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In this paper, a method is presented for the numerical computation of dispersion properties and mode shapes of guided waves in plate structures. The formulation is based on the Scaled Boundary Finite Element Method. The through-thickness direction of the plate is discretized in the finite element sense, while the direction of propagation is described analytically. This leads to a standard eigenvalue problem for the calculation of wave numbers. The proposed method is not limited to homogeneous plates. Multi-layered composites as well as structures with continuously varying material parameters in the direction of thickness can be modeled without essential changes in the formulation. Higher-order elements have been employed for the finite element discretization, leading to excellent convergence for complex structures. It is shown by numerical examples that this method provides highly accurate results with a small number of nodes while avoiding numerical problems and instabilities.
This paper presents the numerical modeling of the Lamb
wave propagation in plate like structures with the
Elastodynamic Finite Integration Technique (EFIT) and its
validation with the measured results. In general, Lamb
waves offer an attractive method to detect the defects inside
long plate like structures efficiently. However, such a nondestructive
testing (NDT) requires profound understanding
of the Lamb wave propagation in the plates, generation of
the symmetric and anti-symmetric modes of different orders
and their interaction with the defects of the materials.
Modern simulation tools based on numerical methods can be
used to model this complex NDT situation. EFIT is an
effective tool to model such problems in an efficient way.
With the help of the simulation results obtained from the
EFIT tool the propagation of different symmetric and antisymmetric
Lamb wave modes is analyzed and thus a proper
technique is developed to excite different modes and to
separate them from each other precisely. A validation of the
numerical results with the measured results is also presented.
This paper presents the numerical modeling of the Lamb wave propagation in thin plates with the elastodynamic finite integration technique (EFIT) and its validation with the measured results. In general, Lamb waves offer an attractive method to detect the defects inside long plate like structures efficiently. However, such a nondestructive testing (NDT) requires profound understanding of the Lamb wave propagation in the plates, generation of the symmetric and anti-symmetric modes of different orders and their interaction with the defects of the materials. Modern simulation tools based on numerical methods such as the finite integration technique (FIT), the finite element method (FEM) and the boundary element method (BEM) can be used to model this NDT situation. The elastodynamic finite integration technique (EFIT) is an effective tool to model Lamb wave propagation in plates over long distances in an efficient way. With the help of the simulation results obtained from the EFIT tool the propagation of different symmetric and anti-symmetric modes is analyzed and thus a proper technique is developed to excite different modes and to separate them from each other precisely. A validation of the numerical results with the analytical results is also presented.
In this paper the Scaled Boundary Finite Element Method (SBFEM) is applied for the simulation of Lamb waves in cracked plates. This method is highly advantageous to study the interaction of different Lamb wave modes with cracks as the crack is not discretized and no refinement is required around the crack tip. Numerical examples are presented for the reflection of the fundamental symmetric and antisymmetric modes from cracks of different depth. The spatial Fourier transformation is employed to calculate the amplitudes of reflected Lamb wave modes. The results reveal possibilities to obtain details of the crack geometry in non-destructive testing and structural health monitoring applications.
In this contribution a 3D ray tracing model for ultrasonic
field evaluation in inhomogeneous anisotropic materials
such as austenitic welds is presented. The inhomogenity of
austenitic weld material is represented as several
homogeneous layers. The general problem of energy
reflection and transmission at the boundaries of the layers
are solved resulting 3D amplitude and energy reflection and
transmission coefficients. The directivity factor for the ray in
general arbitrary oriented austenitic weld material (including
lay back orientation) is determined based on Lambs
reciprocity theorem. The transducer excited ultrasonic fields
are accurately evaluated by employing ray directivity factor,
transmission coefficients, divergence of the ray bundle and
density of rays. Finally, the comparison between theoretical
and experimental results will be described.
Ultrasonic investigation of inhomogeneous anisotropic materials such as austenitic welds is complicated because its columnar grain structure leads to curved energy paths, beam splitting and asymmetrical beam profiles. A ray tracing model has potential advantage in analyzing the ultrasonic sound field propagation and there with optimizing the inspection parameters. In this contribution we present a 2D ray tracing model to predict energy ray paths, ray amplitudes and travel times for the three wave modes quasi longitudinal, quasi shear vertical, and shear horizontal waves in austenitic weld materials. Inhomogenity in the austenitic weld material is represented by discretizing the inhomogeneous region into several homogeneous layers. At each interface between the layers the reflection and transmission problem is computed and yields energy direction, amplitude and energy coefficients. The ray amplitudes are computed accurately by taking into account directivity, divergence and density of rays, phase relations as well as transmission coefficients. Ultrasonic sound fields obtained from the ray tracing model are compared quantitatively with the 2D Elastodynamic Finite Integration Technique (EFIT). The excellent agreement between both models confirms the validity of the presented ray tracing results. Experiments are conducted on austenitic weld samples with longitudinal beam transducer as transmitting probe and amplitudes at the rear surface are scanned by means of electrodynamical probes. Finally, the ray tracing model results are also validated through the experiments.
Ultrasound propagation in inhomogeneous anisotropic materials is difficult to examine because of the directional dependency of elastic properties. Simulation tools play an important role in developing advanced reliable ultrasonic testing techniques for the inspection of anisotropic materials particularly austenitic cladded materials and dissimilar welds. A 2-D Ray tracing method is developed for evaluating ray path, amplitude and travel time for three wave modes namely quasi longitudinal wave (qP), quasi shear vertical wave (qSV) and shear horizontal waves (SH) in anisotropic materials such as austenitic cladded materials. The inhomogenity in the anisotropic material is represented by discretizing the anisotropic region into several homogeneous layers. The ray paths are traced during its propagation through the various interfaces between those layers. At each interface the problem of reflection and refraction is solved. The ray amplitudes are computed by taking into account the directivity and phase relations. Ray divergence variation and ray transmission coefficients at each refraction boundary are considered. The Ray tracing results for ultrasonic field profiles in austenitic cladded materials are validated quantitatively by 2-D Elastodynamic Finite Integration Technique (EFIT) results and by the experiments.
Progress in acoustical defect sizing NDT methods for the inspection of power-plant components
(2012)
The demand of improved NDT methods with proper visualization and sizing
capabilities is a persistent trend in maintenance and manufacturing quality inspection.
Especially when dealing with high quality standards in conjunction with safety-critical
components in the sector of energy and transportation quantitative NDT techniques are
vital to provide reliable quality control systems and a corresponding deeper insight into
the component structure for a further fracture-mechanical estimation. The paper thus
focuses the progress of the defect sizing capabilities of modern Ultrasonic Testing
(UT). In Ultrasonic Testing the SAFT-algorithm (Synthetic Aperture Focusing
Technique) currently experiences a renaissance. The method is based on combining the
data of different transducer positions with their corresponding varied propagating time
and it is currently applied in several industrial applications. SAFT enhances the SNR
and the spatial resolution and is thus a valuable tool when it comes to improved
defect detection and sizing. A tomographic-like data mapping is illustrated on several
examples, where adapted phased array systems were used for the inspection of turbine
components and also for a cladded mock-up of a nuclear reactor pressure vessel. In a
statistical investigation we also performed a comparison with other defect sizing
methods like TOFD (Time of flight diffraction).
The Synthetic Aperture Focusing Technique (SAFT) is an algorithm applied in non-destructive ultrasonic testing which provides an image of flaws within a specimen. The image is reconstructed from A-scans measured at different positions. Reliable evaluation of the images obtained by the SAFT-algorithm, however, depends on the representation of the reconstructed data, which is initially given in terms of positive and negative local values only. A suitable way of processing this data for evaluation is to calculate the envelope, which can be achieved by means of the analytic signal. The extension of this concept to the multidimensional case is neither trivial nor unique and although extensive work on this subject has been carried out in the past, a correct envelope calculation in multidimensional data remains difficult since it depends on an additional condition, namely the separability of the signal. In this paper, the concept of analytic signals with single-quadrant spectra is applied to process 2-dimensional data obtained by the SAFT-algorithm. Furthermore, we present a procedure to overcome the limitations of that approach by selecting local magnitude values from a number of rotated frames after evaluating the signals separability in each frame, which is briefly validated against synthetic and experimental data.
In this paper, a numerical approach for the computation of dispersion relations for three-dimensional waveguides with arbitrary cross-section is proposed. The formulation is based on the Scaled Boundary Finite Element Method (SBFEM). It is an extension of the approach previously derived for plate structures. It is shown that the wavenumbers of guided waves in a waveguide can be obtained as the eigenvalues of the Z matrix, which is well known in the SBFEM. The Hamiltonian properties of this matrix are utilized to derive an efficient way to compute the group velocities of propagating waves as eigenvalue derivatives. The cross-section of the waveguide is discretized using higher-order spectral elements. It is discussed in detail how symmetry axes can be utilized to reduce computational costs. In order to sort the solutions at different frequencies, a mode-tracking algorithm is proposed, based on the Padé expansion.
In this contribution a simulation tool is developed to compute the energy skewing angles and energy coefficients
for the reflected and refracted plane waves in following general cases: (1) reflection and refraction
of plane elastic waves at an interface between isotropic and transversely isotropic solid, (2) reflection
and refraction of plane elastic waves at an interface between transversely isotropic and isotropic solid, (3)
reflection and refraction of plane elastic waves at an interface between two general transversely isotropic
solid and (4) reflection of plane elastic waves from a stress free boundary of a transversely isotropic solid.
Computational results for analytically evaluated acoustic wave energy skewing angles and energy reflection
and transmission coefficients in acoustically anisotropic materials such as austenitic steel materials
exhibiting columnar grain orientation are presented. The obtained results show that the acoustic energy
skewing angles and coefficients in austenitic steel materials strongly depend upon the columnar grain
orientation and are less influenced by the grain orientations which are parallel and perpendicular to the
interface.
