Acoustic Emission Monitoring of a Ground Durability and Damage Tolerance Test

Since the mid-1970’s several authors have investigated the feasibility of using acoustic emission to monitor the integrity of aircraft structures. These studies, which have involved the monitoring of airframes during full scale ground fatigue tests as well as the monitoring of airframe components during flight, are completely catalogued in Drouillard’s annotated bibliography of acoustic emission [1,2]. In the future, acoustic emission is expected to play a primary role in the evaluation of the structural integrity of complex bolted structures such as airframes because of its ability to monitor large areas using a relatively small number of sensors. This work demonstrates the successful application to such a problem involving the monitoring of the lower wing skin of a fighter aircraft. The monitored area contained approximately 600 fasteners which attach the lower wing skin to the inner structure

Acoustic Emission Monitoring of a Ground Durability and Damage Tolerance Test

Since the mid-1970’s several authors have investigated the feasibility of using acoustic emission to monitor the integrity of aircraft structures. These studies, which have involved the monitoring of airframes during full scale ground fatigue tests as well as the monitoring of airframe components during flight, are completely catalogued in Drouillard’s annotated bibliography of acoustic emission [1,2]. In the future, acoustic emission is expected to play a primary role in the evaluation of the structural integrity of complex bolted structures such as airframes because of its ability to monitor large areas using a relatively small number of sensors. This work demonstrates the successful application to such a problem involving the monitoring of the lower wing skin of a fighter aircraft. The monitored area contained approximately 600 fasteners which attach the lower wing skin to the inner structure.</p