Detection of acoustic emission location using optical fiber sensors

This paper describes a fiber optic system for detection of acoustic emission location in which extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometric fiber sensors are incorporated in two different configurations: (1) attached to a thin aluminum panel, and (2) embedded in a graphite/epoxy composite laminate. The system computes the coordinate of the acoustic emission source using sensor recorded differential arrival times of the acoustic signals generated by the source. The impact location can be determined with a 0.5 millimeter resolution and an accuracy typically less than five millimeters.