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"INFRASTAR aims to develop knowledge, expertise and skills for optimal and reliable management of structures. The generic methodology is applied to bridges and wind turbines in relation to fatigue offering the opportunity to deal with complementary notions (such as old and new asset management, unique and similar structures, wind and traffic actions) while addressing 3 major challenges: 1/ advanced modelling of concrete fatigue behaviour, 2/new non destructive testing methods for early aged damage detection and 3/probabilistic approach of structure reliability under fatigue. Benefit of cross-experience and inter-disciplinary synergies creates new knowledge. INFRASTAR proposes innovative solutions for civil infrastructure asset management so that young scientists acquire a high employment profile in close dialogue between industry and academic partners. Modern engineering methods, including probabilistic approaches, risk and reliability assessment tools, will take into account the effective structural behaviour of existing bridges and wind turbines by exploiting monitored data. Existing methods and current state-of -the art is based on excessive conservatism which produces high costs and hinders sustainability. INFRASTAR improves knowledge for optimising the design of new structures, for more realistic verification of structural safety and more accurate prediction of future lifetime of the existing structures. That is a challenge for a sustainable development because it reduces building material and energy consumption as well as CO2 production. Within the global framework of optimal infrastructure asset management, INFRASTAR will result in a multi-disciplinary body of knowledge covering generic problems from the design stage process of the new civil infrastructures up to recycling after dismantlement. This approach and the proposed methods and tools are new and allow a step forward for innovative and effective process."
The Infrastar training school provides lectures and hands-on training to Master and PhD students, early-stage researchers and (young) professionals on all aspects of asset management of civil infrastructures with respect to fatigue of materials. It is organized yearly since 2019 and up to 20 profiles are selected to attend the 3.5-day training.
A team of 7 teachers provides insight in multi-disciplinary and intersectoral basic concepts in three core fields, ranging from the design to the dismantling of the structures (bridges and wind turbines):
1. Monitoring and auscultation,
2. Structural and action models,
3. Reliability, risk and decision analyses.
Each year, a recognized expert is invited to deliver a keynote lecture to raise interest in a specific aspect of one of the fields covered. The presentation is recorded and published on the training school website.
In this paper we propose super resolution measurement and post-processing strategies that can be applied in thermography using laser line scanning. The implementation of these techniques facilitates the separation of two closely spaced defects and avoids the expected deterioration of spatial resolution due to heat diffusion. The experimental studies were performed using a high-power laser as heat source in combination with pulsed thermography measurements (step scanning) or with continuous heating measurements (continuous scanning). Our work shows that laser line step scanning as well as continuous scanning both can be used within our developed super resolution (SR) techniques. Our SR techniques make use of a compressed sensing based algorithm in post- processing, the so-called iterative joint sparsity (IJOSP) approach. The IJOSP method benefits from both - the sparse nature of defects in space as well as from the similarity of each measurement. In addition, we show further methods to improve the reconstruction quality e.g. by simple manipulations in thermal image processing such as by considering the effect of the scanning motion or by using different optimization algorithms within the IJOSP approach. These super resolution image processing methods are discussed so that the advantages and disadvantages of each method can be extracted. Our contribution thus provides new approaches for the implementation of super resolution techniques in laser line scanning thermography and informs about which experimental and post-processing parameters should be chosen to better separate two closely spaced defects.
Laser excited super resolution thermal imaging for nondestructive inspection of internal defects
(2020)
A photothermal super resolution technique is proposed for an improved inspection of internal defects. To evaluate the potential of the laser-based thermographic technique, an additively manufactured stainless steel specimen with closely spaced internal cavities is used. Four different experimental configurations in transmission, reflection, stepwise and continuous scanning are investigated. The applied image post-processing method is based on compressed sensing and makes use of the block sparsity from multiple measurement events. This concerted approach of experimental measurement strategy and numerical optimization enables the resolution of internal defects and outperforms conventional thermographic inspection techniques.
We combine three different approaches to greatly enhance the defect reconstruction ability of active thermographic testing. As experimental approach, laser-based structured illumination is performed in a step-wise manner. As an intermediate signal processing step, the virtual wave concept is used in order to effectively convert the notoriously difficult to solve diffusion-based inverse problem into a somewhat milder wavebased inverse problem. As a final step, a compressed-sensing based optimization procedure is applied which efficiently solves the inverse problem by making advantage of the joint sparsity of multiple blind measurements. To evaluate our proposed processing technique, we investigate an additively manufactured stainless steel sample with eight internal defects. The concerted super resolution approach is compared to conventional thermographic reconstruction techniques and shows an at least four times better spatial resolution.
A systematic study has been carried out to investigate the neutron transmission signal as a function of sample temperature. In particular, the experimentally determined wavelength-dependent neutron attenuation spectra for a martensitic steel at temperatures ranging from 21 to 700°C are compared with simulated data. A theoretical description that includes the Debye–Waller factor in order to describe the temperature influence on the neutron cross sections was implemented in the nxsPlotter software and used for the simulations. The analysis of the attenuation coefficients at varying temperatures shows that the missing contributions due to elastic and inelastic scattering can be clearly distinguished: while the elastically scattered intensities decrease with higher temperatures, the inelastically scattered intensities increase, and the two can be separated from each other by analysing unique sharp features in the form of Bragg edges. This study presents the first systematic approach to quantify this effect and can serve as a basis , for example, to correct measurements taken during in situ heat treatments, in many cases being a prerequisite for obtaining quantifiable results.
Simulation-Assisted Augmentation of Missing Wedge and Region-of-Interest Computed Tomography Data
(2024)
This study reports a strategy to use sophisticated, realistic X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) simulations to reduce Missing Wedge (MW) and Region-of-Interest (RoI) artifacts in FBP (Filtered Back-Projection) reconstructions. A 3D model of the object is used to simulate the projections that include the missing information inside the MW and outside the RoI. Such information augments the experimental projections, thereby drastically improving the reconstruction results. An X-ray CT dataset of a selected object is modified to mimic various degrees of RoI and MW problems. The results are evaluated in comparison to a standard FBP reconstruction of the complete dataset. In all cases, the reconstruction quality is significantly improved. Small inclusions present in the scanned object are better localized and quantified. The proposed method has the potential to improve the results of any CT reconstruction algorithm.
Stahlbetontragwerke sind eine wichtige Konstruktionsweise im Bauwesen und ein wachsendes Anwendungsfeld für die Zerstörungsfreie Prüfung (ZfP).
