Acoustic emissions (AE) monitoring of large-scale composite bridge components

E. Velazquez; D. J. Klein; M. J. Robinson; J. B. Kosmatka

doi:10.1117/12.778355

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8 April 2008 Acoustic emissions (AE) monitoring of large-scale composite bridge components

E. Velazquez, D. J. Klein, M. J. Robinson, J. B. Kosmatka

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Proceedings Volume 6934, Nondestructive Characterization for Composite Materials, Aerospace Engineering, Civil Infrastructure, and Homeland Security 2008; 69340H (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.778355
Event: SPIE Smart Structures and Materials + Nondestructive Evaluation and Health Monitoring, 2008, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Acoustic Emissions (AE) has been successfully used with composite structures to both locate and give a measure of damage accumulation. The current experimental study uses AE to monitor large-scale composite modular bridge components. The components consist of a carbon/epoxy beam structure as well as a composite to metallic bonded/bolted joint. The bonded joints consist of double lap aluminum splice plates bonded and bolted to carbon/epoxy laminates representing the tension rail of a beam. The AE system is used to monitor the bridge component during failure loading to assess the failure progression and using time of arrival to give insight into the origins of the failures. Also, a feature in the AE data called Cumulative Acoustic Emission counts (CAE) is used to give an estimate of the severity and rate of damage accumulation. For the bolted/bonded joints, the AE data is used to interpret the source and location of damage that induced failure in the joint. These results are used to investigate the use of bolts in conjunction with the bonded joint. A description of each of the components (beam and joint) is given with AE results. A summary of lessons learned for AE testing of large composite structures as well as insight into failure progression and location is presented.

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E. Velazquez, D. J. Klein, M. J. Robinson, and J. B. Kosmatka "Acoustic emissions (AE) monitoring of large-scale composite bridge components", Proc. SPIE 6934, Nondestructive Characterization for Composite Materials, Aerospace Engineering, Civil Infrastructure, and Homeland Security 2008, 69340H (8 April 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.778355

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