Trade fairs

The conference of the “European Working Group on Acoustic Emission” is being held for the 37th time and is a renowned international forum for researchers, engineers, and practitioners interested in the field of acoustic emission.

The conference offers participants the opportunity to learn about new developments in theoretical and experimental research, measurement technology, data analysis, and applications of acoustic emission.

In the accompanying exhibition, Fraunhofer IKTS will showcase innovative solutions for monitoring critical and civil infrastructure. The focus is on technologies that address key challenges in modern infrastructure monitoring. Highlights include:

Sensor-based monitoring of critical infrastructure

Acoustic emission technology enables continuous condition assessment of bridges, even in hard-to-reach areas, and reveals hidden damage at an early stage. Fraunhofer IKTS will showcase application-specific, cost-effective monitoring systems that specifically detect and evaluate acoustic signals from damage such as cracks or breaking prestressing tendons. For use in concrete structures, the team relies on cost-effective, potentially MEMS-based sensors and a streamlined, custom-developed electronics system —tailored precisely for the monitoring of bridges and other infrastructure.

Structural monitoring with optical fibers

Distributed strain sensing (DSS) and distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) using optical fibers is a measurement method based on optical backscattering in glass fibers, which allows structural changes to be detected continuously and with high resolution. When structural components change due to mechanical loads or temperature fluctuations, the scattering behavior of light within the fiber changes. In this way, strains, vibrations, cracks, and deformations can be visualized across the entire length of the component. The resulting acoustic events can be localized and characterized using the DAS measurement principle. For this purpose, the optical fibers are applied to the component or integrated directly into the concrete; the altered light signals are analyzed using an optical readout device.