• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.142-150
• /
• 2004

A preliminary study of the behavior of ultrasonic guided wave mode in a pipe using a comb transducer for maintenance inspection of power plant facilities has been verified experimentally. The mode identification has been carried out in a pipe using the time-frequency analysis methods such as the wavelet transform(WT) and the short time Fourier transform (STFT), compared with theoretically calculated group velocity dispersion curves for longitudinal and flexural modes. The results are in good agreement with analytical predictions and show the effectiveness of using the time-frequency analysis method to identify the individual modes. It was found out that the longitudinal mode(0,1) is less affected by mode conversion compared with the other modes. Therefore, L(0,1) is selected as an optimal mode for the evaluation of the surface defect in a pipe.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.13-27
• /
• 2023

Fatigue crack is a fatal problem for steel structures. Early detection and maintenance can help extend the service life and prevent hazards. This paper presents the ultrasonic guided waves-based (UGWs-based) fatigue crack detection of a steel I-beam. The semi-analytical finite element model has been built to obtain the wave propagation characteristics. Damage indices in both time and frequency domains were analyzed by considering the characteristic variations of UGWs including the amplitude, phase angle, and wave packet energy. The pulse-echo and pitch-catch methods were combined in the detection scheme. Lab-scale experiments were conducted on welded steel I-beams to verify the proposed method. Results show that the damage indices based on the characteristic variations in the time domain can identify and localize the fatigue crack before it enters the rapid growth stage. The damage severity can be reasonably evaluated by analyzing the time-domain damage indices. Two nonlinear damage indices in the frequency domain give earlier warnings of the fatigue crack than the time-domain damage indices do. The identification results based on the above two nonlinear indices are found to be less consistent under various excitation frequencies. More robust nonlinear techniques needed to be searched and tested for early crack detection in steel I-beams in further study.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
• /
• 2002.04a
• /
• pp.415-429
• /
• 2002

Various modeling techniques for ultrasonic wave propagation and scattering problems in finite solid media are presented. Elastodynamic boundary value problems in inhomogeneous multi-layered plate-like structures are set up for modal analysis of guided wave propagation and numerically solved to obtain dispersion curves which show propagation characteristics of guided waves. As a powerful modeling tool to overcome such numerical difficulties in wave scattering problems as the geometrical complexity and mode conversion, the Boundary Element Method(BEM) is introduced and is combined with the normal mode expansion technique to develop the hybrid BEM, an efficient technique for modeling multi-mode conversion of guided wave scattering problems.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
• /
• v.34 no.3
• /
• pp.233-240
• /
• 2014

In this study, we investigated the dispersion characteristics of guided waves in thin films. Dispersion curves are essential for understanding not only the behavior of ultrasonic waves, but also the mechanical properties of thin films. Matrix techniques are presented for modeling ultrasonic waves in multilayered structures before being used to calculate the dispersion curves for Al-steel and Al-composite specimens. When compared with the dispersion curves obtained using the commercial program (Disperse), the dispersion curves generated from the transfer matrix method show its validity. These developed methods are used to obtain dispersion curves for Al thin films deposited on a Si substrate. The resulting dispersion curves enable observation of both dispersive and non-dispersive behavior for the guided waves, depending on the thickness of the thin films.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
• /
• 2002.07d
• /
• pp.2337-2340
• /
• 2002

This paper presents the method of AGV(Automatic guided vehicle)'s moving environment(plane, corner, edge) recognition using SONAR sensor configuration. As for the SONAR sensor, the Crosstalk effect has been generally considered as an inevitable noisy phenomenon in the indoor environment. However, this effect can be used as a clue for classifying and localizing targets in the indoor environment if those can be controlled and used well. EERUF(error eliminate rapid ultrasonic firing) is a method for firing multiple ultrasonic sensors in mobile robot application and multi-echo mode of POLARIOD Device can reduce the Crosstalk effect. Here, Crosstalk effect was reduced using EERUF and applied to the AGV with a simple wall-following algorithm in the indoor environment. This method was tesed by a typical AGV with multi SONAR sensors in the laboratory environment.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.138-149
• /
• 2000

Various modeling techniques for ultrasonic wave propagation and scattering problems in finite solid media are presented. Elastodynamic boundary value problems in inhomogeneous multi-layered plate-like structures are set up for modal analysis of guided wave propagation and numerically solved to obtain dispersion curves which show propagation characteristics of guided waves. As a powerful modeling tool to overcome such numerical difficulties in wave scattering problems as the geometrical complexity and mode conversion, the Boundary Element Method(BEM) is introduced and is combined with the normal mode expansion technique to develop the hybrid BEM, an efficient technique for modeling multi mode conversion of guided wave scattering problems. Time dependent wave forms are obtained through the inverse Fourier transformation of the numerical solutions in the frequency domain. 3D BEM program development is underway to model more practical ultrasonic wave signals. Some encouraging numerical results have recently been obtained in comparison with the analytical solutions for wave propagation in a bar subjected to time harmonic longitudinal excitation. It is expected that the presented modeling techniques for elastic wave propagation and scattering can be applied to establish quantitative nondestructive evaluation techniques in various ways.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
• /
• v.15 no.1 s.94
• /
• pp.81-86
• /
• 2005

In this work, we propose a new ultrasonic damage inspection method in plate structures. The proposed method employs an OPMT(orientation-adjustable patch-type magnetostrictive transducer) in order to make the ultrasonic waves directed to a specific target point. For experiments, virtual grid points were set up at every 50 mm in an aluminum plate and two OPMTs were used for inspection. If there exists a crack in a plate, the reflected Lamb wave from the crack is measured in addition to the direct waves from the transmitting transducer to the receiving transducer.

• Proceedings of the Korea Committee for Ocean Resources and Engineering Conference
• /
• 2006.11a
• /
• pp.41-45
• /
• 2006

The fabrication process of fiber placement system of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) requires real time process control and reliable inspection to ensure quality by preventing defects such as delamination and void. Therefore, novel non-contact inspection technique is required during the non-destructive evaluation in a fiber placement system. For the inspection of delamination in CFRP, various methods to receive laser-generated ultrasound were applied by using piezoelectric transducer, air-coupled transducer, wavelet transform and scanning laser ultrasonic technique. Laser-generated ultrasound was received with a conventional piezoelectric sensor in contacting manner. Then signal characteristics due to defects were analyzed to find a factor for detecting defects. Air-coupled transducer was used for reception of laser-generated guided wave using linear slit array in order to generate high frequency guided wave. And line scan technique was used to confirm the capability of on-line application. The high frequency component of laser-generated guided wave received with piezoelectric sensor disappeared after propagating through delamination region. Nevertheless, it was failed to receive high frequency guided wave in using air-coupled transducer. The first peak of the frequency spectrum under 100kHz in the delamination region is higher than in the sound region. By using this feature, the line scanned frequency data were acquired in fully non-contact generation and reception of ultrasound. This method was proved as useful technique for detecting delamination in CFRP.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.42 no.5
• /
• pp.546-551
• /
• 2010

The objective of this research is to estimate the crack location and size of a carbon steel pipe by using a laser ultrasound guided wave for the wall thinning evaluation of an elbow. The wall thinning of the carbon steel pipe is one of the most serious problems in nuclear power plants, especially the wall thinning of the carbon steel elbow caused by Flow-Accelerated Corrosion (FAC). Therefore, a non-destructive inspection method of elbow is essential for the nuclear power plants to operate safely. The specimens used in this study were carbon steel elbows, which represented the main elements of real nuclear power plants. The shape of the wall thinning was an oval with a width of 120mm, a length of 80mm, and a depth of 5mm. The L(0,1) and L(0,2) modes variation of the ultrasound guided wave signal is obtained from the response of the laser generation/air-coupled detection ultrasonic hybrid system represent the characteristics of the defect. The trends of these characteristics and signal processing were used to estimate the size and location of wall thinning.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.74-78
• /
• 2010

In this paper, a non-contact method of evaluating the thickness reduction in an aluminum sheet caused by corrosion and friction using SH-EMAT (shear horizontal, electromagnetic acoustic transducer) is described. Since this method is based on the measurement of the time-of-flight and amplitude change of guided waves caused from the thickness reduction, it provides information on the thinning defects. Information was obtained on the changes of the various wave features, such as their time-of-flight and amplitude, and their correlations with the thickness reduction were investigated. The interesting features in the dispersive behavior of selected guided modes were used for the detection of thinning defects. The measurements of these features using SH waves were performed on aluminum specimens with regions thinned by 7.2% to 29.5% of the total thickness. It is shown that the time-of-flight measurement provides an estimation of the thickness reduction and length of the thinning defects.