Study on source location using an acoustic emission system for various corrosion types

In this paper, four main types of corrosion: uniform, pitting, crevice and stress corrosion cracking (SCC) found in the petrochemical industry, were characterized and identified by Acoustic Emission (AE) analysis using their locations and extracted AE parameters. A novel low-cost AE location system based on a Field Programmable Gate Array PC (FPGA-PC) and a LOCAN 320 AE analyzer were utilized in this study. Specimens used in experiments were austenitic stainless-steel SS304. The pattern of AE signals from each type of corrosion was plotted using their location and correlation. Experimental results show the ability of our FPGA-PC system to determine corrosion locations. The correlations of AE parameters including amplitude, counts, hits and time were used to identify different types of corrosion. In addition, the characteristics of the corrosion process for each type are explained using the AE signals obtained corresponding to the source locations, together with experimental observation. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.