Modified Acoustic Emission for Prognostic Health Monitoring

A variety of nondestructive inspection (NDI) techniques are already available for detection of small defects within structures. These techniques, although useful, provide little insight in terms of the remaining useful life of components or structures. Furthermore, NDI techniques rely on statistical analyses of historical usage records and can often result in situations where maintenance schedules are occurring more often than necessary to insure safe operation. Intelligent monitoring of the state of constituent materials allows for operation at reduced sustainment costs without sacrificing mission safety. Prime Photonics, LC. proposes to develop a novel acoustic emission monitoring sensor as part of a larger structural health monitoring system capable of providing end-of-useful life determination. The designed acoustic emission spectrum (AES) system will combine constituent fatigue history with local impact events tp provide a complete view of component lifetime.

The primary NASA application for the acoustic emission sensing system will be in structural health monitoring and leak detection. The system is well-suited for predicting end of useful life conditions for composite structural components, especially those in stable operational load regimes. The traditional acoustic emission component of the system will aid in detection and localization of impact events.

The Department of Defense (DoD) has made considerable investment in implementing condition based maintenance (CBM) throughout its fleet. Emphasis is placed on aerospace applications which prove expensive to survey but require long lifetimes to avoid costly replacement. Nondestructive verification systems for monitoring of critical infrastructure has also seen increases. With aging bridges and railways, an improved system for component lifetime and failure prediction is necessary.

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