■On 29th Oct. to 2nd Nov. the 6th International Conference on Acoustic Emission took place at Lake Tahoe, Nevada, USA.

Research fellow D. G. Aggelis and research engineer S. Momoki participated in the 6th International Conference on Acoustic Emission that was held in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, USA from 29th Oct. to 2nd of Nov. This is the largest event of the Acoustic Emission NDT community which takes place every year in the U.S.A. Almost 100 presentation in the field of damage monitoring were made by established engineers and scientists from around the world. The primary objective of this conference is the exchange of information about Acoustic Emission (AE) with particular emphasis on recent scientific and technical developments. The conference covers activities relevant to Acoustic Emission from materials, engineered and natural structures and systems, including the processing of collected data and analytical techniques as well as experimental case studies. Tobishima contributed two articles in the conference: ・ACOUSTIC EMISSION OF FULL SCALE CONCRETE BEAMS FOR EVALUATION OF JOINT EFFECT., D. G. Aggelis, T. Shiotani, S. Momoki, M. Terazawa ■ ABSTRACT The present paper discusses the mechanical and acoustic emission (AE) behavior of two large reinforced concrete beams. One of the beams was constructed in two parts, which were assembled later, to evaluate the behavior of the joint. The beams were tested in four-point-bending. It is seen that the structural performance of the two beams is quite different but at initial loading stages, strain and deflection measurements do not show significant discrepancy. On the contrary, AE parameters indicate that the damage accumulation happens earlier in the assembled beam. This is confirmed by the calculated sources of AE events, which are close to the construction joints. The results show that AE is a suitable technique to monitor the fracture process of structures and yields valuable information that cannot be obtained at the early stages of damage by any other method. ・Global monitoring of concrete bridge using acoustic emission, T. Shiotani, D. G. Aggelis, O. Makishima. ■ ABSTRACT Global monitoring of civil structures is a demanding challenge for engineers. Acoustic Emission (AE) is one of the techniques that have the potential to inspect large volumes with transducers placed in strategic locations of the structure. In this paper, the AE technique is used to characterize the structural condition of a concrete bridge. The evaluation of AE activity leads to information about any specific part of the structure that requires attention. Consequently, more detailed examination can be conducted once the target area is selected. In this study, surface wave investigation was subsequently performed to detail the condition of the target area

Mr. Momoki with the Conference Chairman Allen Green, Director of the Acoustic Technology Group, Sacramento, USA.		Dr. Aggelis with Professor Edoardo Proverbio from the University of Messina, Italy
During a Tobishima presentation.		The conference took place near the picturesque lake Tahoe close to the border between Nevada and California

Dimitrios G. Aggelis & Shouhei Momoki Tobishima Corporation