Cenospheres are special class of filler materials, commonly used in preparing lightweight structural
composites. They are hollow and thin-walled microspheres which entraps inert gas inside them. Composite
materials filled with thin-walled microspheres are known for their energy absorption properties and
improved mechanical performances. Such class of materials are known as syntactic foams. In this study,
unsaturated polyester composites are prepared by adding different compositions of cenospheres as fillers.
The influence of cenospheres on the mechanical performance of unsaturated polyester syntactic foams are
investigated. The acoustic emissions due to the failure of the syntactic foams under mechanical loading are
studied. Acoustic emission signals are recorded using a piezoelectric transducer and are analysed in their
time domain, frequency domain, and time-frequency domain. Different acoustic emission features of the
recorded signals are compared with the mechanical test results. The fracture behaviour of the syntactic
foams is, thus, investigated using the acquired acoustic emission signals.
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