Viability of the Application of Acoustic Emission (AE) Technology for the Process and Management of Maintenance in Industries: Defect Detection, On-Line Condition Monitoring, Diagnostic and Prognostic Tools

摘要

This paper reviews the success of the application of Acoustic Emission (AE) technology in rotating elements which can be adopted as a tool for the maintenance strategy, "Condition Based Maintenance". Preventive maintenance needs data to be supplied in order to plan the maintenance schedule. On-line condition based monitoring offered by AE technology, provides a complimentary assessment of the current condition of machines whereby outage schedules can be planned for proactive maintenance. Research into the feasibility and viability of AE technology at Cranfield University, which was started in 1984, on rotating elements has shown encouraging results and it is evident that AE technology can be employed as a tool for defect detection, on-line condition monitoring, diagnosis and prognosis. All these capabilities of AE are of benefit to the process and management of maintenance in industries.