Quantitative Investigation of Acoustic Emission Waveform Parameters from Crack Opening in a Rail Section Using Clustering Algorithms and Advanced Signal Processing

Acoustic emission (AE) is an emerging technology for real-time non-destructive testing of structures. While research on a simulated AE source in rail and testing on rail material using small beam samples have been conducted, a study is required in lab environment to investigate AE waveform character...

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Main Authors: Harsh Mahajan, Sauvik Banerjee
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-11-01
Series:Sensors
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/22/22/8643
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author Harsh Mahajan
Sauvik Banerjee
author_facet Harsh Mahajan
Sauvik Banerjee
author_sort Harsh Mahajan
collection DOAJ
description Acoustic emission (AE) is an emerging technology for real-time non-destructive testing of structures. While research on a simulated AE source in rail and testing on rail material using small beam samples have been conducted, a study is required in lab environment to investigate AE waveform characteristics generated by crack in rail. In this paper, a three-point bending test is conducted on an actual rail section of 1500 mm with transverse damage of 38% head area to simulate AE source due to crack opening in the rail. AE signals are recorded for three different loads. For data analysis, unsupervised machine learning algorithms such as k-means, fuzzy-C mean and gaussian mixture model are used to cluster and filter out usable signals from the whole dataset corrupted by noisy signals from various sources. k-mean with principal component was observed to be best technique based on silhouette score. The frequency and amplitude of waveform have been discussed in relation to load and crack opening displacement. This study establishes a baseline for linking load, crack opening, and AE wave characteristics. This work can ultimately aid in the development of robust denoising, and damage analysis algorithms based on the frequency content and dispersion of the AE waveform.
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spelling doaj.art-79a430163b66422ab14cd6222655308e2023-11-24T09:53:28ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202022-11-012222864310.3390/s22228643Quantitative Investigation of Acoustic Emission Waveform Parameters from Crack Opening in a Rail Section Using Clustering Algorithms and Advanced Signal ProcessingHarsh Mahajan0Sauvik Banerjee1Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400076, IndiaDepartment of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400076, IndiaAcoustic emission (AE) is an emerging technology for real-time non-destructive testing of structures. While research on a simulated AE source in rail and testing on rail material using small beam samples have been conducted, a study is required in lab environment to investigate AE waveform characteristics generated by crack in rail. In this paper, a three-point bending test is conducted on an actual rail section of 1500 mm with transverse damage of 38% head area to simulate AE source due to crack opening in the rail. AE signals are recorded for three different loads. For data analysis, unsupervised machine learning algorithms such as k-means, fuzzy-C mean and gaussian mixture model are used to cluster and filter out usable signals from the whole dataset corrupted by noisy signals from various sources. k-mean with principal component was observed to be best technique based on silhouette score. The frequency and amplitude of waveform have been discussed in relation to load and crack opening displacement. This study establishes a baseline for linking load, crack opening, and AE wave characteristics. This work can ultimately aid in the development of robust denoising, and damage analysis algorithms based on the frequency content and dispersion of the AE waveform.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/22/22/8643acoustic emission testingrail monitoringunsupervised learningbending experiment
spellingShingle Harsh Mahajan
Sauvik Banerjee
Quantitative Investigation of Acoustic Emission Waveform Parameters from Crack Opening in a Rail Section Using Clustering Algorithms and Advanced Signal Processing
Sensors
acoustic emission testing
rail monitoring
unsupervised learning
bending experiment
title Quantitative Investigation of Acoustic Emission Waveform Parameters from Crack Opening in a Rail Section Using Clustering Algorithms and Advanced Signal Processing
title_full Quantitative Investigation of Acoustic Emission Waveform Parameters from Crack Opening in a Rail Section Using Clustering Algorithms and Advanced Signal Processing
title_fullStr Quantitative Investigation of Acoustic Emission Waveform Parameters from Crack Opening in a Rail Section Using Clustering Algorithms and Advanced Signal Processing
title_full_unstemmed Quantitative Investigation of Acoustic Emission Waveform Parameters from Crack Opening in a Rail Section Using Clustering Algorithms and Advanced Signal Processing
title_short Quantitative Investigation of Acoustic Emission Waveform Parameters from Crack Opening in a Rail Section Using Clustering Algorithms and Advanced Signal Processing
title_sort quantitative investigation of acoustic emission waveform parameters from crack opening in a rail section using clustering algorithms and advanced signal processing
topic acoustic emission testing
rail monitoring
unsupervised learning
bending experiment
url https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/22/22/8643
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AT sauvikbanerjee quantitativeinvestigationofacousticemissionwaveformparametersfromcrackopeninginarailsectionusingclusteringalgorithmsandadvancedsignalprocessing