Zur Sicherung der Tragsicherheit, strukturellen Integrität, Bestimmung von Geometrien und zur Detektion konstruktiver Elemente wie z.B. Bewehrung, Verankerungen und Spannkanälen besitzen zerstörungsfreie Prüfverfahren in diesem Bereich inzwischen große Relevanz. Durch den bislang erreichten Fortschritt in der Forschung und Entwicklung haben moderne akustische und elektromagnetische Verfahren eine beachtliche Leistungsfähigkeit erreicht. Von Geräteherstellern sind diese in kommerziellen Produktserien umgesetzt worden und finden eine zunehmend breite Anwendung in der Praxis. In einigen anderen Anwendungsgebieten, in denen die ZfP bereits fester Bestandteil von Überwachungen ist, wie z.B. im Maschinenbau und insbesondere in der Kerntechnik und der Luftfahrt, existieren umfangreiche Qualitätssicherungssysteme für die konforme Anwendung und zuverlässige Einbeziehung der ZfP. Dem relativ jungen Entwicklungsstadium moderner ZfP für Stahlbetonbauteile entsprechend müssen solche Konzepte im Bauwesen erst noch entwickelt bzw. implementiert werden.
Dementsprechend hat sich der Unterausschuss Qualitätssicherung (UA- S) des Fachausschusses ZfP im Bauwesen (ZfPBau) die Definition und Verbesserung der Qualität von ZfP-Anwendungen sowie insbesondere die verfahrensunabhängige Standardisierung von Prüfprozeduren und statistische Absicherung der Prüfergebnisse zum Ziel gemacht.
Die aktuellen Arbeitsfelder beinhalten die Entwicklung praxisgerechter Konzepte für Prüfprozeduren und deren Erprobung in einem Ringversuch sowie die Konzeption von Testkörpern hinsichtlich unterschiedlicher Aspekte wie Parameterstudien, Validierung, Kalibrierung und Simulation. Dabei werden Ansätze anderer Branchen durchaus einbezogen, die Anpassung an die spezifischen Bedürfnisse und Gegebenheiten des Bauwesens wird jedoch als wesentlich angesehen und stellt somit eine wichtige Vorgabe dar.
Da die Tätigkeiten nicht auf einzelne Verfahren begrenzt sind, müssen generelle Vorgehensweisen entwickelt werden, die sich auf die jeweiligen Verfahren konkretisieren lassen. Der Vortrag gibt hierzu erste Einblicke in die Arbeit des Ausschusses.
Additive manufacturing (AM) offers a range of novel applications. However, the manufacturing process is complex and the production of defect-free parts with high reliability and durability is still a challenge. Thermography is a valuable tool for process surveillance, especially in metal AM processes. The high process temperatures allow one to use cameras usually operating in the visible spectral range. Here, we compare the results of measurements during the manufacturing process of a commercial laser metal deposition setup using a mid-wavelength-IR camera with those from a visual spectrum high-speed camera with band pass filter in the near-IR range.
Additive manufacturing offers a range of novel applications. However, the manufacturing process is complex and the production of almost defect-free parts with high reliability and durability is still a challenge. Thermography is a valuable tool for process surveillance, especially in metal additive manufacturing processes. The high process temperatures allow one to use cameras usually operating in the visible spectral range. Here, we compare the results of measurements during the manufacturing process of a commercial laser metal deposition setup using a mid wavelength infrared camera with those from a short wavelength infrared camera and those from a visual spectrum high-speed camera with band pass filter in the near infrared range.
This contribution summarizes actual developments and draft fundamental teaching topics in the field of nondestructive testing in civil engineering (NDT-CE). It is based on the first memorandum on teaching and research in the field of NDT-CE at German speaking universities and provides an overview of the academic education and highlights possible focuses, especially in teaching but also takes into account noteworthy developments and topics in research in the field of NDT-CE.
Suggestions are given for the development and advancement of the teaching curricula in regards to a comprehensive and sound professional education of students in civil engineering and adjacent disciplines.
The contour scan strategies in laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) of Ti-6Al-4V were studied at the coupon level. These scan strategies determined the surface qualities and subsurface residual stresses. The correlations to these properties were identified for an optimization of the LPBF processing. The surface roughness and the residual stresses in build direction were linked: combining high laser power and high scan velocities with at least two contour lines substantially reduced the surface roughness, expressed by the arithmetic mean height, from values as high as 30 μm to 13 μm, while the residual stresses rose from ~340 to about 800 MPa. At this stress level, manufactured rocket fuel injector components evidenced macroscopic cracking. A scan strategy completing the contour region at 100 W and 1050 mm/s is recommended as a compromise between residual stresses (625 MPa) and surface quality (14.2 μm). The LPBF builds were monitored with an in-line twin-photodiode-based melt pool monitoring (MPM) system, which revealed a correlation between the intensity quotient I2/I1, the surface roughness, and the residual stresses. Thus, this MPM system can provide a predictive estimate of the surface quality of the samples and resulting residual stresses in the material generated during LPBF.
A steel pipeline segment of 2.5 m length was subjected to quasi-static four-point bending load in three steps for studying the initial cracking and damage accumulation based on the Acoustic Emission (AE) technique and by the direct current potential drop (DCPD) technique. For the latter, a new post-test analysis method was established.
AE is found more sensitive to crack initiation than DCPD. Formation of mesoscopic and macroscopic cracks as well as their closure and the resulting friction generate weighted peak frequencies below 400 kHz, whereas microscopic cracking produces AE with broad band spectra identifiable by weighted peak frequencies above 400 kHz. Critical states alike the maximum load level and the leak opening were accompanied by peak amplitudes above 85 dBAE. This rather fundamental study provides a data base for possibly developing advanced strategies of detection and alarm systems based on acoustic monitoring of pipelines, or at least, steel structures.
Um ein tieferes Verständnis über die Schallemission bei der Entstehung und Ausbreitung von Rissen in Stahlrohrleitungen zu erlangen, wurde ein Stahlrohr der Güte S355J2H im Vierpunkt-Biegeversuch quasistatisch bis hin zum Wanddurchbruch (Leckage) belastet und mittels Schallemissionsmessung und Gleichstrompotentialmessung überwacht. Das Rohrsegment wurde durch einen 90°- Außenumfangskerb in der Mitte der Rohrlänge definiert vorgeschädigt, um davon ausgehend ein stabiles Risswachstum zu induzieren und die Analyse von Schallemission aus Rissereignissen, die am Kerb eintraten, sicherzustellen. Für die Schallemissionsmessung wurden vier Breitbandsensoren max. 105 mm vom Kerb entfernt montiert. Die Signalaufzeichnung erfolgte kontinuierlich und schwellwertunabhängig. Für die Gleichstrompotentialmessung wurde ein Gleichstrom von 300 A eingeleitet und der Potentialabfall über dem Kerb mit fünf Sonden entlang des Kerbs gemessen. Beide Messverfahren identifizieren die Rissinitiierung sowie Veränderungen im Risswachstum. Die detektierten Schallemissionsereignisse werden, unter Berücksichtigung spektraler Eigenschaften, mit fortschreitender Belastung und Rissentwicklung analysiert. Diese Studien wurden im Rahmen des interdisziplinären Forschungsprojekts AGIFAMOR, Aging infrastructure - Faseroptisches Monitoring von Rohrleitungen, an der BAM durchgeführt.
