Company Overview

AEMS Inc. was formed based on two decades of research and development led by Dr. McBride in the area of acoustic emission monitoring of degradation in materials and the testing of full-scale structures.

The company's principal successes have involved the use of acoustic emission monitoring in the aerospace industry. AEMS is the only company in the world with the demonstrated capability to detect and locate cracks initiated inside fastener holes in aircraft structures under dynamic loading without removal of the fasteners.

AEMS is a service company which uses the acoustic emission method to locate, identify and monitor defects in materials under stress in many industries. Acoustic emission is the radiation of high frequency sound energy as a result of increased damage or defect growth when a stress is applied to a material. AEMS anufactures, distributes and leases acoustic emission data acquisition equipment including sensors, preamplifiers and computerized data acquisition and monitoring systems. This equipment is designed primarily for use in the experimental testing of structures and locating and monitoring internal defects within these structures. The AEMS equipment can be totally controlled and accessed via modem. This capability enables AEMS to offer expert monitoring of laboratory tests or full-scale structures at reasonable cost by reducing markedly the requirement for the presence of AEMS staff at the test location.

AEMS has supplied custom built acoustic emission equipment to the Department of National Defence, Boeing Commercial Airplane Group, Quality Engineering Test Establishment and the U. S. Naval Surface Warfare Center. It is currently carrying out laboratory and full-scale tests for the Department of National Defence and the Aeronautical and Maritime Research Laboratory in Melbourne, Australia. AEMS has successfully completed projects for Alcan International Limited, Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd, Quality Engineering Test Establishment, Les Technologies Industrielles SNC Inc., Canadian Institute of Guided Ground Transport and the Institute of Aerospace Research at the National Research Council of Canada.

Stuart L. McBride, Ph. D.

EducationPh. D. Brown University, U. S. A. 1969, major - Physics

Professional Experience

(1976 - 1997)Professor, Department of Physics (1984 - 1991)Director of Research Administration Royal Military College of Canada Kingston, Ontario K7K 5L0 (1990 - 1997)President and Senior Analyst AEMS Acoustic Emission Monitoring Services Inc.

Service to Profession

Canadian National Leader, TTCP-PAG3 (1976-1980).

Chairman of the Editorial Board of 'Journal of Acoustic Emission2, U. S. A. (1980-1993).

Member of the Editorial Board 3Journal of Nondestructive Evaluation2, U. S. A. (1981-97).

Member of AEWG Acoustic Emission Working Group Executive Committee (1984-97).

AEWG Positions: Secretary (1984-86), Vice-Chair (1986-88), Chair (1988-90).

Section Author for The American Society of Nondestructive Testing, Vol. 5, Section 7, Handbook: 3AE Research in the Aerospace Industry2 (1985).

Host and Conference Organizer of the 29th Meeting of the Acoustic Emission Working Group, Kingston, Ontario (June 21-26, 1986).

Canadian Panel Member of TTCP-TP5 (1986-1992).

Member, International Advisory Board, Int'l Acoustic Emission Symposia, Japan (1988-95).

Member, Editorial Advisory Board of NDT Communications (1989-97).

Member, Editorial Advisory Board of Nondestructive Testing and Evaluation (1989-97).

Chairman of American Society for Testing and Materials, E07 Committee: Acoustic Emission Sensors and Instrumentation, US (1992-).

Publications in Reviewed Journals: 55

Company Information

Additional Details

Legal Name: AEMS Acoustic Emission Monitoring Serv.

Number of Employees: 3

Contacts

Services

• Structural Integrity Monitoring

  AEMS has provided consulting services for acoustic emission monitoring of materials and structures to the aerospace, atomic energy, civil structures, munitions, and materials process control industries.

  AEMS has demonstrated success in:

  • the detection, location, and monitoring of fatigue cracks in

  modern fighter and strike aircraft,

  • the detection and monitoring of fatigue cracks under rivets in

  a multi-site damage configuration,

  • the assessment of composite repair patches on full-scale test

  articles subjected to static and dynamic loading,

  • the determination of the stability of electric primers in

  munitions.

  AEMS has accumulated an unrivaled data base which relates acoustic emission to growing fatigue cracks in a variety of structural steels and aerospace alloys. This data base includes the effect of heat treatment on the acoustic emission activity from fatigue crack propagation in metal alloys. The information in the data base is the basis of the relation between acoustic emission behavior and fundamental material properties.

  AEMS' monitoring of fatigue tests from crack initiation to failure has refined our ability to detect crack initiation in components and structures, to track crack growth from initiation to failure, and to determine the fatigue crack growth loading conditions.

Products

• Data Acquisition Systems

Additional Information