Acoustic emission (AE) is widely used for condition monitoring of critical components and structures. Conventional AE techniques employ wideband or resonant piezoelectric sensors to detect elastic stress waves propagating through various types of structural materials, including composites during damage evolution. Recent developments in fibre optic acoustic emission sensors (FOAES) have enabled new ways of detecting and monitoring damage evolution using AE. An optical fibre consists of a core with a high refractive index and a surrounding cladding. The buffer layer and outer jacket both act as protective polymer layers. Glass optical fibres can be used for manufacturing AE sensors of sufficiently small size to enable their embedding into fibre-reinforced polymer composite materials. The embedding process protects the FOAES against environmental stresses prolonging operational lifetime. The immunity of FOAES to electromagnetic interference makes this type of sensor attractive for condition monitoring purposes across a wide range of challenging operational environments. This paper provides an exhaustive review of recent developments on FOAES including their fundamental operational principles and key industrial applications.

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An optical fibre Bragg grating (FBG) sensor was surface mounted onto a carbon fibre reinforced epoxy composite and subjected to static and dynamic loading. The FBG sensor was found to operate satisfactorily up to 700,000 cycles when the fatigue test was terminated. The fatigue test was conducted at a peak stress of 210 MPa and a stress ratio of -0.5. The FBG sensor was also found to operate satisfactorily over the cyclic loading frequency range of 0.1 -6 Hz used in this study. The feasibility of using the sensor system for monitoring the stiffness ofthe composite during the fatigue test was demonstrated. The signal processing for the sensor system was based on a CCD spectrometer. The sensitivity of the static strain measurements was found to be approximately 80 jtc. A broadening ofthe FBG reflective spectrum was seen to develop as a function of fatigue cycles, and this phenomenon may be due to the delamination ofthe sensor from the surface ofthe composite.

This paper reports on the use of a multimode extrinsic fibre Fabry-Perot interferometric sensor for quasi-static and dynamic fatigue loading experiments. A surface mounted extensometer was also used to measure the strain in the composite as a function of applied load. Excellent correlation was obtained between the strain data from the extensometer and the embedded EFPI sensor. With reference to dynamic loading, the sensor was found function reliably up to 1,600,000 cycles when the fatigue test was terminated. The fatigue tests were carried out using a peak stress of 260 MPa with a stress ratio of -0.40, and a frequency of 5 Hz. The signal processing technique was based on a channelled spectrum CCD spectrometer. The sensitivity of quasi-static strain measurements was approximately 30 micro-strain with a strain range of approximately -1% to 1%. The feasibility of using the EFPI sensor for stiffuiess-decay measurements during fatigue testing of composites was demonstrated. Preliminary results form the use of a single-mode EFPI sensor design for strain measurements in composites is also presented.