Structural damage diagnosis and life-time assessment by acoustic emission monitoring

The acoustic emission technique is applied to identify defects and damage in reinforced concrete structures and masonry buildings. By means of this technique, a particular methodology has been put forward for crack propagation monitoring and damage assessment, in structural elements under service conditions. This technique permits to estimate the amount of energy released during fracture propagation and to obtain information on the criticality of the ongoing process. In addition, based on fracture mechanics concepts, a fractal or multiscale methodology is proposed to predict the damage evolution and the time to structural collapse.