This paper presents a Bayesian approach for localizing acoustic emission (AE) source in plate-like structures with consideration of uncertainties from modeling error and measurement noise. A PZT sensor network is deployed to monitor and acquire AE wave signals released by possible damage. By using continuous wavelet transform (CWT), the time-of-flight (TOF) information of the AE wave signals is extracted and measured. With a theoretical TOF model, a Bayesian parameter identification procedure is developed to obtain the AE source location and the wave velocity at a specific frequency simultaneously and meanwhile quantify their uncertainties. It is based on Bayes’ theorem that the posterior distributions of the parameters about the AE source location and the wave velocity are obtained by relating their priors and the likelihood of the measured time difference data. A Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm is employed to draw samples to approximate the posteriors. Also, a data fusion scheme is performed to fuse results identified at multiple frequencies to increase accuracy and reduce uncertainty of the final localization results. Experimental studies on a stiffened aluminum panel with simulated AE events by pensile lead breaks (PLBs) are conducted to validate the proposed Bayesian AE source localization approach.
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