Damage Assessment in Concrete Using Quantitative Acoustic Emission

An acoustic emission (AE) is a localized rapid release of strain energy in a stressed material. Quantitative acoustic emission measurements techniques have recently been developed to estimate the location, size, and orientation and fracture mode of individual microcracks. Quantiative AE techniques were applied to laboratory study of plain concrete beams under four point loading. It is shown that AE measurements can provide a potentially powerful tool in assessing damage.