Flexible, niedrigdichte Schäume aus Biokunststoffen im Extrusionsverfahren herzustellen war bisher industriell noch nicht möglich. Im Verarbeitungstechnikum Biopolymere des Fraunhofer IAP wurde in einem Projekt die Eignung von PBS-basierten Biokunststofftypen für Schaumanwendungen erforscht und weiterentwickelt.
Wavefield measurements by a scanning laser Doppler vibrometer are generally carried out in a cartesian coordinate. As a piezoelectric transducer generates Lamb waves following radial paths, the use of a polar coordinate can be a suitable alternative to the use of a cartesian coordinate. Therefore, in the proposed method, using a single transducer placed on the center of the specimen, the measured wavefields are transformed into polar coordinates, making several identical radial line inspections from the center in a direction of incident waves. Taking advantage of the properties of the polar coordinates, a signal processing technique is proposed through a frequency-wavenumber filtering process in these coordinates. In this technique, by using proper filters, unwanted wave modes of the incident wave along with all reflected waves are filtered out. In addition, the conventional features of RMS and Euclidean distance are adapted for the polar coordinate system to image the bonded plate. The proposed signal processing and damage imaging are first introduced through a numerical simulation. Then, the performance of the proposed technique is presented by experimental measurements of two specimens including adhesively bonded carbon fiber-reinforced plastic composite plates and bonded aluminum plates.
The assessment of Coda Wave Interferometry (CWI) and Distributed Fiber Optics Sensing (DFOS) techniques for the detection of damages in a laboratory size reinforced concrete beam is presented in this paper. The sensitivity of these two novel techniques to micro cracks is discussed and compared to standard traditional sensors. Moreover, the capacity of a DFOS technique to localize cracks and quantify crack openings is also assessed. The results show that the implementation of CWI and DFOS techniques allow the detection of early subtle changes in reinforced concrete structures until crack formation. With their ability to quantify the crack opening, following early detection and localization, DFOS techniques can achieve more effective monitoring of reinforced concrete structures. Contrary to discrete sensors, CWI and DFOS techniques cover larger areas and thus provide more efficient infrastructures asset management and maintenance operations throughout the lifetime of the structure.
The amount of data generated worldwide is constantly increasing. These data come from a wide variety of sources and systems, are processed differently, have a multitude of formats, and are stored in an untraceable and unstructured manner, predominantly in natural language in data silos. This problem can be equally applied to the heterogeneous research data from materials science and engineering. In this domain, ways and solutions are increasingly being generated to smartly link material data together with their contextual information in a uniform and well-structured manner on platforms, thus making them discoverable, retrievable, and reusable for research and industry. Ontologies play a key role in this context. They enable the sustainable representation of expert knowledge and the semantically structured filling of databases with computer-processable data triples.
In this perspective article, we present the project initiative Materials-open-Laboratory (Mat-o-Lab) that aims to provide a collaborative environment for domain experts to digitize their research results and processes and make them fit for data-driven materials research and development. The overarching challenge is to generate connection points to further link data from other domains to harness the promised potential of big materials data and harvest new knowledge.
In-situ monitoring of the Laser Powder Bed Fusion build process via bi- chromatic optical tomography
(2022)
As metal additive manufacturing (AM) is entering industrial serial production of safety relevant components, the need for reliable process qualification is growing continuously. Especially in strictly regulated industries, such as aviation, the use of AM is strongly dependent on ensuring consistent quality of components. Because of its numerous influencing factors, up to now, the metal AM process is not fully controllable. Today, expensive part qualification processes for each single component are common in industry.
This contribution focusses on bi-chromatic optical tomography as a new approach for AM in-situ quality control. In contrast to classical optical tomography, the emitted process radiation is monitored simultaneously with two temperature calibrated cameras at two separate wavelength bands. This approach allows one to estimate the local maximum temperatures during the manufacturing process, thus increases the comparability of monitoring data of different processes. A new process information level at low investment cost is reachable, compared to, e.g., infrared thermography.
Laser powder bed fusion of metallic components (PBF-LB/M) is gaining acceptance in industry. However, the high costs and lengthy qualification processes required for printed components create the need for more effective in-situ monitoring and testing methods. This article proposes multispectral Optical Tomography (OT) as a new approach for monitoring the PBF-LB/M process. Compared to other methods, OT is a low-cost process monitoring method that uses long-time exposure imaging to observe the build process. However, it lacks time resolution compared to expensive thermographic sensor systems. Monochromatic OT (1C-OT) is already commercially available and observes the building process layer-wise using a single wavelength window in the NIR range. Multispectral OT (nC-OT) utilizes a similar setup but can measure multiple wavelength ranges per location simultaneously. By comparing the classical 1C-OT and nC-OT approaches, this article examines the advantages of nC-OT (two channel OT and RGB-OT) in reducing the false positive rate for process deviations and approximating maximum temperatures for a better comparison between different build processes and materials. This could ultimately reduce costs and time for part qualification. The main goal of this contribution is to assess the advantages of nC-OT compared to 1C-OT for in-situ process monitoring of PBF-LB/M.
For a deep process understanding of the laser powder bed fusion process (PBF-LB/M), recording of the occurring surface temperatures is of utmost interest and would help to pave the way for reliable process monitoring and quality assurance. A notable number of approaches for in-process monitoring of the PBF-LB/M process focus on the monitoring of thermal process signatures. However, due to the elaborate calibration effort and the lack of knowledge about the occurring spectral directional emissivity, only a few approaches attempt to measure real temperatures. In this study, to gain initial insights into occurring in the PBF-LB/M process, measurements on PBF-LB/M specimens and metal powder specimens were performed for higher temperatures up to T = 1290 °C by means of the emissivity measurement apparatus (EMMA) of the Center for Applied Energy Research (CAE, Wuerzburg, Germany). Also, measurements at ambient temperatures were performed with a suitable measurement setup. Two different materials—stainless steel 316L and aluminum AlSi10Mg—were examined. The investigated wavelength λ ranges from the visible range (λ-VIS= 0.40–0.75 µm) up to the infrared, λ = 20 µm. The influence of the following factors were investigated: azimuth angle φ, specimen temperature TS, surface texture as for PBF-LB/M surfaces with different scan angles α, and powder surfaces with different layer thicknesses t.