Lamb waves travel in plates and hollow cylinders over large distances and propagate with multiple mode shapes. Therefore the waves can be used for integrity tests of large scale structures. Each propagating wave mode has a unique dispersive character and a frequency dependent vibration pattern. Therefore, by interacting with flaws each mode is assumed to generate an individual reflection pattern depending on the flaw type, flaw orientation and size. To extract this information a frequency as well as wave number dependent mode excitation is required ensuring a single mode excitation. The challenge, however, is to control the selective mode excitation electronically to allow a sequence of consecutive tests with different wave modes to collect the data. A method is proposed using phased array wedge transducers with fluid coupling for normal force excitation of Lamb wave modes. The excitation principle is investigated analytically on plates by modelling the wave generation in the wedge and the coupling between wedge and structure. The analytical results of the excitation principle are validated by corresponding experiments where the field patterns on the wedge surface and on the plate were scanned using a laser vibrometer. The directivity of the radiated field is investigated together with the direction dependent analysis of the mode content.
This contribution describes a computationally efficient ray tracing algorithm for evaluating transducer generated ultrasonic wave fields in anisotropic materials such as austenitic cladded and austenitic weld components. According to this algorithm, ray paths are traced during its propagation through various layers of the material and at each Interface the problem of reflection and transmission is solved. The presented algorithm evaluates the transducer generated ultrasonic fields accurately by taking in to account the directivity, divergence, density of rays, phase relations as well as transmission coefficients. The ray tracing algorithm is able to calculate the ultrasonic wave fields generated by a point source as well as a finite dimension transducer. The simulation results are compared quantitatively with the results obtained from Elastodynamic Finite Integration Technique (EFIT) on several configurations generally occuring in the ultrasonic non destructive testing of anisotropic materials. The excellent agreement between both models confirms the validity of the presented ray tracing algorithm. Finally, the ray tracing model results are also validated by means of experiments.
In this study a method for early damage detection is investigated based on the directed excitation and measuring of Lamb waves (guided waves). The objective is to make a statement about the practicability of a Lamb wave generator (LWG) and about the application relevant parameters (specimen materials and dimensions, wave characteristics, excitation, transmission und reflection). Guided waves enable an effective differentiation of structural and defective indications as well as a classification of different defect types. For the investigations, a LWG was developed which combines the advantages of the single excitation of a piezoelectric actuator and the possibility of a group excitation. Algorithms were developed to identify and analyze damage patterns (cracks, wholes, weakening).
In this paper a numerical approach, based on the Scaled Boundary Finite Element Method (SBFEM), is described to obtain dispersion relations for propagating modes in wave guides. While the formulation is developed for plate structures, it can easily be extended to wave guides with arbitrary cross-section. The cross-section is discretized in the Finite Element sense while all equations remain analytical in the direction of propagation. The wave numbers of all propagating modes are obtained as the solutions of a standard eigenvalue problem. The group velocities can be calculated accurately as the eigenvalue derivatives. The use of higher-order elements drastically increases the efficiency and accuracy of the computation. This approach can be used for wave guides with arbitrary distribution of material parameters.
Up to now there is no sufficient technique to detect transverse cracks in austenitic and dissimilar welds which recently are of increasing interest in the integrity surveillance of nuclear power plants as well as in quality control of longitudinally welded pipes. Weld inspection by interpretation of single A-scans will lead to erroneous results due to effects caused by anisotropy and in worst case might leave flaws undetected. Therefore, imaging techniques such as the synthetic aperture focusing technique (SAFT) should be used. If the SAFT algorithm is applied on data taken from austenitic welds, the inhomogeneous, anisotropic structure of these welds has to be taken into account in order to properly attribute amplitudes measured in A-scans to the corresponding coordinates in the region of interest. While this has been investigated in the past, all attempts so far were limited to the imaging of longitudinal cracks which requires a less complicated setup than the imaging of transverse cracks. In this paper we give an outline of our attempts to reconstruct images of transverse cracks in different welds. For this purpose a SAFT program based on ray tracing and a layered structure weld model derived from an empirical model of grain orientations in welds are used. The results of the image reconstruction on experimental data are shown and compared to images obtained by assuming an isotropic homogeneous model. Root reflection and crack tip echo are clearly visible which allows an estimation of size and position of the crack with good accuracy.
Ultrasonic examination of anisotropic inhomogeneous austenitic welds is challenging, because of the columnar grain structure of the weld leads to beam skewing and splitting. Modeling tools play an important role in understanding the ultrasound field propagation and optimization of experimental parameters during the ultrasonic testing of austenitic welds as well as the interpretation of the test results. In this contribution, an efficient theoretical model based on the ray tracing concepts is developed to calculate the ultrasonic fields in inhomogeneous austenitic welds quantitatively. The developed model determines the ultrasound fields by taking into account the directivity of the ray source, the inhomogenity of the weld as well as ray transmission coefficients. Directivity of the ray source in columnar grained austenitic materials (including layback orientation) is obtained in three dimensions based on Lamb's reciprocity theorem. Ray energy reflection and transmission coefficients at an interface between two general columnar grained austenitic materials are calculated in three dimensions. The ray tracing model predictions on inhomogeneous austenitic weld material are compared against those from CIVA, a commercial non-destructive modeling and simulation tool. The ultrasonic modeling tools in CIVA are based on semi-analytical solutions. For beam propagation simulation, a so-called 'pencil method' is used, which involves modeling the probe as a set of individual source points, each radiating 'a bundle' of diverging rays into the medium and integrating those elementary contributions. Inhomogenity in the weld region is approximated by mapping the grain orientations on weld macrograph. Simulation results for ultrasonic field profiles for an austenitic weld are shown to be in good agreement with the corresponding experimental results.
Limited access to the object of relevance is often an essential problem in testing routines, e.g. for non-destructive testing of industry facilities or components of means of transportation. The presented project is about the development of a non-destructive testing method for application over great distances (up to 100 m). The method is based on directed excitation and measuring of Lamb waves (guided waves). It enables an effective differentiation of structural and defective indications as well as a classification of different defect types.
The advantage of guided waves is the ability of propagation over great distances. This offers innovative possibilities for the investigation of large or difficult to access constructions. The testing method can be helpful in a broad variety of applications. It is useable for the characterization of plane or cylindrical, thin-walled surfaces of metal or fiber laminated materials. Particularly the investigation of aircraft wings and other aerospace components as well as the investigation of pipelines are addressed fields of application.
In this contribution we present a novel thermo-acoustic approach for the generation of broad band airborne ultrasound and investigate the applicability of resonance-free thermo-acoustic emitters for very short high pressure airborne ultrasound pulses. We report on measurements of thermo-acoustic emitter consisting of a 30 nm thin metallic film on a usual soda-lime glass substrate, generating sound pressure values of more than 140 dB at 60 mm distance from the transducer and compare the results with conventional piezoelectric airborne ultrasound transducers. Our experimental investigations show that such thermo-acoustic devices can be used as broad band emitters using pulse excitation.
This paper presents an automated system for the evaluation and visualization of structural vibrations on the surface of solid materials in an ultrasonic frequency range using a single head laser Doppler vibrometer. For this method, the vibrometer performs a continuous scan of the surface driven by a two-axes robotic system. Scan and measurement parameters can be adapted to the requirements of geometry, frequency and resolution. Data processing techniques are employed to improve the signal-to-noise ratio and minimize the effect of inconvenient laser beam reflections caused by speckles.
This article describes a comprehensive quantitative analysis on effect of columnar grain orientation on ultrasonic plane wave energy reflection and transmission behaviour in acoustically anisotropic austenitic weld materials. The quantitative results are presented for following general interfaces (a) Isotropic-Anisotropic, (b) Anisotropic-Isotropic, (c) Fluid-Anisotropic, (d) Anisotropic-Fluid, (e) Anisotropic-Anisotropic, (f) Anisotropic-Free surface occur during the ultrasonic non destructive evaluation of austenitic weld materials. Explicit analytical expressions are presented for energy reflection and transmission coefficients at an interface between two arbitrarily oriented transversely isotropic materials. By applying explicit analytical expressions for energy reflection and transmission coefficients, numerical results are presented for several columnar grain orientations of the transverse isotropic austenitic weld material including both real and complex domain of the reflected and transmitted normal component of slowness vectors. Valid domains of incident wave vector angles, angular dependency of energy reflection and transmission coefficients and critical angles for reflected and transmitted waves are discussed. The existence of a reflected (or) transmitted second branch of quasi shear vertical waves and its consequence to the ultrasonic non destructive testing of austenitic weld materials are investigated. The presented comprehensive quantitative evaluation provides an overview on the effect of anisotropic properties on energy reflection and transmission coefficients in columnar grained austenitic weld materials.
Defect sizing is required for a quantitative assessment of the quality and reliability of safety relevant components and materials using ultrasonic non-destructive testing. The SAFT (Synthetic Aperture Focussing Technique) and the TOFD technique (Time Of Flight Diffraction) are such promising sizing candidates, extracting more information from the raw ultrasound echo data and the corresponding crack tip response. In this work the phased array technique is used to inspect a clad mock-up model of a pressure vessel section. The full scale model contains artificial test reflectors which are located in the weld and in the cladding region as well. The defects—representing typical flaws at a very early stage—are analysed with different frequencies, beam angles and directions of incidence.
For the reconstruction of reflector indications a SAFT algorithm is applied to the phased array measurement results. Additionally the reflectors are analysed by means of the TOFD technique, using different beam angles at the same time. Both analysis methods are performed using different directions of incidence considering the complex cladding structure underneath the inner surface of the mock-up model. A direct comparison of the SAFT and TOFD techniques shows that, besides the clarity of the results, the detection and sizing capabilities of SAFT are far better.
We present a generalized analytical model of thermo-acoustic sound generation based on the analysis of thermally induced energy density fluctuations and their propagation into the adjacent matter. The model provides exact analytical prediction of the sound pressure generated in fluids and solids; consequently, it can be applied to arbitrary thermal power sources such as thermophones, plasma firings, laser beams, and chemical reactions. Unlike existing approaches, our description also includes acoustic near-field effects and sound-field attenuation. Analytical results are compared with measurements of sound pressures generated by thermo-acoustic transducers in air for frequencies up to 1 MHz. The tested transducers consist of titanium and indium tin oxide coatings on quartz glass and polycarbonate substrates. The model reveals that thermo-acoustic efficiency increases linearly with the supplied thermal power and quadratically with thermal excitation frequency. Comparison of the efficiency of our thermo-acoustic transducers with those of piezoelectric-based airborne ultrasound transducers using impulse excitation showed comparable sound pressure values. The present results show that thermo-acoustic transducers can be applied as broadband, non-resonant, high-performance ultrasound sources.
