A review on acoustic emission monitoring for damage detection in masonry structures

Abstract

Acoustic emission monitoring is widely used for damage detection in materials research and for site monitoring. Its use for masonry structures is however challenging due to the highly heterogenic nature of masonry and rapid signal attenuation. However, the non-invasive nature and high sensitivity of the technique also provide interesting opportunities, especially for historical masonry structures, to locate damage, identify severity of damage and rate of deterioration. Aim of this paper is to provide an extensive literature review on the application of the acoustic emission technique for masonry structures, addressing specific challenges and recent findings. AE-based methods for damage assessment in masonry are discussed in view of monitoring approaches, wave propagation, source location and crack development under static, fatigue and creep loading. Site applications are discussed for identifying crack location and crack propagation in historical masonry towers, buildings and masonry arch bridges. The paper concludes with future challenges identified in this research field.

Feasibility of a Thermography Nondestructive Technique for Determining the Quality of Historical Frescoed Masonries: Applications on the Templar Church of San Bevignate

“…A quasi-periodic texture made of bricks with different widths, ranging from 25 to 60 cm, but similar heights, of about 20 cm, is observable; such result matches consistently with what was surveyed in the apse, concerning the areas where the fresco peeled off (see Figure 4). Moreover, the opportunities offered by the thermal imaging methods, regarding at the safeguard of frescoes, mural paintings and valuable architectonic elements, have been addressed by numerous authors with reference different declinations [7,[18][19][20][21][22]. Therefore, even if in the present contribution, where the focus was on the identification of the masonry texture, it was anyway possible to contextually ascertain that there are no detachment or infiltration phenomena in place that may endanger the health of the frescoes.…”

State-of-the-Art Review on the Acoustic Emission Source Localization Techniques

“…They mainly focused on prognostic approaches for AE data such as regression models, artificial neural networks (ANN), and hidden Markov-based models. Verstrynge et al [122] addressed specific challenges and their recent findings in the application of the acoustic emission technique for masonry structures in their comprehensive review. They discussed some site applications of identifying the crack location in historical masonry structures, buildings, and masonry arch bridges.…”

Tensile Damage Study of Wind Turbine Tower Material Q345 Based on an Acoustic Emission Method

“…The acoustic emission (AE) technique is a promising non-destructive surveillance technology for materials study and in situ supervision of structures [ 3 ]. The acoustic emission detection technique has been widely used in damage detection of metallic materials [ 4 , 5 , 6 ], composite materials [ 7 , 8 , 9 ], and rock materials [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ].…”