A rapid acoustic source localization technique for early warning of building material damage

Structural health monitoring can predict defects at the early stage of their formation and avoid safety hazards or catastrophic accidents caused by structural degradation. However, the cost and the need for additional operating space restricted their wide application for monitoring building materials. The main purpose of this paper is to propose a simple and fast defect localization technique, which can locate the acoustic source using fewer sensors when the operating space outside the structure is limited. With the help of the ‘L’-shaped coupled sensor cluster, only six sensers are required to quickly predict the damage location for both isotropic and anisotropic materials. Experiments were carried out on several building material samples, and the finite element simulation was used to explore the localization relationship of different relative positions of acoustic sources and the cluster. The experimental and simulation results verify the feasibility of the technique.