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- Active thermography (3)
- Air-coupled (3)
- DMD (3)
- Ferroelectret (3)
- Ultrasonic testing (3)
- GMR (2)
- Magnetic stray field (2)
- Neutron diffraction (2)
- Phased array (2)
- Residual stress (2)
Organisationseinheit der BAM
- 8 Zerstörungsfreie Prüfung (3)
- 5 Werkstofftechnik (2)
- 5.2 Metallische Hochtemperaturwerkstoffe (2)
- 8.4 Akustische und elektromagnetische Verfahren (2)
- 5.1 Mikrostruktur Design und Degradation (1)
- 7 Bauwerkssicherheit (1)
- 7.1 Baustoffe (1)
- 8.0 Abteilungsleitung und andere (1)
- 8.5 Röntgenbildgebung (1)
- 9 Komponentensicherheit (1)
Airborne ultrasonic inspection is performed in through transmission, where the test piece (e.g. adhesive joint or polymer-based composite plate) is placed between the transmitter and the receiver. However, many structures with difficult shapes allow only one-sided inspection. The strong reflection of the signal from the surface overshadows the signals from the inside, so that broadband pulses are required. Thermoacoustic transmission, where the thermal energy of an electrically heated electrode is transformed into the acoustic energy of an ultrasonic wave, opens the possibility to excite broadband pulses and thus to inspect objects with one-sided access.
We present various thermoacoustic transducers consisting of an electrically conductive film on a solid substrate. The first type of transducer is a transmitter with an indium-tin-oxide electrode on a glass substrate combined with a laser Doppler vibrometer as a receiver. The second type of transducer combines thermoacoustic transmission and piezoelectric reception, having a titanium electrode as a transmitter deposited onto charged cellular polypropylene serving as a piezoelectric receiver.
Using a focusing thermoacoustic transmitter and a separate cellular polypropylene receiver, a through-transmission inspection of a 4 mm thick CFRP test piece with inserts as small as 1 mm was performed. The same emitter and a laser vibrometer as a receiver were used for a one-sided inspection of a Plexiglas block with a cross hole at 15 mm depth. A twin probe consisting of a thermoacoustic transmitter on a cellular polypropylene receiver was applied to a profile measurement on a step wedge with flat bottom holes. The smallest detected diameter of a flat bottom hole was 1 mm. Sound pressure level above 140dB was achieved with each of these transmitters. Thermoacoustic transmitters enable a step towards one-sided air-coupled ultrasonic inspection.
Aktive Thermografie mit Lockin-Anregung ist ein zerstörungsfreies Prüfverfahren, das insbesondere auch die Prüfung von kohlenstofffaserverstärkten Kunststoffen ermöglicht. Um eine Standardisierung dieses Verfahrens voranzubringen, wurden im Rahmen eines Forschungsprojektes umfangreiche Untersuchungen zur Validierung des Verfahrens durchgeführt. Für die Anregungsmethoden optisch und Ultraschall wurden die wichtigsten Parameter systematisch untersucht. Auf der Auswertungsseite ist dies z.B. der Einfluss der spektralen Empfindlichkeit verschiedener Kamerasysteme. Für die Anregungen sind unter anderem die Einflüsse von Anregungsenergie und Ultraschallfrequenz untersucht worden. Auch Materialparameter, wie der Lagenaufbau bei CFK-Probekörpern, beeinflussen die Ergebnisse stark.
The paper presents numerical methods to detect and classify defects and inhomogeneities by means of active thermography. The objective is to determine the wall thickness of structure elements with an inaccessible back wall, for example, of pipes or Containers. As test specimens we used approximately 2 cm thick PVC samples with spatial variations in the back wall geometry. Flash lamps provided the heating. To know the thickness of the wall, we used two inversion methods and compared the results achieved. One is an iterative echo defect shape method and already tested on Steel test specimens with good reconstruction results. The second one is the Levenberg-Marquardt method, applied here to thermographic data for non-destructive testing. Since data capturing using active thermography and the presented numerical methods can easily be automated, the combination of these two procedures is a promising approach providing a broad area of application.
