One of the challenges restricted rubbing quantitative diagnosis is that vibration method cannot be effective applied to rubbing fault localization. Therefore,an acoustic emission( AE) beamforming array was presented to localize rotor-stator rubbing fault of rotating machinery. Firstly,finite element simulation model of rubbing AE was established based on mechanical model of rotor-stator rubbing and the structure of rotor test-bed,which can be used to simulate AE signals and study characteristics of simulating signals and AE wave propagation. Then rubbing localization performances of AE beamforming with typical arrays,such as line array,crossed array and circular array,were studied based on simulation AE signals and propagation characteristics of rubbing AE,and that the line array was the most appropriate for rubbing localization. Aiming to the shortage of line array,the improved sensor array and localization scheme were approached. Finally,the proposed localizing method of rubbing fault was verified by experiments. The results show that AE beamforming method can achieve accurate localization of rubbing fault by choosing the right sensor array and suitable sensor arrangement.