE testing is used for many
applications. These include monitoring proof testing
of pressurized components, detection of incipient
fatigue failures in engineering structures, leak de-
tection, phase transformation, monitoring oxidation
(such as breakaway oxidation and spalling of oxide
scales) and corrosion processes in materials, on-line
weld monitoring, etc.
Table 1
Variation in AE behavior during plastic deformation in dierent metals and alloys.
Type Material Phenomenon
1 Carbon steel, Armco iron, etc. Higher AE during yielding is due to dislocation
generation and movement and formation and
propagation of deformation bands during Luders
deformation. Subsequently, during smooth
deformation, higher or lower emission is observed
in dierent materials, depending on the
microstructure.
2 F.c.c. metals such as aluminum, copper, brass; carbon
steel at higher temperatures (250mC)
Continuous AE with maximum at yield occurs owing
to dislocation generation and movement. In
hexagonal and tetragonal structured materials like
zinc, tin, indium, cadmium, etc., burst signals with
maximum at yield are associated with twinning.
3 Brass, aluminum alloys, and austenitic stainless steels
at higher temperatures, etc.
AE maximum at yield point (owing to dislocation
generation and movement with homogeneous
deformation) and the PortevinLe Chatelier eect.
Subsequent numerous peaks in AE signals are due
to dislocation movement with inhomogeneous
deformation (formation and propagation of
deformation bands).
4 Precipitation-hardened aluminum alloys (2024 and
7075), cast alloy AlSi10Mg, nickel-based
superalloys, beryllium alloys, etc.
AE peak at yield point (owing to homogenous
deformation) and a second peak at higher strains
are seen owing to microcrack formation. Particle
shearing (peak in r.m.s. voltage in the yield region
and very high ringdown counts and higher peak
amplitudes) and Orowan looping process (relatively
weak AE as compared to that for particle shearing
process and without any r.m.s. voltage peak in the
yield region) can be distinguished using the
dierences in AE patterns (Baldev and Jayakumar
1990).
5 High-strength heat-treated steels, cold-worked
materials, and some austenitic steels at ambient
temperatures
Normally no detectable AE except at fracture. The
absence of continuous-type AE is attributed to
energy release below the threshold level during
dislocation movement. With higher system gains
and signal-to-noise ratio, it is possible to obtain
detectable AE also during yielding and progressive
plastic deformation.
Plastic deformation is the primary source of AE in
loaded metallic materials. Further, AE behavior in
dierent metals and alloys during plastic deformation
is dierent (Table 1; Figs. 2 and 3). This aspect has
been used for monitoring dierences in dynamic
behavior (Eisenblatter 1980, Baldev and Jayakumar
1990). Usually, initiation of plasticity around yielding
contributes to the highest level of AE. This is attrib-
uted to the dislocation avalanche by dislocation
generation, multiplication by operation of Frank
Reed and grain boundary sources, and dislocation
motion during yielding. During deformation, factors
like high strength, high strain rate, low temperature,
anisotropy, etc., are generally found to increase the
relative amplitude of AE signals. Decohesion and
fracture of inclusions and\or second phases is the
source of copious amounts of AEduring deformation.
Animportant feature aecting AEduring deformation
of a material is the Kaiser eect, for which ad-
ditional AE occurs only when the stress level exceeds
2
NDT Techniques: Acoustic Emission
Figure 3
Variation in cumulative ringdown counts (N) and crack
growth rate (da\dn) as a function of K for 25mm thick
solution annealed (SA) and thermally aged (TA)
specimens.
the previous stress level. In the case of ber-reinforced
plastic materials emission is observed at loads lower
than the previous maximum, breaking the Kaiser
eect. This is called the Felicity eect.
Application of AE for detection of leaks in the
tubesheet of pressurized heavy water reactors has
shown that frequency domain analysis is advanta-
geous over time domain analysis for reliable detection
and location of leaks occurring at relatively low
pressures and under noisy environments.
AE is applied for continuous monitoring of fatigue
crack growth (FCG; see Fatigue Crack Propagation:
Eect of Enironment). During FCG, the major
sources of AE for a ductile material can be the cyclic
plasticity occurring ahead of the crack tip, whereas for
brittle materials the crack extension at the crack tip
can be the major source of AE. Figure 3 shows results
from tests carried out on FCG in AISI type 316
stainless steel. It can be seen from Fig. 3 that in
comparison to da\dn, the variation in cumulative
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RDC with K shows a two-slope behavior for all the
specimens. This indicates a change in crack growth
mechanism within the linear Paris regime, which can
be used for early detection of likely impending fatigue
failures in components. One application of AE is for
on-line monitoring and control of welding processes to
produce quality and reliable welds since disconti-
nuities can be detected on-line and corrective actions
can be taken.
3. Conclusions
AE testing procedures and major applications are
highlighted. AE testing is increasingly employed in
varied applications in materials science and engin-
eering. With the use of advanced signal processing and
articial intelligence methods for processing AE data,
the role of AE techniques is expected to grow
signicantly for early detection and accurate location
of growing aws in metallic structures.
See also: NDT Techniques: Acoustic Microscopy and
Holography
Bibliography
Baldev R, Jayakumar T 1990 Acoustic Emission: Current
Practices and Future Directions, ASTM STP 1077. American
Socirty for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, PA, pp.
21841
Baldev R, Venkatraman B, Gill T P S, Jayakumar T 1999
Reliable quality through intelligent welding methodologies.
Proc. Intelligent Manufacturing and Fault Diagnosis, IMACS,
IEEE 99. World Scientic, Singapore
Eisenblatter J 1980 Nicoll A R (trans.) Acoustic Emission.
Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Metallkunde, Oberursel, Ger-
many, p. 1
McIntire 1987 Nondestructie Testing Handbook: Vol. 5. Acous-
tic Emission Testing. American Society for Nondestructive
Testing
Moorthy V, Jayakumar T, Baldev R 1996 Inuence of micro-
structure on acoustic emission behaviour during stage II
fatigue crack growth in solution annealed, thermally aged and
welded specimens of AISI type 316 stainless steel. Mater. Sci.
Eng. 212, 2729
T. Jayakumar
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