Die zeitaufgelöste THz-Spektroskopie (THz-TDS) operiert mit elektromagnetischen Impulsen, die ein Amplitudenspektrum im unteren THz-Bereich aufweisen. Die THz-TDS ist in der Lage, dielektrische Volumina zerstörungs- und kontaktfreie zu durchstrahlen. Um eine 3D-THz Bildung zu ermöglichen, wurde für die THz-TDS ein rechnergestütztes Mess- und Rekonstruktionsverfahren (THz-TDSAFT) entwickelt, mit dem es gelingt, unter Verwendung der im Zeitbereich registrierten THz-TDS-Daten das Volumeninnere in Form eines dreidimensionalen Tomogramms zu rekonstruieren. Die THz-TD-SAFT basiert auf die für die Ultraschalltechnik entwickelte Synthetische Apertur Fokussierung (SAFT) bzw. des heuristisch begründeten Algorithmus des Synthetischen Apertur Radars (SAR). Anhand von Beispielen wird die Möglichkeiten der THz-TD-SAFT demonstriert und nachgewiesen, dass mit dem Rekonstruktionsansatz die künstlich eingebauten Fehlstellen bezüglich der Position und Größe geometrisch richtig im Tomogramm abgebildet werden können.
Aktuelle Entwicklungen der Wirbelstrom- und Ultraschallprüfung an verlegten Eisenbahnschienen
(2019)
Die kombinierte Schienenprüfung mit Wirbelstrom und Ultraschall ermöglicht eine ganzheitliche Detektion von Inhomogenitäten im Kopf und Steg der Schiene und gewährleistet das Auffinden sowohl von Volumen-als auch Oberflächeneffekten wie z. B. Head Checks. Für die verbesserte Detektion von Rollkontaktermüdung (rolling contact fatique, RCF) und den daraus resultierenden Schienenfehlern (Head-Checks, Squats, Riffel, …) wurde für die Wirbelstromprüfung der Prüfbereich auf die gesamte Rollkontaktfläche erweitert. Der Fokus liegt im Neudesign der Wirbelstrom-Prüfvorrichtung und der damit verbundenen normgerechten Auslegung der Konstruktion für die fahrzeugspezifischen Gegebenheiten. Ferner wurde die Anwendersoftware des kombinierten Prüfsystems vereinheitlicht. Um die wirtschaftliche Effektivität unsere Prüftechnik zu steigern, wird die Multiplex-Gerätetechnologie in die automatisierte Schienenprüfung eingeführt. Damit wird der freizuhaltende Einbauraum innerhalb der Fahrzeuge sowie Kabelwege deutlich reduziert. Durch den Übergang zu der Multiplextechnologie wurde weiterhin die Stromaufnahme um mehr als 50% reduziert.
Airborne ultrasonic testing of lightweight, structured composite materials enables fast and contact-free non-destructive testing in aerospace and avoids material degradation due to contact with a coupling liquid. Established resonant air-coupled transducers consist of piezocomposite materials and several matching layers or more advanced materials like charged cellular polypropylene. The relaxation time and the specific frequency of such mechanical ultrasound emitters limit the spectrum of applications for each device. A short pulse length is key for reliable defect detection and each component at test can be best characterized at material- and geometry-specific frequencies. Here we show that focused thermoacoustic transducers are suited for testing lightweight, structured composite plates. Since the ultrasound is generated in air, these transducers show no resonance behavior and emit a broadband acoustic spectrum between 1.2 kHz and 1 MHz. Composite specimens of 3 mm to 9 mm thickness made of polylactide with a honeycomb structure were tested. Flat bottom holes were introduced to quantify the spatial resolution of the imaging method inside the strongly anisotropic specimen. As no broadband receivers are available yet, cellular polypropylene transducers were used as receivers, which limits the bandwidth of the method towards the bandwidth of the receiver. Nevertheless, we demonstrate the competitiveness of the thermoacoustic transducer compared to mechanical emitters at their respective resonance frequencies. Because a thermoacoustic transmitter features a nearly ideal pulse width, a single transmitter can be coupled with receivers with different resonance frequencies. With the development of broadband ultrasound receivers, air-coupled ultrasound spectroscopy will likely be possible in the near future. The analysed transducer holds the potential to speed up testing during production and maintenance in aerospace and automotives. Its combination with a broadband receiver could also expand the application field of air-coupled ultrasonic testing from a qualitative error detection towards a quantitative, spatially resolved analysis of mechanical material properties.
Air-coupled ultrasound sensors have advantages over contact ultrasound sensors when a sample should not become contaminated or influenced by the couplant or the measurement has to be a fast and automated inline process. Thereby, air-coupled transducers must emit high-energy pulses due to the low air-to-solid power transmission ratios (10−3 to 10−8). Currently used resonant transducers trade bandwidth—a prerequisite for material parameter analysis—against pulse energy. Here we show that a combination of a non-resonant ultrasound emitter and a non-resonant detector enables the generation and detection of pulses that are both high in amplitude (130 dB) and bandwidth (2 µs pulse width). We further show an initial application: the detection of reflections inside of a carbon fiber reinforced plastic plate with thicknesses between 1.7 mm and 10 mm. As the sensors work contact-free, the time of flight and the period of the in-plate reflections are independent parameters. Hence, a variation of ultrasound velocity is distinguishable from a variation of plate thickness and both properties are determined simultaneously. The sensor combination is likely to find numerous industrial applications necessitating high automation capacity and opens possibilities for air-coupled, single-side ultrasonic inspection.
Material defects in fiber reinforced polymers such as delaminations can rapidly degrade the material properties or can lead to the failure of a component. Pulse thermography (PT) has proven to be a valuable tool to identify and quantify such defects in opaque materials. However, quantification of delaminations within semitransparent materials is extremely challenging. We present an approach to quantify delaminations within materials being semitransparent within the wavelength ranges of the optical excitation sources as well as of the infrared (IR) camera. PT experimental data of a glass fiber reinforced polymer with a real delamination within the material were reconstructed by one dimensional (1D) mathematical models. These models describe the heat diffusion within the material and consider semitransparency to the excitation source as well to the IR camera, thermal losses at the samples surfaces and a thermal contact resistance between the two layers describing the delamination. By fitting the models to the PT data, we were able to determine the depth of the delamination very accurately. Additionally, we analyzed synthetic PT data from a 2D simulation with our 1D-models to show how the thermal contact resistance is influenced by lateral heat flow within the material.