Within a know-how transfer project funded by the government conventional ultrasonic
technique was replaced by phased array technique for automated round-bar testing. Instead of
applying a great number of conventional probes to achieve acceptable volume coverage we used
curved linear arrays. The benefits of phased array technique such as programmable skew angles,
beamforming and beam positions, led not only to a significant decrease in inspection time, but also the
number of probes could be substantially reduced . Finally, the testing parameters for a large range of
bar-diameters could be adapted by software control instead of time-consuming mechanical
replacement. The probe-design was carried out by a proprietary modelling program. Both the
theoretical calculations as well as the latter experimental verifications revealed significant advantages
of curved arrays versus the planar types. A radial oriented probe offers perfect adaption to the
cylindrical shape of the specimen allowing wide variations of the sound field. Thus beam direction,
beam size and beam position could be optimized with respect to a minimum of inspection cycles, as
inspections have to be executed in-line during the production. A number of laboratory tests were
carried out on special test components. In order to achieve an optimal performance of the reference
rod we implemented three different types of reference reflectors: (i) flat-bottom-holes with diameters
of 0.8 mm and 1.2 mm, (ii) side-drilled-holes with a diameter of 0.7 mm for the detection of
volumetric flaws, and (iii) notches with a depth of 0.2 mm and 0.5 mm for the detection of surfaceoriented
defects. All laboratory tests were carried out with the COMPAS-XXL inspection system, a
proprietary development of BAM.
The coherent superposition of two anti-phased thermal wave fields creates a zone of destructive interference which is extremely sensitive to the presence of defects without any reference measurements.
Combining a high power laser with a spatial light modulator allows modulating phase and amplitude of an illuminated surface that induces spatially and temporally controlled thermal wave fields. The position and depth of defects are reconstructed from analysis of the Amplitude and Phase of the resulting photothermal signal. The proposed concept is experimentally validated and supported by numerical modeling.
Adhesively bonded aluminum components have been widely used in the aerospace industry for weight-efficient and damage-tolerant structures. Automated squirter jet immersion ultrasonic testing is a common inspection technique to assure the bond integrity of large, contoured assemblies. However, squirter jet inspection presents several limitations in scanning speed, related to water splash noise over protruding stiffeners and splash interference crosstalk in multi-channel inspection systems. Air-coupled ultrasonic testing has been evaluated as an alternative, possibly offering the benefits of increased throughput by enabling higher speeds, and eliminating the contamination concerns and maintenance issues of water couplant systems. Adhesive joints of multi-layer aluminum plates with artificial disbonds were inspected with novel air-coupled ultrasonic probes based on cellular polypropylene. Disbonds of various sizes were engineered in several multi-layer configurations and at various depths. Results were compared with squirter jet immersion and conventional piezoelectric transducer designs in terms of scan contrast, resolution and inspection time.
Ultrasonic testing of adhesively bonded joints using air-coupled cellular polypropylene transducers
(2014)
In air-coupled ultrasonic testing, the impedance mismatch between the transducer and the air is commonly being solved by adding matching layers to composite transducers. To avoid the difficult technological procedure regarding matching layers, some new piezoelectric materials have been proposed. Most promising are ferroelectrets, which are charged cellular polymers, having ferroelectric and consequently piezoelectric properties. In particular, the extreme softness of cellular polypropylene (cPP) leads to a high piezoelectric constant and to a good impedance match with the air, making matching layers redundant. Its elasticity modulus below 1 MPa causes an additional effect not observed with common piezoelectric materials: that is the electrostrictive effect, here defined as the thickness change due to the attractive force between the transducer electrodes. This effect exceeds the piezoelectric effect at excitation voltages over 1 kV. The extreme softness of cPP leads also to high flexibility, enabling easy focusing by bending the transducer.
We have developed air-coupled ultrasonic transducers based on cPP. This includes the electrical matching networks for the transmitter and for the receiver. The transmitter is excited with voltages up to 2.5 kV, so that the electrostrictive effect dominates, leading to sound pressure around 145dB at the transducer surface. These transducers have been applied for testing carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer plates, adhesive joints and other composite structures. Here we report about ultrasonic transmission of two types of adhesive joints. The first one is multi-layer aluminium components with some artificial disbonds, which are common in aerospace industry, and the second one is an aluminium-steel joint with polyurethane adhesive, which is used in automotive industry.
