Seminar 3rd March 2010 4 p.m. Lanchester (Building 7) Room 3031, Highfield, University of Southampton
Acoustic Emission in Structural Health Monitoring
Professor Karen Holford
University of Cardiff
- Categories
- Acoustics, Materials
- Submitter
- Nicki Lewin
Professor Karen Holford
Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is of paramount importance in an increasing number of applications, not only to ensure safety and reliability, but also to reduce NDT costs and to ensure timely maintenance of critical components. This paper overviews the modern applications of acoustic emission (AE), which has become established as a very powerful technique for monitoring damage in a variety of structures, and the new approaches that have enabled the successful application of the technique, leading to automated crack detection. Examples are drawn from a variety of industries to provide an insight into the current role of AE in structural health monitoring.
A brief Biography of Professor Holford: Professor Karen Holford
Professor Karen Holford is a Chartered Engineer, and Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, who joined the School of Engineering at Cardiff University as a lecturer in 1990. Prior to this, she worked as senior design engineer at AB Electronic Products Ltd, where she led a variety of projects, in particular in the automotive field with companies such as BMW, Jaguar and Rover. Her first degree was a BEng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering from UWIST (Cardiff) which was sponsored by Rolls-Royce in Bristol, where she worked during industrial placements and as a graduate engineer. Her PhD in Acoustic Emission was also undertaken in Cardiff, at UCC, sponsored by the Health and Safety Executive.
Karen is Leader of the Institute of Mechanical and Structural Performance, one of the seven research institutes of the School of Engineering, and is the Project Manager for the recent £2.4M investment in the Cardiff University Performance Laboratories. Karen is currently Deputy Director (Staff) of the School of Engineering, but will be taking up the position of Director of the School of Engineering from August 2010. The School is an integrated Department within the University, encompassing Civil, Mechanical, Electrical and Electronic disciplines and currently has 90 academic staff.
Karen’s primary research theme is damage assessment using acoustic emission and she has a long track record of successful industrial contracts with companies such as Messier-Dowty, Physical Acoustics, British Energy, Atkins, Capita Gwent etc. She has published over 120 research papers and been principal investigator on research projects totalling over £4.5M. The technique is now being used successfully for monitoring a range of structures including bridges (for which Karen has developed a Highways Agency Advice note) and aircraft landing gear
Tea/Coffee will be available.