Bruchmechanische Untersuchungen werden zur Vorhersage der Lebensdauer und der Wartungszyklen benutzt. Dabei wird davon ausgegangen, dass auch Objekte ohne detektierte Anzeigen Materialfehler mit einer Reflektivität kleiner der Nachweisgrenze aufweisen können. Keine detektierte Anzeige bedeutet daher für Bauteilauslegung, dass sie eine konservative Annahme machen müssen: es wird angenommen, dass das Bauteil Materialfehler in Größe der Nachweisgrenze enthält. Dies macht die Nachweisgrenze zu dem die Lebensdauer limitierenden Faktor. Bei probabilistischen Methoden wird zusätzliches Wissen, wie Zuverlässigkeit und Fehlerauffindwahrscheinlichkeiten bei der zerstörungsfreien Prüfung mit in die Berechnung einbezogen, um zu konservative Annahmen zu vermeiden. Ziel ist es eine Model-Assisted-POD aufzubauen mit der die reale volumetrische Ultraschallprüfung großer Schmiedeteile nachgebildet werden kann. Die resultierende POD soll im Weiteren in bruchmechanischen Betrachtungen Verwendung finden. In vorangegangenen Arbeiten [Preißel2015] wurde dazu der Einfluss des Prüfrasters nach der DGZfP-Richtlinie US 07:2014 auf die Fehlerauffindwahrscheinlichkeit (parametrisch) simulativ betrachtet und die Simulationstechnik experimentell validiert. In diesem Paper werden die Ergebnisse von Preißel überprüft und um eine Prüfraster-Summen-POD, die das Szenario der realen Bauteilprüfung beschreibt, erweitert. Zudem wird eine experimentell validierte, simulative, nicht-parametrische POD für schrägliegende Defekte aufgebaut. Schließlich werden erste Untersuchungen zur Defektmorphologie vorgestellt. Diese Arbeit ist im Rahmen eines Studenten-Stipendiums der DGZfP entstanden.
Reliability of NDT is affected by human factors, which have thus far received the least amount of attention in the reliability assessments. With increased use of automation, in terms of mechanised testing (automation-assisted inspection and the corresponding evaluation of data), higher reliability standards are believed to have been achieved. However, human inspectors, and thus human factors, still play an important role throughout this process and the risks involved in this application are unknown. The aim of this study was to explore for the first time the risks associated with mechanised NDT and find ways of mitigating their effects on the inspection performance. Hence, the objectives were to identify and Analyse potential risks in mechanised NDT and devise measures against them. To address those objectives, a risk assessment in form of a Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) was conducted. This analysis revealed potential for failure during both the acquisition and evaluation of NDT data that could be assigned to human, technology, and organisation. Since the existing preventive measures were judged to be insufficient to defend the system from identified failures, new preventive measures were suggested.
Whereas human factors (HF) in the non-destructive testing (NDT) of metallic components are a poorly investigated topic (in comparison to other industrial fields such as aviation), HF in the inspection of concrete components are even less known. Studies have shown that there is always some variability between individuals in their inspection results and that HF affect the reliability of NDT inspections. The aim of the ongoing WIPANO project is to draft a standard for a holistic reliability assessment, with concrete inspection as one case study. This includes also the HF. A human-oriented Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) was carried out to do the following: a) identify possible human-related risks in tunnel inspection processes using a laser scan method (including data collection,evaluation, and assessment of tunnel damage) and b) evaluate these human-related risks as regards their possible causes, consequences and probability of occurrence – in addition with respect to existing and possible preventive measures. The results show that the causes for possible failures can lie within people, the physical environment, technology, organisation, and extra-organisational environment. Whereas current preventive measures rely mostly on the individual and quality management practices, there is potential for even larger improvement at the organisational and extra-organisational level. The FMEA results were also used to develop a quantification method to further understand the HF in tunnel inspection, which could possibly be included in the information into the overall reliability assessment. The usage of qualitative and quantitative data collected through the human-FMEA within the proposed quantification method shows promise that HF can be quantified and could offer broader understanding of HF influences on inspection in various industries
Menschliche Faktoren sind ein häufig genanntes Thema, wenn wir über
die Zuverlässigkeit der zerstörungsfreien Prüfung (ZfP) sprechen. Die Probability of Detection (POD), das üblicherweise verwendete Maß für die Zuverlässigkeit der ZfP, betrachtet jedoch nur die technische Fähigkeit eines ZfP-Systems, einen Fehler zu entdecken. Nach mehreren Jahrzehnten der Erforschung des Einflusses der menschlichen Faktoren auf die Zuverlässigkeit der ZfP gibt es immer noch keinen allgemein akzeptierten Ansatz, um menschliche Faktoren in der Zuverlässigkeitsbewertung sichtbar zu machen. Dieser Beitrag gibt einen Überblick über verschiedene verfügbare Methoden zur Einbeziehung menschlicher Faktoren in die Zuverlässigkeitsbewertung. Das Thema ist ein essenzieller Bestandteil des laufenden WIPANO-Projekts "normPOD", das sich als Ziel gesetzt hat, die Standardisierung der Zuverlässigkeitsbewertung in Deutschland voranzutreiben und im Vergleich zu den schon bekannten internationalen Normen einen Fokus auf den Umgang mit den menschlichen Faktoren zu legen.
Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is a well-established method to analyze a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). However, without further data processing, the impedance spectrum yields only qualitative insight into the mechanism and individual contribution of transport, kinetics, and ohmic losses to the overall fuel cell limitations. The distribution of relaxation times (DRT) method allows quantifying each of these polarization losses and evaluates their contribution to a given electrocatalyst's depreciated performances. We coupled this method with a detailed morphology study to investigate the impact of the 3D-structure on the processes occurring inside a high-temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (HT-PEMFC). We tested a platinum catalyst (Pt/C), a platinum-cobalt alloy catalyst (Pt3Co/C), and a platinum group metal-free iron-nitrogen-carbon (Fe–N–C) catalyst. We found that the hampered mass transport in the latter is mainly responsible for its low performance in the MEA (along with its decreased intrinsic performances for the ORR reaction). The better performance of the alloy catalyst can be explained by both improved mass transport and a lower ORR resistance. Furthermore, single-cell tests show that the catalyst layer morphology influences the distribution of phosphoric acid during conditioning.
Radiografische Simulationswerkzeuge wie aRTist, ScorpiusXLab, SimCT oder CIVA CT verwenden analytische Methoden und physikalische Monte-Carlo-Teilchentransportsimulationen, um die Interaktionsprozesse zwischen Röntgenstrahlung und Materie zu simulieren. Die berechneten Projektionen bilden anschließend unter Berücksichtigung einer definierten Scan-Trajektorie die Basis der Simulation einer röntgencomputertomografischen Untersuchung.
Für den erfolgreichen Einsatz der Computertomografie, sei es als zerstörungsfreie Prüfmethode oder beim dimensionellen Messen, ist es generell notwendig, bekannte Fehler- bzw. Abweichungsquellen des Messverfahrens auszuschließen oder zu reduzieren. Dabei hat sich gezeigt, dass die Auswahl der Messparameter und die Erfahrung des Anwenders direkten Einfluss auf das erzielbare Messergebnis einer computertomografischen Untersuchung nehmen. Es ist daher sinnvoll, die Parameterauswahl in einem virtuellen Simulationsaufbau vorher zu erproben und an die Messaufgabe anzupassen.
Neben der Optimierung von Messparametern finden radiografische Simulationswerkzeuge auch Anwendung für Machbarkeitsstudien und werden zur Schulung von Anwendern im Bereich der Röntgen-Computertomografie verwendet.