Bei der automatisierten Prüfung von Stangen mit Ultraschall-
Gruppenstrahlertechnik besteht grundsätzlich die Möglichkeit, Prüfkopfparameter
wie Einschallwinkel, Fokustiefe und Schallbündelbreite programmgesteuert an sich
verändernde Prüfbedingungen anzupassen. Zu diesen zählt die Temperatur des
Koppelmediums (Wasser), die in einem Bereich von 10°C bis 50°C liegen kann, was
zu unterschiedlichen Schallgeschwindigkeiten führt und den Einschallwinkel
verändert. Mit der Folge, dass unter Umständen die geforderte 100%-Abdeckung
des Prüfvolumens nicht mehr gewährleistet ist.
Auch geometrische Abweichungen, wie sie durch die fertigungsbedingte Streuung
des Prüflings gegeben sind, können Einfluss auf das Prüfergebnis nehmen. So
führen Abweichungen vom idealen Geradheitszustand zu Fehlpositionierungen des
Prüfkopfs, was wiederum Einfluss auf die Lage und Beschaffenheit des Schallbündels
in der Stange hat. Ähnliches gilt für nicht vollkommen kreisförmig ausgebildete
Stangendurchmesser, die unterschiedliche Schalleintrittsbedingungen bewirken und
Abweichungen von den theoretisch ermittelten Werten zur Folge haben.
Im Rahmen eines vom BMWi geförderten Forschungsvorhabens wurde der Einfluss
dieser Parameter untersucht und ihre Auswirkungen für den Betrieb einer
automatisierten Prüfanlage unter realen Betriebsbedingungen ermittelt. Dies betrifft
vor allem den maximal möglichen Schallbündelversatz innerhalb des Arrays, der die
Anzahl der erforderlichen Prüftakte bestimmt und damit die maximale
Vorschubgeschwindigkeit des Prüflings. Des Weiteren werden Möglichkeiten zur
programmgesteuerten Kompensation der untersuchten Temperatur- und
Geometrieabweichungen durch eine flexible Anpassung der Gruppenstrahler-
Prüfkopfparameter aufgezeigt.
Stress corrosion cracking is a transcrystalline or intercrystalline crack formation in materials which
occurs under the influence of static tensile stress or residual stress and a specific aggressive
medium such as chloride containing substances.
This special sort of crack formation is involved in complex crack configurations, which may
only insufficiently be captured by conventional ultrasonic probes with fixed angles of incidence.
Only a number of different beam angles produce sufficient reflection to reconstruct the complete
defect shape from measured ultrasonic data. The SAFT algorithm, which was recently successfully
used in many industrial NDT-applications, is a promising tool for the reconstruction process. In
addition, the combination of phased array technique and SAFT was developed in several projects
by BAM, Berlin. Investigations using phased array equipment were performed to look into crack
configurations in test blocks with different surface curvatures. UT-SAFT has been used for the
analysis of spark-eroded notches simulating stress corrosion cracks at the thermo sleeve weld of a
nozzle. For comparison, UT-SAFT has also been applied for the analysis of real reflectors at the
same position in a nozzle used in a power plant, which was repaired later on. SAFT-scans received
from reconstructed ultrasonic measurement data confirm the practical usefulness of the SAFTalgorithm
developed by BAM.
BAM und TATA Steel untersuchen gemeinsam, ob sich die Prüfung von ferritischen Feinblechen mit einer Stärke von etwa 0,2 mm während der Fertigung durch den Einsatz von GMR-Sensorik verbessern lässt. Hierzu wurde eine Vorstudie an Feinblechen mit eingebrachten Mikronuten durchgeführt. Diese Nuten variieren in ihrer Tiefe zwischen 5 μm und 60 μm und wurden verdeckt mit ZfP-angepassten GMR-Sensorarrays geprüft. Die Ergebnisse der Vorstudie zeigten, dass bei verdeckter Prüfung schon kleinste Defekte mit einer Tiefe von 10 μm - gleichbedeutend mit einer Restwanddicke von 90 % – mit einem SNR > 6 dB detektiert werden konnten, wobei der Abstand der Prüfsonde zur Oberfläche bis zu 500 μm betrug. Zudem wurden in der Vorstudie Untersuchungen zur Prüfgeschwindigkeit und Praxistauglichkeit durchgeführt.
