This International Standard specifies a method for the secondary calibration of acoustic emission sensors as receivers of elastic waves at the surface of a solid medium. The International Standard is applicable to laboratory tertiary standard sensors and acoustic emission applications sensors.

The secondary calibration yields the frequency response of a sensor to waves of a type normally encountered in acoustic emission work, namely Rayleigh waves. The source producing the signal used for the calibration is mounted on the same surface of a test block as the sensor under test (SUT). The sensitivity of the sensor is determined for excitation within the range of 100 kHz to 1 MHz. Sensitivity values are usually determined at frequencies approximately 10 kHz apart. The units of the calibration are volts per unit of mechanical input (displacement, velocity or acceleration).