Acoustic Emission Location Method for Quasi-Cylindrical Structure With Complex Hole

As an effective structure health monitoring technology, acoustic emission (AE) has been developed rapidly in various fields over recent years. AE source localization is the core element of AE technology. In this paper, a Node Block Location Method (NBLM) based on the collaborative model of node and block matrix was proposed to meet the high-precision requirement of source localization in the quasi-cylindrical structure with complex hole. NBLM can not only bypass the empty area, but also fit the actual propagation of elastic waves better in the complex boundaries. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of NBLM, lead-breaking tests were carried out on two cylindrical structure: one with square hole and the other with circular hole. The lead-breaking points were used as AE source in the test. The source coordinates were inverted by three separate location methods according to arrivals. Test results verify the superiority of NBLM and show that the location accuracy of the NBLM has been greatly improved compared to the existing methods.