Abstract: A smart structural health monitoring system (SHMS) requires various sensing technologies to detect and locate flaws, and assess their criticality to the structural integrity of the aircraft. To realize its full potential, a SHMS must be capable of remotely sensing flaw growth and location. Acoustic emission (AE) is one of the few sensing technologies that is capable of direct and remote sensing of flaw growth. Currently, there are two AE sensing techniques used for monitoring, detecting and locating flaw growth in structural components. In one technique, specific AE event parameters are captured by narrowband transducers and are studied to identify their source and location. The other technique studies the whole AE waves captured by wideband transducers and then detects and locates flaw growth based on waveform analysis and the wave propagation characteristics of the structure being monitored. This paper investigates both AE techniques, establishes their limitations, and defines the goals that need to be achieved in AE technology before it can successfully be implemented into a SHMS. !12
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