Acoustic Emission in Structural Health Monitoring

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is of paramount importance in an increasing number of applications, not only to ensure safety and reliability, but also to reduce NDT costs and to ensure timely maintenance of critical components. This paper overviews the modern applications of acoustic emission (AE), which has become established as a very powerful technique for monitoring damage in a variety of structures, and the new approaches that have enabled the successful application of the technique, leading to automated crack detection. Examples are drawn from a variety of industries to provide an insight into the current role of AE in structural health monitoring.