Influence of loading conditions during tensile testing on acoustic emission

The Acoustic Emission (AE) monitoring technique is widely used in mechanical and material research for detection of plastic deformation, fracture initiation and crack growth. However, the influence of AE features (such as signal amplitude, frequency, rise time and duration) on the fracture parameters (such as brittle or ductile mode of propagation and fracture propagation speed) is not completely understood. In this paper, the effect of loading conditions on fracture behavior was studied using AE monitoring during tensile testing of an aluminum alloy specimen. The fracture development was observed using a high speed video camera and was analyzed using the finite element method. The hardware and software produced by Physical Acoustics Corporation (USA) was used. Variations in AE parameters were analyzed and correlated to the stress-Strain curves obtained during testing. It is shown that the strain rate and the presence of a crack (modeled by a notch on the sample), affect the fracture mode (brittle or ductile) and a relative amount of the mode dependent AE signatures.