The Characteristics of Acoustic Emissions Due to Gas Leaks in Circular Cylinders: A Theoretical and Experimental Investigation

An acoustic emission (AE) is caused by the sudden release of energy by a material as a result of material degradation related to deformations, cracks, or faults within a solid. The same situation also occurs in leaks caused by turbulence in the fluid around the leak. In this study, analytical modeling for an AE due to leakage through a circular pinhole in a gas storage cylinder was performed. The displacement fields responsible for AEs, excited by the concentrated force (CF) associated with the turbulent flow though the pinhole, were derived by solving the Navier–Lamé equation. The CF as an excitation source was formulated in terms of a fluctuating Reynolds stress (FRS) and spatial Green’s function. In particular, a series of experiments were conducted under different operating conditions to explore the characteristics of the AE signals due to leak in a gas cylinder. Finally, the simulation and experimental results were compared to verify the accuracy of the simulation results.