Some aspects of acoustic emission signal pre-processing

The acoustic emission (AE) sensor and the pre-amplifier either built-in or connected to the sensor are the key elements in any AE based tool condition monitoring (TCM) system. This paper provides an interpretation of some common AE signal distortions and possible solutions to avoid such problems. The first two are AE signal saturation and temporary vanishing of the signal amplitude caused by overload of the pre-amplifier. The other is a result of multiple reflections of the AE wave on the different surfaces through the signal’s path.