Patent ID: 6826982
Filing Date: 2004-12-07
Classification: G01M,G01N

Abstract:
A method of detecting and monitoring damage in a structure comprising:receiving continuously over a period of time electrical signals from a plurality of acoustic transducers, carried by the structure, configured to receive acoustic emissions from the structure when the structure is submitted to stress; and in a pulse processor, (a) forming digital representations pulses from the electrical signals to form data bursts, (b) selecting data bursts that occur in a predetermined time window to form a group of data bursts, (c) deriving, for each of the selected data bursts, delta-t values representing the differences between the times of occurrence of the pulses represented by the selected data bursts in the group, the delta-t values forming a delta-t pattern, and (d) generating a significant event indication signal when the delta-t pattern is repeated to a predetermined degree in different groups of selected data bursts.