Numerical simulation of ultrasonic guided waves using the scaled boundary finite element method
(2012)
The formulation of the Scaled Boundary Finite Element Method is applied for the computation of dispersion properties of ultrasonic guided waves. The cross-section of the waveguide is discretized in the Finite Element sense, while the direction of propagation is described analytically. A standard eigenvalue problem is derived to compute the wave numbers of propagating modes. This paper focuses on cylindrical waveguides, where only a straight line has to be discretized. Higher-order elements are utilized for the discretization. As examples, dispersion curves are computed for a homogeneous pipe and a layered cylinder.
Thermoacoustic generation of airborne ultrasound using carbon materials at the micro- and nanoscale
(2012)
The generation of airborne ultrasound is presented using the thermoacoustic principle applied to carbon materials at the micro- and nanoscale. Such materials are shown to be capable of emitting ultrasound when being fed by an alternating current. We tested the acoustic performance of carbon fibers, bucky papers and electrospun polyacrylonitrile-derived carbon nanofibers and determined the sound pressure for frequencies up to 350 kHz. A comparison between the experimental results and the theoretical prediction showed remarkable agreement for frequencies up to 150 kHz. Beyond 150 kHz, we found slight deviations from the expected sound pressure dependence on the square root of the frequency.
A method has been developed for the generation of airborne ultrasound using the thermoacoustic principle applied to carbon materials at the micro- and nanoscale. Such materials are shown to be capable to emitting the ultrasound. We tested the acoustic performance of electrospun polyacrylonitrile-derived carbon nanofibers tissues and determined the sound pressure for frequencies up to 350 kHz. The experimental results are compared to analytic calculations.
The simulation of Lamb waves in a cracked plate using the scaled boundary finite element method
(2012)
The scaled boundary finite element method is applied to the simulation of Lamb waves for ultrasonic testing applications. With this method, the general elastodynamic problem is solved, while only the boundary of the domain under consideration has to be discretized. The reflection of the fundamental Lamb wave modes from cracks of different geometry in a steel plate is modeled. A test problem is compared with commercial finite element software, showing the efficiency and convergence of the scaled boundary finite element method. A special formulation of this method is utilized to calculate dispersion relations for plate structures. For the discretization of the boundary, higher-order elements are employed to improve the efficiency of the simulations. The simplicity of mesh generation of a cracked plate for a scaled boundary finite element analysis is illustrated.
Ultrasound propagation in inhomogeneous anisotropic materials is difficult to examine because of the directional dependency of elastic properties. Simulation tools play an important role in developing advanced reliable ultrasonic non destructive testing techniques for the inspection of anisotropic materials particularly austenitic cladded materials, austenitic welds and dissimilar welds. In this contribution we present an adapted 2D ray tracing model for evaluating ultrasonic wave fields quantitatively in inhomogeneous anisotropic materials. Inhomogeneity in the anisotropic material is represented by discretizing into several homogeneous layers. According to ray tracing model, ultrasonic ray paths are traced during its energy propagation through various discretized layers of the material and at each interface the problem of reflection and transmission is solved. The presented algorithm evaluates the transducer excited ultrasonic fields accurately by taking into account the directivity of the transducer, divergence of the ray bundle, density of rays and phase relations as well as transmission coefficients. The ray tracing model is able to calculate the ultrasonic wave fields generated by a point source as well as a finite dimension transducer. The ray tracing model results are validated quantitatively with the results obtained from 2D Elastodynamic Finite Integration Technique (EFIT) on several configurations generally occurring in the ultrasonic non destructive testing of anisotropic materials. Finally, the quantitative comparison of ray tracing model results with experiments on 32 mm thick austenitic weld material and 62 mm thick austenitic cladded material is discussed.
Quantitative evaluation of ultrasonic C-scan images in homogeneous and layered anisotropic austenitic materials is of general importance for understanding the influence of anisotropy on wave fields during ultrasonic non-destructive testing and evaluation of these materials. In this contribution, a three dimensional ray tracing method is presented for evaluating ultrasonic C-scan images quantitatively in general homogeneous and layered anisotropic austenitic materials. The directivity of the ultrasonic ray source in general homogeneous columnar grained anisotropic austenitic steel material (including layback orientation) is obtained in three dimensions based on Lamb's reciprocity theorem. As a prerequisite for ray tracing model, the problem of ultrasonic ray energy reflection and transmission coefficients at an interface between (a) isotropic base material and anisotropic austenitic weld material (including layback orientation), (b) two adjacent anisotropic weld metals and (c) anisotropic weld metal and isotropic base material is solved in three dimensions. The influence of columnar grain orientation and layback orientation on ultrasonic C-scan image is quantitatively analyzed in the context of ultrasonic testing of homogeneous and layered austenitic steel materials. The presented quantitative results provide valuable information during ultrasonic characterization of homogeneous and layered anisotropic austenitic steel materials.
The inspection of austenitic and dissimilar welds using ultrasound demands for sophisticated testing techniques. The application of reconstruction methods like the Synthetic Aperture Focusing Technique (SAFT) on the measurement results provides an appropriate approach for defect characterization and sizing. Nevertheless, the reconstruction algorithm has to consider the aniso-tropic wave propagation inside the inhomogeneous weld material. In recent years the detection of transverse cracks has become increasingly important for ensuring the structural integrity of pipes in the primary circuit of nuclear power plants or longitudinally welded, cladded pipes. However, relia-ble inspection techniques are hardly available. In this particular case, it is expected that the compar-atively long propagation path of the ultrasonic wave field inside the inhomogeneous weld material enhances the effect of anisotropy and influences the accuracy and the signal-to-noise-ratio of the reconstruction result. In this contribution we suggest an advanced ultrasonic testing technique for detecting and sizing of transversal cracks in austenitic and dissimilar welds. The method applies a SAFT reconstruction algorithm considering the anisotropy and the inhomogeneity. A V-arrangement of the transducers in pitch-catch technique is chosen to avoid a direct coupling on the weld face. The reconstruction algo-rithm is based on an extended 3-dimensional weld model and uses a ray-tracing approach for de-termining the wave propagation paths. Along with the reconstruction algorithm the transducer set-up and experimental results of different specimens with artificial transverse flaws are presented. The availability of the proposed method for crack sizing is assessed in comparison to conventional testing techniques.
A novel approach for the generation of broadband airborne ultrasound by using the thermo-acoustic effect is presented in this contribution. We investigate the applicability of resonance-free thermo-acoustic emitters for generation of very short high pressure airborne ultrasound pulses. A thermoacoustic emitter consisting of a 30 nm thin metallic film on a usual soda-lime glass substrate generates sound pressure values of more than 140 dB at 60 mm distance. The results are compared with conventional piezoelectric airborne ultrasound transducers. Our investigations show the applicability of the thermo-acoustic devices for broadband and high pressure ultrasound emitters using pulse excitation.
Temperature Compensation Strategies for Lamb Wave Inspection using Distributed Sensor Networks
(2022)
The application of temperature compensation strategies is crucial in structural health monitoring approaches based on guided waves. Actually, the varying temperature influences the performance of the inspection system inducing false alarms or missed detection, with a consequent reduction of reliability. This paper quantitatively describes a method to compensate the temperature effect, namely the optimal baseline selection (OBS), extending its application to the case of distributed sensor networks (DSN). The effect of temperature separation between baseline time-traces in OBS are investigated considering multiple couples of sensors employed in the DSN. A combined strategy that uses both OBS and frequent value warning is considered. Theoretical results are compared, using data from two several experiments, which use different frequency analysis with either predominantly A0 mode or S0 mode data or both. The focus is given on the fact that different paths are available in a sensor network and several possible combination of results are available. Nonetheless, introducing a frequent value warning it is possible to increase the efficiency of the OBS approach making use of fewer signal processing algorithms. These confirm that the performance of OBS quantitatively agrees with predictions and also demonstrate that the use of compensation strategies improve detectability of damage.
In non-destructive testing and structural health monitoring with ultrasonic waves, the quantification of damage in components is one of the main tasks. In many shell-like structures, such as plates, pipes, or laminate components, ultrasonic waves propagate as guided waves. Although guided waves enable the testing of large areas, their multimodal and dispersive properties make it challenging to analyze signals. So, there is a need for more advanced algorithms to handle these properties, especially when reconstructing damage position and geometry.
The reconstruction can be formulated as an inverse problem where the measured signals are fitted with a simulative forward model. Due to the small wavelength of ultrasonic waves, classic forward models based on, e.g., the Finite Element Method are computationally intensive. In contrast, the authors use the semi-analytical Scaled Boundary Finite Element Method (SBFEM) to reduce the computational effort. The SBFEM approximates arbitrary long, undamaged parts of the structure with only a few degrees of freedom.
This contribution summarizes a general inverse procedure based on algorithmic differentiation in combination with the SBFEM. Results are presented for damaged 2D cross-sectional models of waveguides. These results include an analysis of the robustness of the proposed algorithms against noise.
This paper considers an indirect measurement approach to reconstruct a defect in a two-dimensional waveguide model for a non-destructive ultrasonic inspection via derivative-based optimization. The propagation of the mechanical waves is simulated by the scaled boundary finite element method that builds on a semi-analytical approach. The simulated data are then fitted to given data associated with the reflected waves from a defect which is to be reconstructed. For this purpose, we apply an iteratively regularized Gauss-Newton method in combination with algorithmic differentiation to provide the required derivative information accurately and efficiently. We present numerical results for three kinds of defects, namely, a crack, delamination, and corrosion. The objective function and the properties of the reconstruction method are investigated. The examples show that the parameterization of the defect can be reconstructed efficiently as well as robustly in the presence of noise.