Basierend auf den hier gewonnenen Ergebnissen wird ein erster Demonstrator für eine zuverlässige Prüfung eines Teilbereiches von 50 mm des Feinbleches innerhalb einer Produktionslinie aufgebaut. Zum Einsatz kommen Prüfsonden mit jeweils 24 GMR-Sensorelementen. Hierbei wird das Ziel einer umfassenden Prüfung des Feinblechs über die gesamte Breite von 1200 mm angestrebt. Eine besondere Herausforderung stellt dabei die hohe Anzahl von mehr als 1000 Sensorelementen dar. Das hierfür entwickelte Prüfkonzept umfasst neben einer angepassten Erzeugung des Magnetfeldes die Entwicklung einer geeigneten schnellen und sicheren Elektronik für die neuen Mehrkanalprüfköpfe. Neben der Vorstellung des Prüfkonzeptes und seiner Eigenschaften vergleichen wir die erzielten Prüfergebnisse an verschiedenen Vergleichsfehlern mit denen der Vorstudie.
The residual stress distribution of tungsten inert gas welded S235JRC+C plates was determined by means of neutron diffraction(ND). Large longitudinal residual stresses with maxima around 600 MPa were found. With these results as reference, the evaluation of residual stress with high spatial resolution GMR (giant magneto resistance) sensors was discussed. The experiments performed indicate a correlation between changes in residual stresses (ND) and the normal component of local residual magnetic stray fields (GMR). Spatial variations in the magnetic field strength perpendicular to the welds are in the order of the magnetic field of the earth.
For the last 20 years active thermography has developed into a standard method in non-destructive material testing. It has become possible to detect defects such as cracks, voids, or even material inhomogeneities. Until now, it is still difficult to quantify subsurface or hidden defects in size due to the diffusive nature of heat flow within a solid. Facing this issue, lockin thermography and other photothermal techniques have been established. They are based on exciting a sample periodically (e.g. with a halogen lamp), causing a controlled periodical heat flow and thereby representing strongly damped thermal waves. These techniques make use of interference and reflection of thermal waves which allow enhancing depth resolution.
So far, only the temporal component of the light source was modified to achieve a defined vertical heat flow – In contrast, we propose a novel technique in which we are able to control both: time and space. This technique enables us to exploit the possibilities of coherent thermal wave shaping. We achieve that by combining a spatial light modulator (SLM) with a high power laser. This approach allows us to launch a set of individually controlled and fully coherent high energy thermal waves into the sample volume. That means, we intentionally use wave propagation throughout the sample’s material in both - vertical and lateral direction. As one possible application, we use a thermal waves’ interference effect of two phase shifted wave patterns to detect the position of hidden defects. The wave patterns are positioned with a certain distance and a 180° phase shift to each other creating an amplitude depletion zone right in the middle of the two patterns. When a defect is brought unsymmetrically into the depletion zone, the lateral heat flow is disturbed. If the sample is now moved through the depletion zone, a defect can be easily characterized. Exciting periodically while controlling simultaneously phase and amplitude enables us to have a defined thermal wave propagation throughout the sample which means thermal waves can be controlled almost like acoustical or optical waves. This offers the opportunity to transfer known technologies from wave shaping techniques to thermography methods.
Among the photothermal methods, full-field thermal imaging is used to characterize materials, to determine thicknesses of layers, or to find inhomogeneities such as voids or cracks. The use of classical light sources such as flash lamps (impulse heating) or halogen lamps (modulated heating) led to a variety of nondestructive testing methods, in particular, lock-in and flash-thermography. In vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs), laser light is emitted perpendicularly to the surface with a symmetrical beam profile. Due to the vertical structure, they can be arranged in large arrays of many thousands of individual lasers, which allows power scaling into the kilowatt range. Recently, a high-power yet very compact version of such a VCSEL-array became available that offers both the fast timing behavior of a laser as well as the large illumination area of a lamp. Moreover, it allows a spatial and temporal control of the heating because individual parts of the array can be controlled arbitrarily in frequency, amplitude, and phase. In conjunction with a fast infrared camera, such structured heating opens up a field of novel thermal imaging and testing methods. As a first demonstration of this approach, we chose a testing problem very challenging to conventional thermal infrared testing: The detection of very thin subsurface defects perpendicularly oriented to the surface of metallic samples. First, we generate destructively interfering thermal wave fields, which are then affected by the presence of defects within their reach. It turned out that this technique allows highly sensitive detection of subsurface defects down to depths in excess of the usual thermographic rule of thumb, with no need for a reference or surface preparation.
