Welcome to the 26th European Conference on Acoustic Emission Testing!

The primary objective of the EWGAE is the exchange of information on acoustic emission (AE), with particular emphasis on scientific and technical development.

EWGAE and DGZfP are pleased to present the Proceedings comprising about 100 contributions for oral and poster presentation. To ensure sufficient time for presentations of high quality, the programme has to make use of parallel sessions. While every effort has been made to avoid parallel sessions of competing topics, disappointments about not being able to attend two sessions at the same time are inevitable. A few titles do not well fit to the session theme due to rearrangements caused by last minute cancellations. We ask the concerned colleagues for their understanding.

The technical meeting starts with three future oriented topics of great potential:

• the benefit of AE for orthopaedic diagnostics,
• the feasibility of the corrosion testing of ships with AE, and
• the comparison of proof testing strategies for lifting equipment in the past and present, and a suggestion for a future methodology using AE.

On day 1, the sessions in room A are mainly devoted to the AE testing of pressure equipment, tanks and civil structures, while the sessions in room B discuss AE from concrete, rock and other materials.

The morning sessions on day 2 in room A treat industrial applications, while in room B AE from leak, composites, and mechanically loaded paper is discussed. In the afternoon, in room A, effects of wave guides and new sensor concepts are presented, while the presentations in room B deal with AE from corrosion and then with advanced analysis methods.

On day 3, the session in room A concerns wave propagation and location, while in room B AE equipment vendors present applications for new software and hardware. The final session is mainly devoted to methods of sensor calibration and equipment verification. The social programme on both evenings shall provide opportunities to meet colleagues within the AE community in a relaxed atmosphere. During the banquet at Opernpalais in Berlin’s centre, we will listen to Professor Hans Maria Tensi, who continued Joseph Kaiser’s studies at Technische Hochschule München and coined the term “KAISER EFFECT.” While that banquet presentation will provide us with relaxed entertainment, we are thankful for Professor Tensi’s contribution to the Proceedings, his keynote paper: “The KAISER-EFFECT and its Scientific Background.”

We wish to express our sincere thanks to all colleagues of the scientific committee and the national organizing committee. Their advice was always helpful and appreciated.

Hartmut Vallen Member of Member of Executive Committee of EWGAE

Wilfried Hueck Board of DGZfP

Scientific & Organizing Committee

Conference Secretariat:

National Organization Committee:

European Working Group on Acoustic Emission (EWGAE)

The first European meeting on the subject was the “Institute of Physics Conference on Acoustic Emission” which was organized by Adrian Pollock and held in March 1972 at Imperial College in London. Fifteen papers from throughout Europe and USA were presented. The success of this conference established both the interest and the need for forming a working group. Consequently, Pollock and Birchon organized the European Stress Wave Emission Working Group which held its first meeting in November 1972, at the Admiralty Materials Laboratory in England. During their second meeting at Batelle-Institut in September 1973, the group formally adopted their present name, European Working Group on Acoustic Emission. The letterhead logo was designed by Patricia Preston, graphics designer at Cambridge Consultance. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Codes Subgroup of EWGAE published 5 codes of practice. In 1991, the work of this group was taken up by a new working group on AE (WG7) within TC138, the Technical Committee for NDT within CEN. This working group is comprised of national representatives who have been nominated by their respective National Standards Institutions. The first Convenor of WG-7 was Emilio Fontane of CISE, Italy. After his retirement in 2003, Peter Tscheliesnig of TÜV Austria was appointed and is currently serving as Convenor of the group. Since 2000, the following standards for AE, developed by TC138-WG7 have been published:

• Acoustic Emission Terminology (EN1330-9),
• General Principles (EN 13544),
• Equipment Description (EN 13477-1),
• Equipment Characterization (EN 13477-2),
• Examination of Metallic Pressure Equipment during Proof Testing (prEN14584).

These Standards have significantly contributed to the today’s acceptance of the AE testing method in Europe.

During the last 8 years, active members within the CEN TC138-WG7 were:
E. Fontana (Italy), P. Tscheliesnig (Austria), H. Vallen, (Germany), L. Rogers and P. Cole (U.K.), C. Herve and J.C.L. Lenain (France), A. Anastasopoulos (Greece). New active members of the group are J. Bohse (Germany) and H. Schoorlemmer (The Netherlands).

Since 2000, the European Standard for Qualification and Certification of NDT Personnel, EN473, covers the AE testing method (abbreviation: AT) and defines details for the education. DGZfP in Germany has already held a remarkable number of certification courses for level 1, 2 and 3 in accordance with the rules of EN473 in German language. Main lecturers of these courses were J. Eisenblätter, P. Tscheliesnig, H. Vallen. An EN473-conform course in English language is in preparation.

The following table gives an overview of the positive development of the EWGAE conferences held since 1990 and demonstrates the increasing desire to exchange ideas and experience:

No.	Year	Month	City	Country	No. of Participants
19th	1990	Oct	Erlangen	Germany	33
20th	1992	April	Leuven	Belgium	45
21st	1994		Nice	France	Combined with ECNDT
22nd	1996	May	Aberdeen	U.K.	78
23rd	1998	May	Vienna	Austria	83
24th	2000	June	Senlis/Paris	France	99
25th	2002	Sept	Prague	Czech Republic	108
26th	2004	Sept.	Berlin	Germany	127 (on 12.Aug.04)

AE Testing in Europe is now well established in several important areas of proof testing, in-service monitoring, corrosion, and leak detection. Development of the technology continues to be driven by the needs of the industry to reduce inspection and maintenance costs while preserving its assets and personnel safety. The advancements of PC technology has positively influenced new developments in hardware and software for powerful and user-friendly testing equipment.

Members of the present EWGAE Executive Committee:

Name	Country	Function
Vaclav Svoboda	Czech Republic	Chairman
Peter Tscheliesnig	Austria	Secretary
Len Rogers	U.K.	Treasurer
Hartmut Vallen	Germany	Organizer of EWGAE-2004
Catherine Herve	France
Jean Claude Lenain	France

Information gathered by: Hartmut Vallen,

Some of the information used in this article has been taken from the Introduction in "Acoustic Emission: A Bibliography with Abstracts" by T.F. Drouillard (Plenum 1979) and earlier EWGAE conference proceedings.