Radiografische Simulationswerkzeuge befinden sich in einem stetigen Wandel, beispielsweise durch die Entwicklung neuer Rekonstruktionsmethoden, durch Erweiterung von analytischen Modellen, durch Integration komplexer Trajektorien oder durch Berücksichtigung von prozessbedingten geometrischen Abweichungen. Im laufenden EMPIR-Projekt „AdvanCT“ entsteht deshalb ein „Good Practice Guide“ für die Simulationsumgebung aRTist. Ziel dieses Guides ist es, die mit steigender Komplexität verbundenen Einstiegshürden für Anwender von aRTist zu reduzieren, um damit einen praxisnahen Zugang zur virtuellen Computertomografie zu ermöglichen. Dabei werden anhand von praktisch nachvollziehbaren Beispielen die grundlegenden Mechanismen der Simulationsumgebung erklärt und ein strukturierter Leitfaden zur Simulation röntgencomputertomografischer Untersuchungen mit aRTist vermittelt.
In diesem Beitrag werden erste Auszüge des Guides sowie eine Übersicht der weiteren geplanten Themen für die anschließende Diskussion vorgestellt.
Methodologies for model parameterization of virtual CTs for measurement uncertainty estimation
(2022)
X-ray computed tomography (XCT) is a fast-growing technology for dimensional measurements in industrial applications. However, traceable and efficient methods to determine measurement uncertainties are not available. Guidelines like the VDI/VDE 2630 Part 2.1 suggest at least 20 repetitions of a specific measurement task, which is not feasible for industrial standards. Simulation-based approaches to determine task specific measurement uncertainties are promising, but require closely adjusted model parameters and an integration of error sources like geometrical deviations during a measurement. Unfortunately, the development of an automated process to parameterize and integrate geometrical deviations into XCT models is still an open issue. In this work, the whole processing chain of dimensional XCT measurements is taken into account with focus on the issues and requirements to determine suitable parameters of geometrical deviations. Starting off with baseline simulations of different XCT systems, two approaches are investigated to determine and integrate geometrical deviations of reference measurements. The first approach tries to iteratively estimate geometric deviation parameter values to match the characteristics of the missing error sources. The second approach estimates those values based on radiographs of a known calibrated reference object. In contrast to prior work both approaches only use a condensed set of parameters to map geometric deviations. In case of the iterative approach, some major issues regarding unhandled directional dependencies have been identified and discussed. Whereas the radiographic method resulted in task specific expanded measurements uncertainties below one micrometre even for bi-directional features, which is a step closer towards a true digital twin for uncertainty estimations in dimensional XCT.
Phased-Array-Technik und Bildgebung mit Ultraschallwellen sind nach langer Entwicklungszeit inzwischen auf dem Weg zu allgemeiner Verbreitung. Daher bietet sich an, die verschiedenen Techniken und deren Begriffe wie z.B. Phased-Array, SAFT, TFM, FMC und Sparse-Array zusammenfassend in Beziehung zu setzen.
All diesen Techniken liegt dieselbe Idee zu Grunde, nämlich durch gezielte Überlagerung von Ultraschallsignalen den gewünschten Effekt zu erreichen. Die verschiedenen Techniken werden kurz charakterisiert und neben den Unterschieden wird beschreiben, auf welche Weise bei all diesen Techniken das Phänomen der konstruktiven Interferenz jeweils genutzt wird.
The interest in using computer simulations of dimensional x-ray computed tomography (dXCT) for various metrological purposes—such as measurement planning, performance prediction, performance optimisation and, finally, measurement uncertainty estimation—is increasing along with the ever-growing demand for more reliable measurements with dXCT. However, before a piece of simulation software can be used for tasks related to coordinate metrology, it has to be ensured that it is able to simulate physical laws, characteristic effects and basic CT system functionalities correctly and with sufficient accuracy. In short, the software must be qualified for dimensional metrology tasks. As one part of such a qualification process, a method is presented here for determining conformity intervals of 2D tests (projection-based tests) based on 3D tests (testing based on dimensional evaluations in a reconstructed volume) for the assessment of dXCT simulation software. The method consists of varying relevant parameter values in order to verify their influence on 3D measurement results. The results of the 3D tests with varied parameter values are then transferred to the quantities tested in the 2D tests and used as the basis for determining conformity intervals. Two approaches are applied for determining whether or not a variation of a parameter value is significant: (a) statistical and (b) heuristic. Two examples are presented, each based on simulated images, which show the application of the two different approaches for determining conformity intervals for the results of the 2D tests.
Die zerstörungsfreie Prüfung von metallischen Bauteilen hergestellt mit additiver Fertigung (Additive Manufacturing - AM) gewinnt zunehmend an industrieller Bedeutung. Grund dafür ist die Feststellung von Qualität, Reproduzierbarkeit und damit auch Sicherheit für Bauteile, die mittels AM gefertigt wurden. Jedoch wird noch immer ex-situ geprüft, wobei Defekte (z.B. Poren, Risse etc.) erst nach Prozessabschluss entdeckt werden. Übersteigen Anzahl und/oder Abmessung die vorgegebenen Grenzwerte für diese Defekte, so kommt es zu Ausschuss, was angesichts sehr langer Bauprozessdauern äußerst unrentabel ist. Eine Schwierigkeit ist dabei, dass manche Defekte sich erst zeitverzögert zum eigentlichen Materialauftrag bilden, z.B. durch thermische Spannungen oder Schmelzbadaktivitäten. Dementsprechend sind reine Monitoringansätze zur Detektion ggf. nicht ausreichend.
Daher wird in dieser Arbeit ein Verfahren zur aktiven Thermografie an dem AM-Prozess Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) untersucht. Das Bauteil wird mit Hilfe des defokussierten Prozesslasers bei geringer Laserleistung zwischen den einzelnen gefertigten Lagen unabhängig vom eigentlichen Bauprozess erwärmt. Die entstehende Wärmesignatur wird ort- und zeitaufgelöst durch eine Infrarotkamera erfasst. Durch diese der Lagenfertigung nachgelagerte Prüfung werden auch zum Bauprozess zeitversetzte Defektbildungen nachweisbar.
In dieser Arbeit finden die Untersuchungen als Proof-of-Concept, losgelöst vom AM-Prozess, an einem typischen metallischen Testkörper statt. Dieser besitzt eine Nut als oberflächlichen Defekt. Die durchgeführten Messungen finden an einer eigens entwickelten L-PBF-Forschungsanlage innerhalb der Prozesskammer statt. Damit wird ein neuartiger Ansatz zur aktiven Thermografie für L-PBF erforscht, der eine größere Bandbreite an Defektarten auffindbar macht. Der Ansatz wird validiert und Genauigkeit sowie Auflösungsvermögen geprüft. Eine Anwendung am AM-Prozess wird damit direkt forciert und die dafür benötigten Zusammenhänge werden präsentiert.
