Failure Mechanism of Brass with Three V-Notches Characterized by Acoustic Emission in In Situ Three-Point Bending Tests †

The purpose of this study is to characterize the V pre-notched specimens with different relative depth ratio and the relative distance ratio by the AE signals in in situ three-point bending tests. Simultaneously, during the bending process, the V pre-notched specimen is in situ monitored by the opto-digital microscope. In order to analyze the depth of V-notch and the distance between the side V-notches and the middle V-notch effect on the specimens, a finite element analysis model is built by ABAQUS. Combining the in situ images, the AE signals and the finite element analysis (FEA) results, it is found that the experiment results are consistent with the FEA results. It is demonstrated that the amplitude of AE signals can effectively characterize the crack initiation, crack growth, and crack fast instability fracture.