Acoustic emission monitoring of bridges: Review and case studies

This paper gives a brief review of the acoustic emission technique and its applications to bridge health monitoring. Emphasis is given to the discussion of available techniques of AE data processing, both qualitative and quantitative. An assessment of the statistical quantitative analysis technique, intensity analysis, is illustrated through two case studies. This technique of damage quantification is applied to AE data collected from two genres of bridges in Louisiana: a prestressed concrete slab-on-girder bridge and a steel bridge with a concrete deck. Although there were limitations concerning the number and type of sensors used, much information was collected and useful inferences were made that may help better diagnose the health of bridges monitored in the future using this technique.