SIMULTANEOUS ACOUSTIC-EMISSION AND ULTRASONIC TOMOGRAPHIC IMAGING IN ANISOTROPIC POLYMER COMPOSITE-MATERIAL

This paper describes experiments in which acoustic emission and ultrasonic tomography were performed concurrently on samples of anisotropic glass fiber reinforced polymer composite in a direct tensile test. Propagating cracks were monitored by acoustic emission throughout the loading phase, and the material imaged using ultrasonic tomography at regular intervals. Analysis of the data indicated that propagation of the main crack was controlled by the breakage of the continuous glass fibers. The region of microfracture damage seemed to extend well beyond the visible crack. The technique has promise for the study of changes in acoustic properties of materials under applied stress