3-D AE visualization of bone-cement fatigue locations

This study addresses the visualization of crack locations in bone-cement ma terial using a three-dimensional acoustic emission source location techniqu e. Computer software based on an earthquake location technique was develope d to determine AE source locations and was used to investigate material cra cks formed at the tip of a notch in bone cement. The computed locations sho w that the cracks form linear features with dimensions between 0.1 and 0.2 mm although larger linear features (almost 3.5 mm) also are present. There is a difference of about 2.5 mm between the average of the event locations, and the location of the tip of the notch is 2.5 mm, which may be due to th e finite size of the sensors (5 mm in diameter). (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons , Inc.