Structural heath monitoring of engineering structures is of growing interest dueto increasedcomplexity of such structures and the ability to schedulemaintenance when it is needed thuspreventing unnecessary work or preventingfailure. One such method for monitoring the structuralhealth of large scalestructures is through the detection of Acoustic Emissions (AE). A novelthickfilm Acoustic Emission sensor is presented. Piezoelectric thick film AEsensors were fabricated bycreating and pattering lead zirconate titanate (PZT)thick films using a powder/sol composite inkdeposition technique in conjunctionwith mechanical patterning of the subsequent films. The resultantAE sensorsexhibit a response comparable to commercially available AE sensors. Comparativeresultsbetween the thick film and commercial sensors will be reviewed anddiscussed.
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