Research Article Damage Accumulation in Cyclically-Loaded Glass-Ceramic Matrix Composites Monitored by Acoustic Emission

Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Barium osumilite (BMAS) ceramic matrix composites reinforced with SiC-Tyranno fibers are tested in a cyclic loading protocol. Broadband acoustic emission (AE) sensors are used for monitoring the occurrence of different possible damage mechanisms. Improved use ofAE indices is proposed by excluding low-severity signals based onwaveformparameters, rather than only threshold criteria.The application of such improvements enhances the accuracy of the indices as accumulated damage descriptors. RA-value, duration, and signal energy follow the extension cycles indicating moments of maximum or minimum strain, while the frequency content of the AE signals proves very sensitive to the pull-out mechanism. 1