Data-driven analysis for damage assessment has a large potential in structural health monitoring (SHM) systems, where sensors are permanently attached to the structure, enabling continuous and frequent measurements. In this contribution, we propose a machine learning (ML) approach for automated damage detection, based on an ML toolbox for industrial condition monitoring. The toolbox combines multiple complementary algorithms for feature extraction and selection and automatically chooses the best combination of methods for the dataset at hand. Here, this toolbox is applied to a guided wave-based SHM dataset for varying temperatures and damage locations, which is freely available on the Open Guided Waves platform. A classification rate of 96.2% is achieved, demonstrating reliable and automated damage detection. Moreover, the ability of the ML model to identify a damaged structure at untrained damage locations and temperatures is demonstrated.
An approach to adhesive bond characterisation using guided acoustic waves in multi-layered plates
(2021)
An approach for the non-destructive characterisation of adhesive bonds using guided ultrasonic waves is presented. Pulsed laser radiation is used to thermoacoustically excite broadband ultrasonic waves in a multi-layered sample, consisting of a metal plate adhesively joined to a polymeric layer using synthetic resin. The resulting signals are received by a purpose-built piezoelectric transducer. Varying the distance between excitation and detection yields spatio-temporal measurement data, from which the dispersive properties of the propagating waves can be inferred using a two-dimensional Fourier transform, assuming the plates to act as coupled waveguides. Coupled multi-layered waveguides show an effect referred to as mode repulsion, where the distance between certain modes in the frequency-wavenumber domain is assumed to be a measure of coupling strength. Measurements at different stages of curing of the adhesive layer are performed and evaluated. A comparison of the results shows changes in the dispersive properties, namely an increased modal bandwidth for the fully cured sample as well as an increased modal distance.
In the field of non-destructive testing, Lamb waves are often used for material characterisation. The increasing computational capabilities further enable complex and detailed simulations to predict the material behaviour in reality. Since adhesive bonding of different materials is a widely used method in modern applications, a reliable measurement system to determine the quality of these adhesive bonds is needed. Investigations of the dispersive behaviour of acoustic waves in adhesively bonded multi-layered waveguides show mode repulsions in the dispersion diagrams in regions where the modes of the single materials would otherwise intersect. In previous works, changes of the distance between those modes with respect to the bonding quality are observed. The experimental data for this investigation is generated using pulsed laser radiation to excite broadband acoustic waves in plate like specimens which are detected by a piezoelectric ultrasonic transducer. Numerical data is generated using simulations via a semi-analytical finite element method. Using a combination of experimental and numerical data, the present work introduces an approach to determine a parameter which indicates the bonding quality in relation
to an ideal material coupling.
Composite-overwrapped pressure vessels (COPV) are increasingly used in the transportation industry due to their high strength to mass ratio. Throughout the years, various designs were developed and found their applications. Currently, there are five designs, which can be subdivided into two main categories - with a load-sharing metal liner and with a non-load-sharing plastic liner. The main damage mechanism defining the lifetime of the first type is fatigue of the metal liner, whereas for the second type it is fatigue of the composite overwrap. Nevertheless, one damage type which may drastically reduce the lifetime of COPV is impact-induced damage. Therefore, this barely visible damage needs to be assessed in a non-destructive way to decide whether the pressure vessel can be further used or has to be put out of service. One of the possible methods is based on ultrasonic waves. In this contribution, both conventional ultrasonic testing (UT) by high-frequency bulk waves and wavenumber mapping by low frequency guided waves are used to evaluate impact damage. Wavenumber mapping techniques are first benchmarked on a simulated aluminium panel then applied to experimental measurements acquired on a delaminated aluminium-CFRP composite plate which corresponds to a structure of COPV with a load-sharing metal liner. The analysis of experimental data obtained from measurements of guided waves propagating in an aluminium-CFRP composite plate with impact-induced damage is performed. All approaches show similar performance in terms of quantification of damage size and depths while being applied to numerical data. The approaches used on the experimental data deliver an accurate estimate of the in-plane size of the large delamination at the aluminium-CFRP interface but only a rough estimate of its depth. Moreover, none of the wavenumber mapping techniques used in the study can quantify every delamination between CFRP plies caused by the impact, which is the case for conventional UT. This may be solved by using higher frequencies (shorter wavelengths) or more advanced signal processing techniques. All in all, it can be concluded that imaging of complex impact damage in fibre-reinforced composites based on wavenumber mapping is not straightforward and stays a challenging task.
In the context of Industry 4.0 and especially in the field of Structural Health Monitoring, Condition Monitoring and Digital Twins, simulations are becoming more and more important. The exact determination of material parameters is required for realistic results of numerical simulations of the static and dynamic behavior of technical structures. There are many possibilities to determine
elastic material parameters. One possibility of non-destructive testing are ultrasonic guided waves. For the evaluation of the measurement results, mostly inverse methods are applied in order to be able to draw conclusions about the elastic material parameters from analysing the ultrasonic guided wave propagation. For the inverse determination of the elastic material Parameters with ultrasonic guided waves, several investigations were carried out, e.g. the determination of the isotropic material parameters through the point of zero-groupvelocity or anisotropic material parameters with a simplex algorithm. These investigations are based on the evaluation of dispersion images. Machine learning and in particular Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) are one possibility of the automated evaluation from Image data, e.g. classification or object recognition problems. This article shows how the dispersive behavior of ultrasonic guided waves and CNNs can be used to determine the isotropic elastic constants of plate-like structures.
Lamb waves are a common tool in the field of non-destructive testing and are widely used for materialcharacterisation. Further, the increasing computational capability of modern systems enables the Simulation of complex and detailed material models. This work demonstrates the possibility of simulating an adhesive-bonded multilayer system by characterising each layer individually, and introduces an Approach for determining the dispersive behaviour of acoustic waves in a multilayer system via real measurements.
Interdigital transducers (IDTs) are a well-known tool for excitation of surface acoustic waves. The use of IDTs is versatile, but they are most commonly employed as actuators for excitation of ultrasonic guided waves (UGWs). However, they are still a relatively new technology, which leaves many possibilities for future research, especially in the scope of newly emerging structural health monitoring (SHM) systems. IDTs offer low weight, design flexibility and beam directivity, which make them ideal candidates for employment in such systems.
Due to the IDTs’ and waves’ complexity, problems often cannot be described analytically, therefore they require numerical solutions and experimental validations. In this contribution, a novel, simple use of IDTs, in the scope of SHM is described. Firstly, numerical findings acquired with finite element method are presented. To validate those results, experiments in a plate-like waveguide are carried out. A good agreement between them is found. The results show the potential of the IDTs in yet another prospective application, which could be attractive for adoption in the future.
Temperature compensation strategies play a key role in the implementation of guided wave based structural health monitoring approaches. The varying temperature influences the performance of the inspection system inducing false alarms or missed detection, with a consequent reduction of reliability. This paper quantitatively assesses two temperature compensation methods, namely the optimal baseline selection (OBS) and the baseline signal stretch (BSS), with the aim to extend their use to the case of distributed sensor networks (DSN). The effect of temperature separation between baseline time-traces in OBS and BSS are investigated considering multiple couples of sensors employed in the DSN. A decision strategy that uses frequent value warning to define the optimal baseline or stretching parameter is found to be effective analyzing data from two several experiments, which use different frequency analysis with either predominantly A0 mode or S0 mode data or both. The focus is given on the fact that different paths are available in a sensor network and several possible combinations of results are available. Nonetheless, introducing a frequent value warning it is possible to increase the efficiency of the OBS and BSS approach making use of fewer signal processing algorithms. In addition, the effectiveness of those approach is quantified using damage indicators as metric, which confirms that the performance of OBS and BSS quantitatively agree with predictions and also demonstrate that the use of compensation strategies improve detectability of damage with a higher reliability of the system.
Structural health monitoring techniques associate strongly with damage detection and characterization. Ultrasonic guided waves (UGW), for such scope, arise as one of the most promising methods for many reasons i.e. UGW are able to travel long distances and they have high sensitivity to damage. In this context, the necessity to model realistic wave-defect interaction occurs to be critical.
Realistic damage scenarios can be modeled through the usage of image-based quadtree meshes. Images, such as the outcome from X-ray scans, C-scans, etc., can be converted into meshes for further integration in a computational domain. Quadtree meshes are created by converting the intensity of the pixels to quadrilateral cells. Homogeneous regions inside one image result in one quad, whereas fine features such as discontinuities can be described with smaller quads.
This contribution proposes an efficient methodology to model wave defect interaction, using as a framework the scaled boundary finite element method (SBFEM) and quadtree meshes. Problems as non-conforming regions in the mesh due to the space tree decomposition can be easily avoided using SBFEM’s polygonal elements. Moreover, the semi-analytical nature of the SBFEM allows the modeling of arbitrarily long prismatic/undamaged regions of the waveguides without an increase in the computational burden.
Ray tracing boundary value problems: simulation and SAFT reconstruction for ultrasonic testing
(2016)
The application of advanced imaging techniques for the ultrasonic inspection of inhomogeneous anisotropic materials like austenitic and dissimilar welds requires information about acoustic wave Propagation through the material, in particular travel times between two Points in the material. Forward ray tracing is a popular approach to determine traveling paths and arrival times but is ill suited for inverse problems since a large number of rays have to be computed in order to arrive at prescribed end points.
In this contribution we discuss boundary value problems for acoustic rays, where the ray path between two given points is determined by solving the Eikonal equation. The implementation of such a two Point boundary value ray tracer for sound field simulations through an austenitic weld is described and its efficiency as well as the obtained results are compared to those of a forward ray tracer. The results are validated by comparison with experimental results and commercially available UT simulation tools.
As an application, we discuss an implementation of the method for SAFT (Synthetic Aperture Focusing Technique) reconstruction. The ray tracer calculates the required travel time through the anisotropic columnar grain structure of the austenitic weld. There, the formulation of ray tracing as a boundary value Problem allows a straightforward derivation of the ray path from a given transducer Position to any pixel in the reconstruction area and reduces the computational cost considerably.
