A method for locating rub fault in rotating machinery based on the beamforming of acoustic emission signals was presented.Firstly

the propagation characteristics were obtained by using plate wave theory.On the basis of these results

the feasibility of locating rotating machinery rub fault by the beamforming of acoustic emission signals was confirmed

and the acoustic emission beamforming method was presented.Then

by breaking a mechanical pencil lead on the surface of the stator

the artificial acoustic emission was implemented to verify the presented method.Finally

the present method was used to diagnose the rotor-stator rub fault on the fault experimental device

and the results were analyzed

showing that the acoustic emission beamforming method can identify rub position efficiently.