Numerical and Experimental Study of Acoustic Emission Source Signal Reconstruction in Fibre-Reinforced Composite Panels

The recording and processing of acoustic emissions can be used to identify and localise damage mechanisms occurring in engineering structures. In plate-like structures, acoustic emissions propagate through the structure as guided waves. With a measurement location away from the source location, dispersion effects in the guided wave distort the acoustic emission signal. The distortion of the original signal hampers identification of damage mechanisms. This research describes and assesses a method to reconstruct the original acoustic emission signal using dispersion compensation. Simulations and experiments are performed involving thick glass-fibre reinforced plastic laminates. The signal reconstruction on the simulated data gives a reasonable representation of the simulated signal at the location of interest. In the experimental case, similarity slightly degrades. Deviation in arrival time between original measurement and reconstruction is attributed to a possible discrepancy in material properties in reality versus the properties used in the reconstruction.