The synthetic aperture focusing technique (SAFT) is an imaging technique commonly used in ultrasonic inspection. In order to apply SAFT to the inspection of austenitic welds, the inhomogeneous anisotropic nature of the weld structure has to be taken into account. A suitable approach to accomplish this, is to couple the SAFT-algorithm with a ray tracing program (RT-SAFT). While SAFT-imaging of cracks in austenitic welds by use of ray tracing has been carried out before, all attempts so far were limited to longitudinal cracks which usually allows a treatment as 2-dimensional problem. In case of transverse cracks, a full 3-dimensional ray tracing is necessary in order to perform a SAFT-reconstruction. In this paper, we give an outline of our attempts to reconstruct images of transverse cracks in austenitic welds, utilizing 3-dimensional ray tracing and a layered structure model derived from an empirical model of grain orientations in welds. We present results of this RT-SAFT on experimental data taken from transverse cracks in different austenitic welds, which show that size and position of the cracks can be estimated with good accuracy, and compare them to images obtained by assuming an isotropic homogeneous medium which corresponds to the application of the classical SAFT-algorithm.
In this paper, a method to determine the complex dispersion relations of axially symmetric guided waves in cylindrical structures is presented as an alternative to the currently established numerical procedures. The method is based on a spectral decomposition into eigenfunctions of the Laplace operator on the cross-section of the waveguide. This translates the calculation of real or complex wave numbers at a given frequency into solving an eigenvalue problem. Cylindrical rods and plates are treated as the asymptotic cases of cylindrical structures and used to generalize the method to the case of hollow cylinders. The presented method is superior to direct root-finding algorithms in the sense that no initial guess values are needed to determine the complex wave numbers and that neither starting at low frequencies nor subsequent mode tracking is required. The results obtained with this method are shown to be reasonably close to those calculated by other means and an estimate for the achievable accuracy is given.
The diffuse field assumption employed in basic statistical energy analysis (SEA) and in statistical room acoustics is violated for source and receiver positions close to boundaries or discontinuities. A simple approach is proposed to include the correction initially suggested by Waterhouse based on spherical Bessel functions in SEA predictions for rectangular rooms. With this modification the SEA results will be augmented by a position dependence and an additional frequency dependence. The approach is applied and demonstrated also for plate-like structures with different boundary conditions. An analytical solution is shown for the corner position on a simply supported plate and for edge positions on plates with more complex boundary conditions. The validity of the approach is confirmed by means of comparisons with modal analysis and finite element calculations.
The diffuse field assumption employed in Statistical Energy Analysis (SEA) and in statistical
room acoustics is violated for source and receiver positions close to boundaries or discontinuities.
An approach is suggested to include the correction made by Waterhouse based on
spherical Bessel functions in SEA predictions. With this modification the SEA results will be
augmented by a position dependence and an additional frequency dependence. The approach
is extended and demonstrated for plate-like structures with different boundary conditions. The
validity of the approach is confirmed by means of comparisons with modal analysis and finite
element calculations.
Guided waves travel in plates and hollow cylinders over large distances and propagate with multiple mode shapes. Therefore the waves can be used viably for integrity tests of large scale structures. The number of propagating modes increases with frequency. Due to their dispersive character the different modes are manageable only in a limited frequency range. Depending on the wave length and on the angle of impingement of the wave front to the coupling surface between transducer and structure, a trace wavelength is predefined and a selective excitation of single modes becomes feasible. By using phased array technique the excited wave mode can be selected by controlling the input signal of the transducer. Different modes are excitable with a sin-gle mechanical set-up. In a first step of the investigation, a calculation model is developed modelling the wave propagation and the selective excitation of guided wave modes depending on the control parameters. Dedicated experiments show the applicability of the method presented. The flaw detection of different sized cracks and of material thickness reductions is examined depending on the excitation wave mode.
In this work we experimentally verify the theoretical prediction of the recently published Energy Density Fluctuation Model (EDF-model) of thermo-acoustic sound generation. Particularly, we investigate experimentally the influence of thermal inertia of an electrically conductive film on the efficiency of thermal airborne ultrasound generation predicted by the EDF-model. Unlike widely used theories, the EDF-model predicts that the thermal inertia of the electrically conductive film is a frequency-dependent parameter. Its influence grows non-linearly with the increase of excitation frequency and reduces the efficiency of the ultrasound generation. Thus, this parameter is the major limiting factor for the efficient thermal airborne ultrasound generation in the MHz-range. To verify this theoretical prediction experimentally, five thermo-acoustic emitter samples consisting of Indium-Tin-Oxide (ITO) coatings of different thicknesses (from 65 nm to 1.44 lm) on quartz glass substrates were tested for airborne ultrasound generation in a frequency range from 10 kHz to 800 kHz. For the measurement of thermally generated sound pressures a laser Doppler vibrometer combined with a 12 lm thin polyethylene foil was used as the sound pressure detector. All tested thermo-acoustic emitter samples showed a resonance-free frequency response in the entire tested frequency range. The thermal inertia of the heat producing film acts as a low-pass filter and reduces the generated sound pressure with the increasing excitation frequency and the ITO film thickness. The difference of generated sound pressure levels for samples with 65 nm and 1.44 lm thickness is in the order of about 6 dB at 50 kHz and of about 12 dB at 500 kHz. A comparison of sound pressure levels measured experimentally and those predicted by the EDF-model shows for all tested emitter samples a relative error of less than ±6%. Thus, experimental results confirm the prediction of the EDF-model and show that the model can be applied for design and optimization of thermo-acoustic airborne ultrasound emitters.
Guided waves are increasingly a subject of great interest in nondestructive testing. An example of research in this field is the development of a novel procedure for ultrasonic testing of wheelset-axles using guided waves, which requires to treat the wheelset-axle as a thick walled cylinder with varying thickness. In order to describe ultrasound propagation in a waveguide with non-constant thickness, a multimodal approach, which allows to avoid extensive mesh-based numerical calculations, seems to be promising. The method treats the modes of a corresponding waveguide with constant thickness as a base in which an arbitrary sound field can be expressed. Since the local sound field at any given position in the waveguide with varying thickness will be a combination of these base modes, the problem is reduced to solving the differential equation that governs the evolution of the coefficients in the mode spectrum along the waveguide. Once the description of the sound field along the waveguide is obtained, the time dependence is added by multiplication with a simple oscillating term. Simulations of pulse propagation through the waveguide can then be constructed by adding up a sufficient number of mono-frequent continuous wave solutions. As an early stage in developing a simulation tool for sound propagation in thick walled cylinders with varying thickness, the multimodal approach was implemented and tested for the simple case of plate geometries. In this work, an overview of the simulations carried out for plates with non-constant thickness is presented. The performance of the algorithm based on the multimodal approach and the obtained results are compared to those of mesh-based simulation tools.
Guided waves cover comparably long distances and thus allow for online structural health monitoring of safety relevant components, e.g. lightweight composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPV) as used for the transportation of pressurised gases. Reliable non-destructive assessment of COPVs’ condition is not available yet due to their complex composite structure comprising a thin metal liner and a fibre reinforced plastics (FRP) overwrap. The conventional overload hydrostatic pressure testing used for the metal vessels is not suitable for the composite vessels, because it may damage the FRP overwrap reducing the service life of the COPV. Therefore, ISO and CEN defined a maximum service life of composite pressure vessels as of 15 to 20 years. To extend the COPVs’ service life and to ensure a safer usage a structural health monitoring system based on guided ultrasonic waves is to be developed.
In this contribution first results of guided waves propagation in a flat composite plate consisting of an aluminium layer firmly bonded to a carbon fibre reinforced plastic laminate are presented. Based on experimental results material properties of FRP are reconstructed by means of the Scaled Boundary Finite Element Method (SBFEM).
The Scaled Boundary Finite Element Method (SBFEM) is a semi-analytical method that shows promising results in modelling of guided ultrasonic waves. Efficiency and low computational cost of the method are achieved by a discretisation of the boundary of a computational domain only, whereas for the domain itself the analytical solution is used. By means of the SBFEM different types of defects, e.g. cracks, pores, delamination, corrosion, integrated into a structure consisting of anisotropic and isotropic materials can be modelled.
In this contribution, the SBFEM is used to analyse the propagation of guided waves in a structure consisting of an isotropic metal bonded to anisotropic carbon fibre reinforced material. The method allows appropriate wave types (modes) to be identified and to analyse their interaction with different defects. Results obtained are used to develop a structural health monitoring system for composite pressure vessels used in automotive and aerospace industries.
The Scaled Boundary Finite Element Method (SBFEM) is a semi-analytical method that shows promising results in modelling of guided ultrasonic waves. Efficiency and low computational cost of the method are achieved by a discretisation of the boundary of a computational domain only, whereas for the domain itself the analytical solution is used. By means of the SBFEM different types of defects, e.g. cracks, pores, delamination, corrosion, integrated into a structure consisting of anisotropic and isotropic materials can be modelled.
In this contribution, the SBFEM is used to analyse the propagation of guided waves in a structure consisting of an isotropic metal bonded to anisotropic carbon fibre reinforced material. The method allows appropriate wave types (modes) to be identified and to analyse their interaction with different defects. Results obtained are used to develop a structural health monitoring system for composite pressure vessels used in automotive and aerospace industries.
The Scaled Boundary Finite Element Method (SBFEM) is a semi-analytical method that shows promising results in modelling of guided ultrasonic waves. Efficiency and low computational cost of the method are achieved by a discretisation of the boundary of a computational domain only, whereas for the domain itself the analytical solution is used. By means of the SBFEM different types of defects, e.g. cracks, pores, delamination, corrosion, integrated into a structure consisting of anisotropic and isotropic materials can be modelled.
In this contribution, the SBFEM is used to analyse the propagation of guided waves in a structure consisting of an isotropic metal bonded to anisotropic carbon fibre reinforced material. The method allows appropriate wave types (modes) to be identified and to analyse their interaction with different defects. Results obtained are used to develop a structural health monitoring system for composite pressure vessels used in automotive and aerospace industries.