Active thermography with lock-in excitation is a non-destructive testing method that is also feasible for testing of carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP). For validating the method extensive investigations were done during a research project in order to advance a standardization process.
The most important parameters of optical and ultrasonic excitation thermography were investigated. For example, the appropriate selection of spectral sensitivity of the used infrared camera systems is important for recording undisturbed thermal signals. Regarding excitation,
influences of excitation power and ultrasonic frequency were studied. Furthermore, material parameters such as CFRP layup are known for strongly affecting the results of
measurement.
Spatial and temporal control of thermal waves by using DMDs for interference based crack detection
(2016)
Active Thermography is a well-established non-destructive testing method and used to detect cracks, voids or material inhomogeneities. It is based on applying thermal energy to a samples’ surface whereas inner defects alter the nonstationary heat flow. Conventional excitation of a sample is hereby done spatially, either planar (e.g. using a lamp) or local (e.g. using a focused laser) and temporally, either pulsed or periodical. In this work we combine a high power laser with a Digital Micromirror Device (DMD) allowing us to merge all degrees of freedom to a spatially and temporally controlled heat source. This enables us to exploit the possibilities of coherent thermal wave shaping. Exciting periodically while controlling at the same time phase and amplitude of the illumination source induces – via Absorption at the sample’s surface - a defined thermal wave propagation through a sample. That means thermal waves can be controlled almost like acoustical or optical waves. However, in contrast to optical or acoustical waves, thermal waves are highly damped due to the diffusive character of the thermal heat flow and therefore limited in penetration depth in relation to the achievable resolution. Nevertheless, the coherence length of thermal waves can be chosen in the mmrange for modulation frequencies below 10 Hz which is perfectly met by DMD technology. This approach gives us the opportunity to transfer known technologies from wave shaping techniques to thermography methods. We will present experiments on spatial and temporal wave shaping, demonstrating interference based crack detection.
It is widely accepted that the magnetic state of a ferromagnetic material may be irreversibly altered by mechanical loading due to magnetoelastic effects. A novel standardized nondestructive testing (NDT) technique uses weak magnetic stray fields, which are assumed to arise from inhomogeneous deformation, for structural health monitoring (i.e., for detection and assessment of damage). However, the mechanical and microstructural complexity of damage has hitherto only been insufficiently considered. The aim of this study is to discuss the phenomenon of inhomogeneous “self-magnetization” of a polycrystalline ferromagnetic material under inhomogeneous deformation experimentally and with stronger material-mechanical focus. To this end, notched specimens were elastically and plastically deformed. Surface magnetic states were measured by a three-axis giant magnetoresistant (GMR) sensor and were compared with strain field (digital image correlation) and optical topography measurements. It is demonstrated that the stray fields do not solely form due to magnetoelastic effects. Instead, inhomogeneous plastic deformation causes topography, which is one of the main origins for the magnetic stray field formation. Additionally, if not considered, topography may falsify the magnetic signals due to variable lift-off values. The correlation of magnetic vector components with mechanical tensors, particularly for multiaxial stress/strain states and inhomogeneous elastic-plastic deformations remains an issue.
This study examines the relationship between the magnetic mesostructure with the microstructure of low carbon steel tungsten inert gas welds. Optical microscopy revealed variation in the microstructure of the parent material, in the heat affected and fusion zones, correlating with distinctive changes in the local magnetic stray fields measured with high spatial resolution giant magneto resistance sensors. In the vicinity of the heat affected zone high residual stresses were found using neutron diffraction.
Notably, the gradients of von Mises stress and triaxial magnetic stray field modulus follow the same tendency transverse to the weld. In contrast, micro-X-ray fluorescence characterization indicated that local changes in element composition had no independent effect on magnetic stray fields.
Eddy Current Technique is a powerful method for detection of surface notches and of buried flaws during inspection of metallic parts. Recent EC array probes have demonstrated a fast and efficient control of large surfaces. Nevertheless, when the size of flaws decreases or the defect is rather deep, traditional winding coil probes turn out to be useless. Magnetoresistive sensors present the advantages of flat frequency response and micron size. These sensors are hence very attractive for the detection of buried defects that require low frequencies because of skin depth effect. An optimization of the probe with magnetoresistive sensors as receivers has been made by simulations using CIVA software and finite elements methods with OPERA. EC probes for buried flaw detection have been designed. Experimental results have been compared with simulations.