A history of acoustic emission

The technology of acoustic emission (AE) traditionally had its beginning in 1950 with the work of Joseph Kaiser. During the 1950s and '60s researchers delved into the fundamentals of acoustic emission, developed instrumentation specifically for AE, and characterized the AE behavior of many materials. AE was starting to be recognized for its unique capabilities as a nondestructive test (NDT) method for monitoring dynamic processes. In the decade of the 1970s research activities became more coordinated and directed with the formation of the working groups, and its use as an NDT method continued to increase for industrial applications. In the 1980s the computer became a basic component for both instrumentation and data analysis, and today it has sparked a resurgence of opportunities for research and development. Today, waveform-based AE analysis has become commonplace and there is a shift in AE activities with more emphasis on applications than on research. From the beginning, the developing field of acoustic emission has been nurtured by a plethora of dedicated savants with a diverse range of scientific and engineering disciplines, who have contributed in a collective way to bring AE to a mature, fully developed technology and to leave a legacy of knowledge recorded in its literature. AE literature has been a key indicator of the amount of activity, the proportion of research to application, the emphasis on what was of current interest, and the direction AE has taken. This article presents a brief survey of the history of acoustic emission, with emphasis on development of the infrastructure and some of the people involved.