Austenitic stainless steel welds as well as dissimilar metal welds with nickel alloy filler material, used in safety relevant parts of nuclear power plants, still challenge the ultrasonic inspection. The weld material forms large oriented grains which lead on the one hand to high sound scattering and on the other hand – to inhomogeneity and to the acoustic anisotropy of the weld structure. The ultrasonic wave fronts propagate not linearly, as in ferritic weld joints, but along the curves, which depend on the specific grain structure of the weld. Due the influence of these phenomena, it is difficult to analyze the inspection results and to classify the ultrasonic indications, which could be both from the weld geometry and from the material defects. A correct flaw sizing is not possible.
In an ongoing research project, different techniques to improve the reliability of ultrasonic testing at these kinds of welds are investigated. In a first step (in the previous research project) two ultrasonic inspection techniques were developed and validated on plane test specimens with artificial and realistic flaws. In the ongoing project, these techniques are applied to circumferential pipe welds with longitudinal and transverse flaws.
The technique developed at the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) in Germany uses a combination of ray tracing and synthetic aperture focusing technique (SAFT). To investigate the unknown grain structure, the velocity distribution of weld-transmitting ultrasound waves is measured and used to model the weld by ray tracing.
The second technique, developed at the Fraunhofer Institute for Nondestructive Testing (IZFP) in Germany, uses Sampling Phased Array (Full Matrix Capture) combined with the reverse phase matching (RPM) and the gradient elastic constant descent algorithm (GECDM). This inspection method is able to estimate the elastic constants of the columnar grains in the weld and offers an improvement of the reliability of ultrasonic testing through the correction of the sound field distortion. The unknown inhomogeneity and anisotropy are investigated using a reference indication and the special optimization algorithm.
Both reconstruction techniques give quantitative inspection results and allow the defect sizing. They have been compared to conventional ultrasonic testing with techniques, which are state of the art for components in nuclear power plants. The improvement will be quantified by the comparison of the probability of detection (POD) of each technique.
Composite pressure vessels are important components in the storage of gases under high pressure. Among others, a common type of pressure vessel is made of a metal liner overwrapped with a fibre-reinforced plastic material. Conventional hydrostatic tests, used to assess the integrity of pressure vessels, may overstress the material and thus reduce the remaining lifetime of the tested component. Therefore, a truly non-destructive structural health monitoring (SHM) system would not only ensure a safer usage and extended lifetime, but also remove the necessity for periodic inspection and the testing of pressure vessels. The authors propose the use of guided ultrasonic waves, which have the potential to detect the main damage types, such as cracking in the metal liner, fibre breaks and composite matrix delamination. For the design of such an SHM system, multimodal ultrasonic wave propagation and defect-mode interaction must be fully understood. In this paper, simulation results obtained by means of finite element modelling (FEM) are presented. Based on the findings, suggestions are made regarding appropriate wave modes and their interaction with different flaw types, as well as the necessary excitation and suitable sensor configurations. Finally, a first approach for a reliable SHM system for composite pressure vessels is suggested.
Structural health monitoring (SHM) is a term that groups together techniques adopted to evaluate in a continued fashion the structural integrity and degradation of technical appliances. SHM is particularly attractive for components that are difficult to access or expensive to take off-line. Among many other techniques, SHM can be performed using ultrasonic guided waves (UGW) which have an advantage of traveling over Long distances. Various guided wave modes exist along with many methods for their generation and sensing, e.g by means of interdigital transducers (IDT). This contribution is dedicated to the design and characterization of a flexible piezopolymerbased IDT which allows for the selective excitation of UGW, resulting in more straightforward data analysis. The designed IDT was characterized using a 3D Laser Doppler Vibrometer (3D LDV) in the air to identify and analyze the IDT’s Vibration modes. Then the transducer was mounted on an aluminum plate, and the generated wavefield was measured with the 3D LDV.
According to this investigation, we demonstrate that it is possible to selectively excite desired guided wave mode, namely the A0 mode, suppressing the excitation of the S0 mode. Moreover, the measured wavefield allows for analysis of the directivity of the designed IDT. All in all the results show good correlation between theoretical predictions and measured values, thus allowing to use the current design in terms of selective excitation as it is.
Issues that prevent Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) based on Guided Waves (GW) from being a part of today’s monitoring solutions in industry are not all obvious to the scientific community. To uncover and overcome these issues, scientists working on SHM and GW problems joined in an expert committee under the patronage of the German Society for Non-Destructive Testing. An initiated online survey among more than 700 experts and users reveals the hurdles hindering the practical application of GWbased SHM. Firstly, methods for proof of reliability of SHM approaches are missing.
Secondly, detailed understanding of phenomenological described wave-damage interactions is needed. Additionally, there are significant unsolved implementation issues and unsolved problems of signal processing including handling of environmental influences.
To enable substantial proof of reliability without unaffordable experimental effort also efficient simulation tools including realistic damage interaction are needed, enabling the joint use of experimental and simulated data to predict the capabilities of the Monitoring system. Considering these issues, the committee focusses on simulation, signal processing, as well as probability of detection and standardization. In the presented work, recent activities of the expert committee starting with survey results are summarized. An open access data basis of life-like measurements is presented to allow testing and comparison of signal processing and simulation algorithms. Finally, a strategy for efficient proof of reliability increasing the acceptance of SHM in industry and for successful Integration of SHM into real-world engineering structures is proposed.
An essential task in many industries, e.g. food, petrol or chemical industry, is the precise and accurate characterization of liquids. Therefore, the development of innovative in-line sensors is of great interest. New concepts based on periodic structures, so-called phononic crystals (PnCs), are an interesting idea for the design of innovative sensors.
A PnC-based sensor can be designed by introducing a resonance inside a bandgap, a frequency region where no wave propagation is allowed. High-Q measurement systems using PnCs are already reported in the literature. However, existing designs cannot be implemented into a piping system directly, but need special fittings, openings or by-passes to be in contact with the liquid.
To circumvent this issue, we develop a new sensor based on PnCs, which can be directly implemented as part of the piping system. For this purpose, we use a PnC consisting of hollow cylinders with a periodic change of the outer diameter.
A bandgap could be found for the described geometry without fluid in simulation and measurement. However, simulations show, that a bandgap for fluid-filled cylinders can only be obtained for quasi-longitudinal modes. Hence, we propose a mode selective excitation for the sensor.
Pipe integrity is a central concern regarding technical safety, availability, and environmental compliance of industrial plants and pipelines. A condition monitoring system that detects and localizes threats in pipes prior to occurrence of actual structural failure, e.g., leakages, especially needs to target transient events such as impacts on the pipe wall or pressure waves travelling through the medium. In the present work, it is shown that fiber-optic distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) in conjunction with a suitable application geometry of the optical fiber sensor allows to track propagating acoustic waves in the pipeline wall on a fast time-scale. Therefore, short impacts on the pipe may be localized with high fidelity. Moreover, different acoustic modes are identified, and their respective group velocities are in good agreement with theoretical predications. In another set of experiments modeling realistic damage scenarios, we demonstrate that pressure waves following explosions of different gas mixtures in pipes can be observed. Velocities are verified by local piezoelectric pressure transducers. Due to the fully distributed nature of the fiber-optic sensing system, it is possible to record accelerated motions in detail. Therefore, in addition to detection and localization of threatening events for infrastructure monitoring, DAS may provide a powerful tool to study the development of gas explosions in pipes, e.g., investigation of deflagration-to-detonation-transitions (DDT).
Lamb waves are widely used for non-destructive evaluation of material parameters as well as for detection of defects. Another application of Lamb waves is quality control of adhesive joints.
Researchers are currently investigating shear horizontal and zero-group velocity modes for characterisation of the adhesive bonding strength. In a new approach, Lamb wave mode repulsion is used to obtain the coupling strength between different layers to characterise the adhesive bonding strength. The modes of the individual layers become coupled in the multilayered systems forming particular regions, the so-called mode repulsion regions. This study investigates these modes and their interaction in two-layered plate-like structures with varying coupling strength both numerically, with the Scaled Boundary FEM, and experimentally
Guided waves (GW) are of great interest for non-destructive testing (NDT) and structural health monitoring (SHM) of engineering structures such as for oil and gas pipelines, rails, aircraft components, adhesive bonds and possibly much more. Development of a technique based on GWs requires careful understanding obtained through modelling and analysis of wave propagation and mode-damage interaction due to the dispersion and multimodal character of GWs. The Scaled Boundary Finite Element Method (SBFEM) is a suitable numerical approach for this purpose allowing calculation of dispersion curves, mode shapes and GW propagation analysis. In this article, the SBFEM is used to analyse wave propagation in a plate consisting of an isotropic aluminium layer bonded as a hybrid to an anisotropic carbon fibre reinforced plastics layer. This hybrid Composite corresponds to one of those considered in a Type III composite pressure vessel used for storing gases, e.g., hydrogen in automotive and aerospace applications. The results show that most of the wave energy can be concentrated in a certain layer depending on the mode used, and by that damage present in this layer can be detected. The results obtained help to understand the wave propagation in multi-layered structures and are important for further development of NDT and SHM for Engineering structures consisting of multiple layers.
Damage Quantification in Aluminium-CFRP Composite Structures using Guided Wave Wavenumber Mapping
(2019)
The use of composite materials is associated not only with the advantages of weight reduction and improved structural performance but also with the risk of barely visible impacts or manufacturing damages. One of the promising techniques for the detection and characterisation of such damages is based on ultrasonic guided wave propagation and analysis. However, the multimodal nature and dispersive behaviour of these waves make their analysis difficult. Various signal processing techniques have been proposed for easier interpretation of guided wave signals and extraction of the necessary information about the damage. One of them is the wavenumber mapping which consists of creating a cartography of the wavenumber of a propagating mode over an inspected area, using a dense wavefield acquisition measured for example with a scanning laser Doppler vibrometer. This technique allows both the quantification of the in-plane size and the depth of damage, for example, impact-induced delamination in composite laminates.
In this contribution, wavenumber mapping is applied to a delaminated aluminium-CFRP composite structure which corresponds to composite-overwrapped pressure vessels used for storing gases in aerospace and automotive industries. The analysis of experimental data obtained from measurements of guided waves propagating in an aluminium-CFRP composite plate with impact-induced damage is performed. The output of the imaging is a three-dimensional representation of the delamination induced by the impact. Good agreement between conventional ultrasonic testing and guided wave damage mapping can be found.
Acoustic-structure interaction in the Scaled Boundary Finite Element Method for primsatic geometries
(2019)
Due to the short wavelength compared to the dimensions of the structure, the simulation of ultrasonic waves is still a challenging task. A numerical method well suited for this purpose is the semi-analytical Scaled Boundary Finite Element Method (SBFEM). When applying this method, only the boundary of a computational domain is discretized using finite elements, while the interior is described by an analytical ansatz. Hence, the number of degrees of freedom is reduced significantly compared to the classical Finite Element Method (FEM).
In recent years, a particular formulation of the SBFEM for the simulation of ultrasonic guided waves was developed. The method constitutes an efficient algorithm for prismatic structures of arbitrary length, such as plates, pipes, or beams. Wave propagation phenomena in such structures can be modeled for isotropic and anisotropic inhomogeneous waveguides. Even though the method is an efficient tool for the simulation of guided waves in solid media, a reliable model for the simulation of acoustic wave propagation in fluids as well as acoustic-structure interaction in terms of SBFEM is still missing. In principle, the fluid can be described by a displacement-based formulation and thus be implemented in existing SBFEM algorithms for solid bodies. However, due to the discretization with classical finite elements, spurious modes occur, which cannot be separated from the physical modes straightforwardly. The spurious modes can be suppressed using a penalty parameter. Although very accurate results were achieved for some problems, this procedure has been proven unreliable for certain cases.
For this reason, we propose a different approach in this contribution. We employ a pressure model to simulate the acoustic behavior of fluids. The implementation of the pressure model results in a higher effort due to the necessity of incorporating coupling terms, but it presents a stable alternative without spurious modes. The accuracy of the method is demonstrated in comparison with analytical solutions and results obtained using the FEM.
The dispersive properties of Lamb waves can be utilised for material characterisation because the frequency-wavenumber-relationship, as well as the group velocity, depend on material parameters. These dependencies make a non-destructive estimation of an elastic constant possible. This preliminary study investigates the sensitivity of dispersion curves caused by a change in elastic constants. The Scaled Boundary Finite Element Method is used to compute special dispersion curves, which show the sensitivity value of the frequency and group velocity as a colour value. This representation allows for easy identification of patterns and local effects. Two sets of dispersion curves are presented, one set for a steel plate and the other set for a plate made of a carbon fibre reinforced polymer. In general, we notice that the sensitivity often increases with the frequency and that higher-order modes seem to be more suitable for material characterisation. Moreover, specific modes respond to material changes while others are relatively unaffected, which must be taken into consideration for material characterisation.
Pipelines and industrial piping systems are particularly relevant regarding technical safety, availability and maintenance. Large flow rates of hazardous substances imply that even smallest leakages can lead to high environmental impacts. Therefore, and to ensure the availability of infrastructure, an early detection and localization of potentially hazardous degradations to the walls (e.g. cracks, pittings, sedimentation, etc.) of the containments is necessary. However, in many cases it is not feasible to equip pipelines with a large number of point sensors at reasonable expense.
The principle of distributed fibre optic sensing relies on one single optical fibre, which simultaneously acts as a spatially continuous sensor as well as the signal transducer. Therefore, extensive structures can be provided with this type of sensor with comparatively low efforts.
As a consequence, monitoring oil and gas pipelines using distributed fibre optic sensors is on the upswing. Besides the established methods to measure temperature and strain, distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) has lately received considerable attention as a means to detect and localize third party threats to pipelines (approach of vehicles, digging, mechanical manipulation).
The so far not utilized potential of DAS as a means for continuous condition monitoring of pipes by detecting and localizing acoustic signals that point to certain damage scenarios, is currently under investigation in an interdisciplinary research project at BAM (AGIFAMOR, Ageing Infrastructures – Fibre Optic Monitoring of Pipes).
In order to qualify distributed acoustic fibre optic sensors for this application area, we especially focus on detecting and identifying the relevant acoustic emissions of interesting degradations as well as on the optimal way of application of the optical fibres to the specimen to achieve an optimal signal transmission of acoustic signals.
The Scaled Boundary Finite Element Method is known as an efficient method for the simulation of ultrasonic wave propagation. As to investigate acoustic wave behavior in case of fluid‐structure interaction, a fluid model is implemented in the SBFEM for prismatic structures. To omit coupling terms a displacement‐based formulation is used. Spurious modes, which occur in the solution, are suppressed using a penalty parameter. To verify this formulation dispersion curves obtained with Comsol Multiphysics are compared to results of SBFEM. The results of both methods are in very good agreement
The feasibility study „AGIFAMOR. Ageing infrastructures – distributed acoustic monitoring of pipes” is an interdisciplinary research project at BAM internally financed from 2015 to 2018. Therefore, the quite young fibre optic sensing technology of distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) was investigated to possibly be extended towards a global condition monitoring system for pipelines operating in real time.
DAS is a highly dynamic fibre optic sensing technology based on the method of coherent optical time domain reflectometry (C-OTDR). DAS allows capturing strain changes in the range of kHz. For the experimental work, the most suitable application yielding an optimum sensitivity was proven by wrapping a standard single-mode silica fibre around the pipe.
The DAS sensitivity was investigated regarding the detection of 1) incidents that initiate propagation of acoustic waves in the pipe wall, 2) changes inside the pipeline causing altered flow and 3) damage development in the pipe wall. Therefore, several testing setups in laboratory as well as in real scale were realized. For comparison purposes, experiments were accompanied by acoustic emission analyses and by measurements with accelerometers.
DAS was found to be very sensitive to gas ignition and its propagation across the pipe. Furthermore, the ability of DAS to detect and localize acoustic signals associated with pipeline leakage was demonstrated. The detection of crack formation and propagation within the pipe wall by means of DAS was studied during bending tests on several pipe segments, but was not proven so far with certainty. As expected, these studies turned out as the most difficult challenge due to the random occurrence and transient nature of microscopic damage phenomena.
Composite pressure vessels are important components for storing gases under high pressure. Beside others, a common type of pressure vessel is made of a metal liner overwrapped with a fibre reinforced plastic material. Conventional hydrostatic tests, used to assess the integrity of pressure vessels, may overstress the material, and thus, may reduce the remaining life-time of the tested component. Therefore, a truly nondestructive structural health monitoring (SHM) system would not only allow to ensure a safer usage and extended life-time, but also to exclude the necessity of the periodic inspection and testing of pressure vessels.
We propose to use guided ultrasonic waves which have a potential to detect the main damage types such as cracking in the metal liner, fibre breaks and composite Matrix delamination. For designing such a SHM system, the multimodal ultrasonic wave propagation and the defect-mode interaction must be fully understood.
In this contribution, we present simulation results obtained by means of finite element modelling. Based on the findings, suggestions about appropriate wave modes, their interaction with different flaw types as well as the necessary excitation and suitable sensor configuration are made. Finally, we suggest a first approach of a reliable SHM system for composite pressure vessels.
This paper addresses the computation of dispersion curves, mode shapes and propagation of elastic guided waves. It summarizes the approaches based on the Scaled Boundary Finite Element Method.
Descriptions for plates, rods, pipelines and waveguides with an arbitrary cross section are included. The important steps for the approximation of the displacement in bounded and unbounded domains are stated. The grid generation process is explained. It is highlighted that the Scaled Boundary Finite Element Method is very efficient, if large portions of the domain are either straight or with a constant curvature. The computation of dispersion curves for layered structures is presented.
Guided wave ultrasonic features in composite overwrapped pressure vessels towards digital twin
(2023)
The digitalization of quality control processes and the underlying data infrastructures for safety relevant components, such as hydrogen pressure vessels, plays a significant role in the transition towards Industry 4.0. In the current safety regulations for hydrogen pressure vessels, there is no established concept for structural health monitoring. The development of a reliable structural health monitoring methodology for monitoring the structural integrity of pressure vessels enables a fast-forward transition from personnel- and costintensive recurring inspections, a.k.a. periodic maintenance, to predictive maintenance. In the work presented; we investigated the application of ultrasonic guided wave propagation to monitor and assess the condition of Type IV composite overwrapped pressure vessel (COPV). A sensor network of fifteen piezo-electric wafers is placed on the carbon fibre reinforced composite cylinder. Five different artificial damage configurations are created by gluing two different weight blocks on three different locations. The database containing measured guided wave data sets is enriched by two different boundary conditions. We utilized an open-source software, openBIS labnotebook, to store and analyse experimental datasets. The guided wave ultrasonic signals were investigated and analysed by using commonly used ultrasonic features (e.g., amplitude, frequency, time of flight) as well as non-traditional time-series features (kurtosis, skewness, variance). The features were used to calculate damage index and the detection performance for the results has been evaluated. The results suggest that both traditional and non-traditional features assume significant importance in artificial damage detection. The future works will additionally involve the impacts of operational conditions, such as periodic pressure variations temperature loadings as well as material degradations.
Klebeverbindungen sind aus vielen Anwendungen wie dem Leichtbau nicht mehr wegzudenken. Durch die Verklebung gleicher oder ungleicher Materialien entstehen viele Vorteile gegenüber konservativen Fügeverfahren. Jedoch stellen schwache Haftfestigkeiten eine sehr unbeliebte Fehlerart dar, die schlecht zu detektieren sind und zu einem frühzeitigen Versagen der Verklebung bei vergleichsweise geringen Belastungen führen können. Aufgrund hoher Sicherheits- und Qualitätsansprüche wird die Haftfestigkeit dieser Verbindungen jedoch noch immer zerstörend geprüft. Zufriedenstellende zerstörungsfreie Verfahren, um Haftfestigkeiten zu prüfen, sind nicht vorhanden und Thema gegenwärtiger Forschung. Ein Ansatz, der in diesem Projekt verfolgt wird, liegt in der Verwendung geführter Ultraschallwellen.
Hierzu wird anhand von Simulationen mittels der Scaled Boundary Finite Element Methode gezeigt, dass die gezielte Auswertung bestimmter Bereiche des Dispersionsdiagrams, den sogenannten vermiedenen Kreuzungen (engl. mode repulsion regions), eine Charakterisierung der Haftfestigkeiten zulassen könnten. Dies liegt darin begründet, dass die mittleren mechanischen Belastungen der Kleberschicht in diesen Bereichen ein lokales Maximum aufweisen und daher eine erhöhte Sensitivität auf Materialänderungen haben. Es wird gezeigt, wie sensitiv diese Bereiche auf Materialänderungen in der Klebergrenzschicht sind und welche potenziellen Fehlergrößen existieren.
In plate-like structures, ultrasonic waves propagate as Lamb waves. Their use is important for many applications from non-destructive testing to structural health monitoring. Efficient simulation tools contribute to a significant value add e.g. in designing systems for these applications. Under which conditions an acceptable accuracy of these models with affordable computational costs can be achieved is an open question. Many of these applications include the usage of a plane wavefront, simulated in 2D crossesctional models to reduce complexity. In this contribution, a comparative case study between simulations and experiments is presented. The aim is to verify and compare a 2D cross-sectional model with experimental data. The experimental setup for this case study consists of an aluminum plate. A rectangular piezoelectric transducer is mounted for guided wave excitation. A laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) measures out-of-plane velocities on the plate. A 2D cross-sectional model based on the Scaled Boundary Finite Element Method (SBFEM) is used to simulate the wave propagation of the experimental setup. The first data points near the transducer are used to fit the excitation tractions of the model, while additional points further away from the source are used to validate the model. The comparison between the recorded measurements and the simulated velocities shows a high degree of compatibility.
While hydrogen is one of the most promising energy carriers, the safety of hydrogen storage technology remains one of the most important factors for technological and societal approval. While the engineering safety factors of the pressure vessels are kept high, the periodic inspection and the limited lifetime are making the application very costly considering manpower, time, money, and material waste. The development of an integrated structural health monitoring system can allow an easy transition from the current situation to cost-effective predictive maintenance. Hence, we propose to integrate three different SHM systems into hydrogen pressure vessels, namely guided wave ultrasonics, acoustic emission, and fibre optic sensing, to continuously monitor the condition and integrity.
In this work, we evaluated the condition of a Type IV composite overwrapped pressure vessel using ultrasonic guided wave propagation. We mounted fifteen piezo-electric wafers on the composite cylinder by shaping three rings containing five sensors each. We acquired data from the sensor network following different boundary conditions with artificial damages on the selected locations. The data were evaluated with guided wave tomography techniques using ultrasonic features (amplitude, frequency, etc.) as well as artificial intelligence (AI). The results suggest that both traditional guided wave fusion techniques and AI-based characterization methods can detect artificial damages. In future work, it is planned to integrate acoustic emission and fibre optic sensing. Moreover, the measurement and the test results will be implemented into a digital twin to derive trends and make predictions on the damage propagation as well as the remaining useful lifetime.
This work has received funding from German Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Actions within the QI-Digital initiative (www.qi-digital.de).
In the field of guided waves for non-destructive testing, the interaction of these waves with damages or other discontinuities in a structure is critical. When a guided wave mode travels and hits a defect, it scatters in all directions, converting to other modes and reflecting the existing one. These interactions are captured in scattered far field complex amplitudes. The amplitudes are stored in scattering matrices, which characterise the elastodynamic behaviour of a defect completely. Scattering matrices are also useful to simulate backpropagation from a defect using ray-tracing methods.
Simulating these interactions is challenging, and analytical solutions only exist for simple geometries. Still, using general tools like the finite element method results in large, usually costly models. Recently, researchers proposed a method based on a numerical implementation of the Kirchhoff–Helmholtz integral that allows the computation of the scattering matrices using a model containing only the damaged region. However, classical methods to resolve the far field and low-order elements were used, leading to large models yet more efficient than using other techniques.
We propose using the SBFEM as an alternative to enhance the computation of the far field scattering. The damaged region is discretised using high-order polyhedral elements, while the far field is constructed using a modified version of the SBFEM. Examples compared to the literature demonstrate the validity of the approach.
The applications of composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs) in extreme conditions, such as storing hydrogen gases at very high pressure, impose new requirements related to the system's integrity and safety. The development of a structural health monitoring (SHM) system that allows for continuous monitoring of the COPVs provides rich information about the structural integrity of the component. Furthermore, the collected data can be used for different purposes such as increasing the periodic inspection intervals, providing a remaining lifetime prognosis, and also ensuring optimal operating conditions. Ultimately this information can be complementary to the development of the envisioned digital twin of the monitored COPVs. Guided waves (GWs) are preferred to be used in continuous SHM given their ability to travel in complex structures for long distances. However, obtained GW signals are complex and require advanced processing techniques. Machine learning (ML) is increasingly utilized as the main part of the processing pipeline to automatically detect anomalies in the system's integrity. Hence, in this study, we are scrutinizing the potential of using ML to provide continuous monitoring of COPVs based on ultrasonic GW data. Data is collected from a network of sensors consisting of fifteen Piezoelectric (PZT) wafers that were surface mounted on the COPV. Two ML algorithms are used in the automated evaluation procedure (i) a long short-term memory (LSTM) autoencoder for anomaly detection (defects/impact), and (ii) a convolutional neural network (CNN) model for feature extraction and classification of the artificial damage sizes and locations. Additional data augmentation steps are introduced such as modification and addition of random noise to original signals to enhance the model's robustness to uncertainties. Overall, it was shown that the ML algorithms used were able to detect and classify the simulated damage with high accuracy.
The application of composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPV) to store hydrogen and other compressed gases, especially when operating at high pressures, imposed the need for an innovative and reliable approach to ensure the safe operation of the system. Continuous structural health monitoring (SHM) based on ultrasonic guided waves (GWs) is a promising approach due to the ability of the wave to propagate for long distances and go around complex structures, moreover the high sensitivity to various failure modes such as delamination, matrix cracking and debonding. In this study, we scrutinize the behavior of (GWs) within the COPV using a network of PZT elements that are used for excitation and sensing. A laser doppler vibrometer (LDV) was also used to scan the surface of the vessel in various directions. L(0,1) and L(0,2) were observed in the captured signal. The L(0, 2) appeared to be a dominant mode in the COPV and was capable of propagating along the entire length and maintaining a good signal-to-noise ratio. The L(0,2) mode maintained the same phase velocity when it is captured at various excitation angles (0, 45, and 90 degrees). The reduced effect of the orthotropy of the materials on the propagating waves is an important result as it will reduce the complexity in data processing when performing damage identification.
The digitalization of quality control processes and the underlying data infrastructures for safety relevant components, such as hydrogen pressure vessels, plays a significant role in the transition towards Industry 4.0. In the current safety regulations for hydrogen pressure vessels, there is no established concept for structural health monitoring. The development of a reliable structural health monitoring methodology for monitoring the structural integrity of pressure vessels enables a fast-forward transition from personnel- and costintensive recurring inspections, a.k.a. periodic maintenance, to predictive maintenance. In the work presented; we investigated the application of ultrasonic guided wave propagation to monitor and assess the condition of Type IV composite overwrapped pressure vessel (COPV). A sensor network of fifteen piezo-electric wafers is placed on the carbon fibre reinforced composite cylinder. Five different artificial damage configurations are created by gluing two different weight blocks on three different locations. The database containing measured guided wave data sets is enriched by two different boundary conditions. We utilized an open-source software, openBIS labnotebook, to store and analyse experimental datasets. The guided wave ultrasonic signals were investigated and analysed by using commonly used ultrasonic features (e.g., amplitude, frequency, time of flight) as well as non-traditional time-series features (kurtosis, skewness, variance). The features were used to calculate damage index and the detection performance for the results has been evaluated. The results suggest that both traditional and non-traditional features assume significant importance in artificial damage detection. The future works will additionally involve the impacts of operational conditions, such as periodic pressure variations temperature loadings as well as material degradations.
Automated Wall Thickness Evaluation for Turbine Blades Using Robot-Guided Ultrasonic Array Imaging
(2024)
Nondestructive testing has become an essential part of the maintenance of modern gas turbine blades and vanes since it provides an increase in both safety against critical failure and efficiency of operation. Targeted repairs of the blade’s airfoil require localized wall thickness information. This information, however, is hard to obtain by nondestructive testing due to the complex shapes of surfaces, cavities, and material characteristics. To address this problem, we introduce an automated nondestructive testing system that scans the part using an immersed ultrasonic array probe guided by a robot arm. For imaging, we adopt a two-step, surface-adaptive Total Focusing Method (TFM) approach.
For each test position, the TFM allows us to identify the outer surface, followed by calculating an adaptive image of the interior of the part, where the inner surface’s position and shape are obtained. To handle the large volumes of data, the surface features are automatically extracted from the TFM images using specialized image processing algorithms. Subsequently, the collection of 2D extracted surface data is merged and smoothed in 3D space to form the outer and inner surfaces, facilitating wall thickness evaluation. With this approach, representative zones on two gas turbine vanes were tested, and the reconstructed wall thickness values were evaluated via comparison with reference data from an optical scan. For the test zones on two turbine vanes, average errors ranging from 0.05 mm to 0.1 mm were identified, with a standard deviation of 0.06–0.16 mm.
For structural health monitoring systems or non-destructive testing, it is crucial to study the interactions of ultrasonic-guided waves with inhomogeneities or damage in structural components. Simulation of these interactions poses a challenge.
After the wave-damage interaction, the numerical model must reproduce features like mode conversion or wave scattering. Mathematically, damages are discontinuities in a computational domain, and each wave interacts differently because of the geometrical features. We propose a quadtree-based meshing in the current contribution to capture these geometrical characteristics.
This kind of discretisation approach requires special techniques to couple cells of different sizes since, after a quadtree decomposition, the problem of so-called hanging nodes may arise. Transition elements based on high-order transfinite shape functions are used to solve this issue. The advantage is that these elements allow the correct coupling of the cells while retaining a high-order interpolation. Moreover, the reuse of the dynamic stiffness matrices can be exploited based on the similarity of the cells. This procedure makes the approach very efficient.
Examples show the scattering characteristics of different guided wave modes after interacting with inhomogeneities and discontinuities in a plate.