Ingenieurwissenschaften und zugeordnete Tätigkeiten
Structural health monitoring contributes to early damage detection in the built infrastructure. During the last two decades, sensor networks transferred from wired to wireless sensor networks. Several methods exist to measure moisture in building materials. Most of the introduced commercial moisture measurement methods provide information about the local or near surface moisture. A feasibility study is presented to demonstrate, how the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) of a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) signal, transmitted from the BLE-module embedded in building materials, correlate with changing moisture content. The feasibility of this influence was investigated in the presented study. The maximum and minimum RSSI were systematically recorded and analysed.
The stress vs. strain curve of materials is affected the rate of imposed straining. Among the methods for dynamic testing the technique known as 'split Hopkinson pressure bar' (SHPB) has evolved into the most widely used one to exert high-speed straining. The theory behind it comprises simple equations to compute stress and strain. The reliability of the strain analysis can be assessed by digital image correlation (DIC). The present results indicate that the visually observed strain is smaller than predicted by theory.
Rising importance of composite lightweight structures in aircraft and automobile industries increases the demand on reliable non-destructive testing methods for these structures. Air-coupled ultrasonic testing emerged to suit these requirements as it does not require any liquid coupling medium. In conventional air-coupled ultrasonic transducers, matching layers are used in order to decrease the impedance mismatch between transducer and air. Matching layers can be omitted by using ferroelectrets, which are charged cellular polymers having ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties. Especially a low Young’s modulus, low density and low sound velocity of cellular polypropylene (cPP) are properties being required for well-matched air-coupled ultrasonic transducers.
In our contribution we show recent enhancements of cPP transducers resulting in focused sound fields and thus improved lateral sensitivity. The influence of different transmitter apertures was evaluated using measurements of the emitted sound field. Further we show a transmission of a test specimen of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) containing artificial damages. Results of focused transducers were compared to planar ferroelectret transducers, as well as to conventional air-coupled transducers.
The stress vs. strain curve of materials is affected the rate of imposed straining. Among the methods for dynamic testing the technique known as 'split Hopkinson pressure bar' (SHPB) has evolved into the most widely used one to exert high-speed straining. The theory behind it comprises simple equations to compute stress and strain. The reliability of the strain analysis can be assessed by digital image correlation (DIC). The present results indicate that the visually observed strain is smaller than predicted by theory.