Great complexity characterizes Additive Manufacturing (AM) of metallic components via laser powder bed fusion (PBF-LB/M). Due to this, defects in the printed components (like cracks and pores) are still common. Monitoring methods are commercially used, but the relationship between process data and defect formation is not well understood yet. Furthermore, defects and deformations might develop with a temporal delay to the laser energy input. The component’s actual quality is consequently only determinable after the finished process.
To overcome this drawback, thermographic in-situ testing is introduced. The defocused process laser is utilized for nondestructive testing performed layer by layer throughout the build process. The results of the defect detection via infrared cameras are shown for a research PBF-LB/M machine.
This creates the basis for a shift from in-situ monitoring towards in-situ testing during the AM process. Defects are detected immediately inside the process chamber, and the actual component quality is determined.
The inspection of complex-shaped components, such as those enabled by additive manufacturing, is a major challenge in industrial quality assurance. A frequently adopted approach to volumetric non-destructive evaluation is X-ray computed tomography, but this has major drawbacks. Two-dimensional radiography can overcome some of these problems, but does not generally provide an inspection that is as capable.
Moreover, designing a detailed inspection for a complex-shaped component is a labour-intensive task, requiring significant expert input. In response, a computational framework for optimizing the data acquisition for an image-based inspection modality has been devised. The initial objective is to advance the capabilities of radiography, but the algorithm is, in principle, also applicable to alternative types of imaging. The algorithm exploits available prior
information about the inspection and simulations of the inspection modality to allow the Determination of the optimal inspection configuration, including specifically component poses with respect to the imaging system. As an intermediate output, spatial maps of inspection performance are computed, for understanding spatially varying limits of detection. Key areas of innovation concern the defect detectability evaluation for arbitrarily complex indications and the creation of an application-specific optimization algorithm. Initial trials of the algorithm are presented, with good results.
What is meant by ‘Micro Non-Destructive Testing and Evaluation’? This was the central subject of debate in this Special Issue.
At present, sub-millimeter-size components or even assemblies are pervading the industrial and scientific world. Classic examples are electronic devices and watches (as well as parts thereof), but recent examples encompass additively manufactured lattice structures, stents, or other microparts. Moreover, most assemblies contain micro-components. Testing such components or their miniaturized parts would fit well within the topic of micro non-destructive testing and evaluation.
In all cases, performance and integrity testing, quality control, and dimensional tolerances need to be measured at the sub-millimeter level (ideally with a spatial resolution of about a micron); most of the time, such features and components are embedded in much larger assemblies, which also need to be taken into account. The solution to this dilemma (i.e. measuring large parts with high resolution) depends on the part and on the problem under consideration.
Another possible definition of micro non-destructive testing and evaluation can relate to the characterization of micro-features (e.g., the microstructure) in much larger specimens, such as damage in concrete cores or porosity in additively manufactured components. A further aspect is the use of microscopic probes to evaluate macroscopic properties. This is the case, for instance but not at all exclusively, in the use of diffraction techniques to determine macroscopic stress.
The splits between testing and characterization at the micro-level (or of micro parts) from one side and handling of macroscopic assemblies on the other represent a great challenge for many fields of materials characterization. On top of that, including the use of microscopic methods to test integrity would add a further level of complexity.
Imaging, mechanical testing, non-destructive testing, measurement of properties, structural health monitoring, and dimensional metrology all need to be re-defined if we want to cope with the multi-faceted topic of micro non-destructive testing and evaluation.
The challenge has already been accepted by the scientific and engineering communities for a while but is still far from being universally tackled. This Special Issue yields an interesting answer to the questions posed above. It presents the progress made and the different aspects of the challenge as well as at indicates the paths for the future of NDT&E.
The goal of the Special Issue “Brittle Materials in Mechanical Extremes” was to spark a discussion of the analogies and the differences between different brittle materials, such as, for instance, ceramics and concrete. Indeed, the contributions to the Issue spanned from construction materials (asphalt and concrete) to structural ceramics, reaching as far as ice. The data shown in the issue were obtained by advanced microstructural techniques (microscopy, 3D imaging, etc.) and linked to mechanical properties (and their changes as a function of aging, composition, etc.). The description of the mechanical behavior of brittle materials under operational loads, for instance, concrete and ceramics under very high temperatures, offered an unconventional viewpoint on the behavior of brittle materials. This is not at all exhaustive, but a way to pave the road for intriguing and enriching comparisons.
Additive manufacturing (AM) techniques have risen to prominence in many industrial sectors. This rapid success of AM is due to the freeform design, which offers enormous possibilities to the engineer, and to the reduction of waste material, which has both environmental and economic advantages. Even safety-critical parts are now being produced using AM. This enthusiastic penetration of AM in our daily life is not yet paralleled by a thorough characterization and understanding of the microstructure of materials and of the internal stresses of parts. The same holds for the understanding of the formation of defects during manufacturing. While simulation efforts are sprouting and some experimental techniques for on-line monitoring are available, still little is known about the propagation of defects throughout the life of a component (from powder to operando/service conditions). This Issue was aimed at collecting contributions about the advanced characterization of AM materials and components (especially at large-scale experimental facilities such as Synchrotron and Neutron sources), as well as efforts to liaise on-line process monitoring to the final product, and even to the component during operation. The goal was to give an overview of advances in the understanding of the impacts of microstructure and defects on component performance and life at several length scales of both defects and parts.
Spektren von gepulsten Röntgenquellen wie Blitzröhren, Linearbeschleuniger (LINACs) oder Betatrons lassen sich in der Literatur nicht finden. Eine gängige Lehrmeinung ist, dass sich solche Spektren nicht messen lassen. Deshalb wurden in Zusammenarbeit mit der Goethe-Universität Frankfurt und neuester Messtechnik diese Problematik untersucht. Es wurde ein CeBr3-Szintillator-Kristall mit einem klassischen Photoelektronenvervielfacher (PMT) und einer analogen Übertragungskette verwendet, der über Stunden Integrationszeit nur einen sehr geringen Untergrund detektiert. Als kritischter Punkt stellte sich die geeignete Kollimierung von Quelle und Detektor bei möglichst großem Abstand heraus. Zu diesem Zweck wurde das verwendete 7 MeV-Betatron in einen 3t-Bleibunker betrieben, der ein Austrittsloch von 1 mm für die erzeugte Röntgenstrahlung besaß. Der Detektor wurde mit einem Densimet-Zylinder abgeschirmt. Damit konnte die Bedingung für die Spektroskopie gepulster Quellen erreicht werden: pro Puls darf nur 1 Photon den Detektorkristall erreichen, damit ohne Pile-up seine Energie vermessen werden kann. Trotz schnellster Elektronik war es nicht möglich, mehere Photonen pro Röntgenpuls (beim Betatron ca. 1 Mikrosekunde) spektral richtig aufzulösen. Die gemessenen Spektren zeigen die erwartete Form, wie sie z.B. mit aRTist simuliert werden können.
Simulating fiber-reinforced concrete mechanical performance using CT-based fiber orientation data
(2019)
The main hindrance to realistic models of fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC) is the local materials property variation, which does not yet reliably allow simulations at the structural level. The idea presented in this paper makes use of an existing constitutive model, but resolves the problem of localized material variation through X-ray computed tomography (CT)-based pre-processing. First, a three-point bending test of a notched beam is considered, where pre-test fiber orientations are measured using CT. A numerical model is then built with the zone subjected to progressive damage, modeled using an orthotropic damage model. To each of the finite elements within this zone, a local coordinate system is assigned, with its longitudinal direction defined by local fiber orientations. Second, the parameters of the constitutive damage model are determined through inverse analysis using load-displacement data obtained from the test. These parameters are considered to clearly explain the material behavior for any arbitrary external action and fiber orientation, for the same geometrical properties and volumetric ratio of fibers. Third, the effectiveness of the resulting model is demonstrated using a second, “control” experiment. The results of the “control” experiment analyzed in this research compare well with the model results. The ultimate strength was predicted with an error of about 6%, while the work-of-load was predicted within 4%. It demonstrates the potential of this method for accurately predicting the mechanical performance of FRC components.
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.
Using an infrared camera for radiometric imaging allows the contactless temperature measurement of multiple surface pixels simultaneously. From the measured surface data, a sub-surface structure, embedded inside a sample or tissue, can be reconstructed and imaged when heated by an excitation light pulse. The main drawback in radiometric imaging is the degradation of the spatial resolution with increasing depth, which results in blurred images for deeper lying structures. We circumvent this degradation with blind structured illumination, combined with a non-linear joint sparsity reconstruction algorithm. The ground-breaking concept of super-resolution can be transferred from optics to thermographic imaging.
Development of an Accurate and Robust Air-Coupled Ultrasonic Time-of-Flight Measurement Technique
(2022)
Ultrasonic time-of-flight (ToF) measurements enable the non-destructive characterization of material parameters as well as the reconstruction of scatterers inside a specimen. The time-consuming and potentially damaging procedure of applying a liquid couplant between specimen and transducer can be avoided by using air-coupled ultrasound. However, to obtain accurate ToF results, the waveform and travel time of the acoustic signal through the air, which are influenced by the ambient conditions, need to be considered. The placement of microphones as signal receivers is restricted to locations where they do not affect the sound field. This study presents a novel method for in-air ranging and ToF determination that is non-invasive and robust to changing ambient conditions or waveform variations. The in-air travel time was determined by utilizing the azimuthal directivity of a laser Doppler vibrometer operated in refracto-vibrometry (RV) mode. The time of entry of the acoustic signal was determined using the autocorrelation of the RV signal. The same signal was further used as a reference for determining the ToF through the specimen in transmission mode via cross-correlation. The derived signal processing procedure was verified in experiments on a polyamide specimen. Here, a ranging accuracy of <0.1 mm and a transmission ToF accuracy of 0.3μs were achieved. Thus, the proposed method enables fast and accurate non-invasive ToF measurements that do not require knowledge about transducer characteristics or ambient conditions.
In ultrasonic testing, material and structural properties of a specimen can be derived from the time-of-flight (ToF). Using signal features, such as the first peak or envelope maximum, to calculate the ToF is error-prone in multipath arrangements or dispersive and attenuating materials, which is not the case for the signal onset. Borrowing from seismology, researchers used the Akaike information criterion (AIC) picker to automatically determine onset times. The most commonly used formulation, Maeda's AIC picker, is reassessed and found to be based on inappropriate assumptions for signals often used in ultrasonic testing and dependent on arbitrary parameters. Consequently, an onset picker for ultrasonic through-transmission measurements is proposed, based on a spectral entropy criterion (SEC) to model the signal using the AIC framework. This SEC picker takes into account the spectral properties of the ultrasonic signal and is virtually free of arbitrary parameters. Synthetic and experimental data are used to compare the performance of SEC and AIC pickers. It is shown that the accuracy of onset picking is improved for densely sampled data.
Air-coupled ultrasonic (ACU) testing has proven to be a valuable method for increasing the speed in non-destructive ultrasonic testing and the investigation of sensitive specimens. A major obstacle to implementing ACU methods is the significant signal power loss at the air–specimen and transducer–air interfaces. The loss between transducer and air can be eliminated by using recently developed fluidic transducers. These transducers use pressurized air and a natural flow instability to generate high sound power signals. Due to this self-excited flow instability, the individual pulses are dissimilar in length, amplitude, and phase. These amplitude and angle modulated pulses offer the great opportunity to further increase the signal-to-noise ratio with pulse compression methods.
In practice, multi-input multi-output (MIMO) setups reduce the time required to scan the specimen surface, but demand high pulse discriminability. By applying envelope removal techniques to the individual pulses, the pulse discriminability is increased allowing only the remaining phase information to be targeted for analysis. Finally, semi-synthetic experiments are presented to verify the applicability of the envelope removal method and highlight the suitability of the fluidic transducer for MIMO setups.
This data article presents characteristic acoustic and flow data of a fluidic ultrasonic transducer as well as acoustic data of a commercial piezoelectric ultrasonic transducer used in non-destructive testing for civil engineering. The flow data has been acquired using hot-wire anemometry and a Pitot tube. The three-dimensional acoustic data of both devices has been acquired using a calibrated microphone. The distribution of characteristic acoustic properties of both transducers are extracted and given in addition to the raw data. The data presented in the article will be a valuable source for reference and validation, both for developing fluidic and alternate ultrasound generation technologies. Furthermore, they will give additional insight into the acoustic-flow interaction phenomena of high speed switching devices. This article is accompanying the paper Experimental Analysis of the Acoustic Field of an Ultrasonic Pulse Induced by a Fluidic Switch (Bühling et al., 2021) published in The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, where the data is interpreted in detail and the rationale for characteristic sound properties of the fluidic transducer are given.
AbstractAir‐coupled ultrasonic testing (ACU) is a pioneering technique in non‐destructive testing (NDT). While contact testing and fluid immersion testing are standard methods in many applications, the adoption of ACU is progressing slowly, especially in the low ultrasonic frequency range. A main reason for this development is the difficulty of generating high amplitude ultrasonic bursts with equipment that is robust enough to be applied outside a laboratory environment. This paper presents the fluidic ultrasonic transducer as a solution to this challenge. This novel aeroacoustic source uses the flow instability of a sonic jet in a bistable fluidic switch to generate ultrasonic bursts up to 60 kHz with a mean peak pressure of 320 Pa. The robust design allows operation in adverse environments, independent of the operating fluid. Non‐contact through‐transmission experiments are conducted on four materials and compared with the results of conventional transducers. For the first time, it is shown that the novel fluidic ultrasonic transducer provides a suitable acoustic signal for NDT tasks and has potential of furthering the implementation of ACU in industrial applications.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved