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Unpiggable buried gas pipes need to be inspected to ensure their structural integrity and safe operation. The CIRRIS XITM robot, developed and operated by ULC Robotics, conducts in-line nondestructive inspection of live gas pipes. With the no-blow launching system, the inspection operation has reduced disruption to the public and by eliminating the need to dig trenches, has minimized the site footprint. This provides a highly time and cost effective solution for gas pipe maintenance. However, the current sensor on the robot performs a point-by-point measurement of the pipe wall thickness which cannot cover the whole volume of the pipe in a reasonable timeframe. The study of ultrasonic guided wave technique is discussed to improve the volume coverage as well as the scanning speed. Circumferential guided wave is employed to perform axial scanning. Mode selection is discussed in terms of sensitivity to different defects and defect characterization capability. To assist with the mode selection, finite element...

We demonstrate acoustic tweezers used for disposable devices. Rather than forming an acoustic resonance, we locally transmitted standing surface acoustic waves into a removable, independent polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-glass hybridized microfluidic superstrate device for micromanipulation. By configuring and regulating the displacement nodes on a piezoelectric substrate, cells and particles were effectively patterned and transported into said superstrate, accordingly. With the label-free and contactless nature of acoustic waves, the presented technology could offer a simple, accurate, low-cost, biocompatible, and disposable method for applications in the fields of point-of-care diagnostics and fundamental biomedical studies.

Guided waves in plate-like structures have been widely investigated for structural health monitoring. Lamb waves and shear horizontal (SH) waves, two commonly used types of waves in plates, provide different benefits for the detection of various types of defects and material degradation. However, there are few sensors that can detect both Lamb and SH waves and also resolve their modal content, namely the wavenumber-frequency spectrum. A sensor that can detect both waves is desirable to take full advantage of both types of waves in order to improve sensitivity to different discontinuity geometries. We demonstrate that polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) film provides the basis for a multi-element array sensor that detects both Lamb and SH waves and also measures their modal content, i.e., the wavenumber-frequency spectrum.

Lamb waves have proven to be a valuable tool for structural health monitoring (SHM) of plate-like structures susceptible to degradation and failure. It is well-known that their multi-modal propagation characteristic could be both a challenge and an opportunity. Piezoelectric transducers are widely used in SHM applications because of their low cost, small profile and high electromechanical coupling. Properly designing a piezoelectric transducer to excite a particular mode is of great importance to successful SHM practice. Mode tuning capability of piezoelectric transducers has been studied both theoretically and experimentally in the literature for exciting A0 and S0 modes. However, the higher order Lamb waves are not fully studied for their tuning capability. Also, the transducer is usually modeled separately from the waveguide and their coupling is through the in-plane surface traction. This assumption may induce inaccuracy if the dynamics of the actuator are not negligible. Additionally, the driving cir...

Ultrasonic guided wave inspection of structures containing adhesively bonded joints requires an understanding of the interaction of guided waves with geometric and material discontinuities or transitions in the waveguide. Such interactions result in mode conversion with energy being partitioned among the reflected and transmitted modes. The step transition between an aluminum layer and an aluminum-adhesive-aluminum multi-layer waveguide is analyzed as a model structure. Dispersion analysis enables assessment of (i) synchronism through dispersion curve overlap and (ii) wavestructure correlation. Mode-pairs in the multi-layer waveguide are defined relative to a prescribed mode in a single layer as being synchronized and having nearly perfect wavestructure matching. Only a limited number of mode-pairs exist, and each has a unique frequency range. A hybrid model based on semi-analytical finite elements and the normal mode expansion is implemented to assess mode conversion at a step transition in a waveguide. The model results indicate that synchronism and wavestructure matching is associated with energy transfer through the step transition, and that the energy of an incident wave mode in a single layer is transmitted almost entirely to the associated mode-pair, where one exists. This analysis guides the selection of incident modes that convert into transmitted modes and improve adhesive joint inspection with ultrasonic guided waves.

Assessing the structural integrity of PVP systems entails a hierarchical process to detect, locate, classify, and size damage in order to predict the remaining useful life of the system. Technologies to detect and locate damage have been researched intensely over the years, but classification and sizing of damage remains a challenging problem. In this work advanced sensing technology is employed to send and receive Lamb waves in plates. The receiver is a 16-element linear array that is made from PVDF; thus it is lightweight, low profile, flexible, inexpensive, and has minimal cross talk. The receiver has two novel capabilities that open new opportunities in diagnostics and prognostics: measurement of group velocity and determination of modal content. The actuator and receiver are intended to stay in place and function in a pitch-catch mode. The use of modal content to classify the type of damage as well as to size the defect is demonstrated.

Fracture critical structures need structural health monitoring (SHM) to improve safety and reliability as well as reduce downtime and maintenance costs. Lamb waves provide promising techniques for on-line SHM systems because of their large volumetric coverage and good sensitivity to defects. Extensive research has focused on using features derived from time signals obtained at sparse locations distributed across the structure. Commonly used features are wave amplitude, energy, and time of arrival. However, the modal content of received Lamb waves contains valuable information about the existence and characteristics of defects, but cannot be determined from these signal features. Wave scattering at a defect often results in mode conversions in both transmitted and reflected waves. Features like change in time of arrival or amplitude reduction can be interpreted as being a result of mode conversion. This work is focused on the design of a 1D array sensor such that received wave signals at equally spaced locations are available for modal analysis in the wavenumber-frequency domain. PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) is selected as the active material of the sensor because of its low interference with wave fields in structures. The PVDF array sensor is fabricated to have 16 independent channels and its capability to detect and characterize different types of defects is demonstrated experimentally.

Guided waves have been extensively studied and widely used for structural health monitoring because of their large volumetric coverage and good sensitivity to defects. Effectively and preferentially exciting a desired wave mode having good sensitivity to a certain defect is of great practical importance. Piezoelectric discs and plates are the most common types of surface-mounted transducers for guided wave excitation and reception. Their geometry strongly influences the proportioning between excited modes as well as the total power of the excited modes. It is highly desirable to predominantly excite the selected mode while the total transduction power is maximized. In this work, a fully coupled multi-physics finite element analysis, which incorporates the driving circuit, the piezoelectric element and the wave guide, is combined with the normal mode expansion method to study both the mode tuning and total wave power. The excitation of circular crested waves in an aluminum plate with circular piezoelectric discs is numerically studied for different disc and adhesive thicknesses. Additionally, the excitation of plane waves in an aluminum plate, using a stripe piezoelectric element is studied both numerically and experimentally. It is difficult to achieve predominant single mode excitation as well as maximum power transmission simultaneously, especially for higher order modes. However, guidelines for designing the geometry of piezoelectric elements for optimal mode excitation are recommended.

The characteristics of Lamb waves, which are multimodal and dispersive, provide both challenges and opportunities for structural health monitoring (SHM). Methods for nondestructive testing with Lamb waves are well established. For example, mode content can be determined by moving a sensor to different positions and then transforming the spatial-temporal data into the wavenumber-frequency domain. This mode content information is very useful because at every frequency each mode has a unique wavestructure, which is largely responsible for its sensitivity to material damage. Furthermore, mode conversion occurs when the waves interact with damage, making mode content an excellent damage detection feature. However, in SHM, the transducers are typically at fixed locations and are immovable. Here, an affixed polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) multielement sensor is shown to provide these same capabilities. The PVDF sensor is bonded directly to the waveguide surface, conforms to curved surfaces, has low mass, low profile, low cost, and minimal influence on passing Lamb waves. While the mode receivability is dictated by the sensor being located on the surface of the waveguide, both symmetric and antisymmetric modes can be detected and group velocities measured.

Composite structures are gaining popularity as load-bearing components in aerospace and civil engineering due to their high specific strength and stiffness. However, the initiation and development of defects like disbond and delamination could severely compromise the integrity and performance of the structures. Ultrasonic guided waves are promising for active sensing because they propagate long distances, reach inaccessible regions and are sensitive to different defect types. However, the multimodal nature of guided waves usually causes difficulty in analyzing time signals but could be extremely valuable because defects generally induce mode conversions. Light weight and low profile piezoelectric fiber composite phased array transducers and PVDF array sensors are used to control the modal content of excited waves and extract modal content from received waves. Sensitive modes are identified by frequency domain finite element analysis and the behavior of wave-defect interaction is studied. Two damage indicators, modal amplitude and wave modal composition, are proposed to make full use of the multimodal nature of guided waves. Experiments verify the detection and characterization of the disbond using the proposed damage indicators. doi: 10.12783/SHM2015/238

Composite materials are widely used in aircraft structures due to their high specific stiffness and strength. The laminated nature of composite structures makes them subject to disbond and delamination. These types of defects will compromise the integrity of the structure and therefore need to be monitored. To monitor aircraft structures, light weight transducers capable of large area coverage are beneficial. Ultrasonic guided waves are able to travel long distance and are sensitive to localized defects. The multi-modal characteristic of propagating guided waves requires optimal mode selection and excitation. Phased array transducers provide good versatility for optimal mode excitation since they can excite different guided wave modes preferentially. Phased array transducers designed for structural health monitoring (SHM) applications are employed in this work to study the interaction between adhesive defects and guided wave modes. Amplitude ratios and wave packet composition are utilized as defect indicators that are uniquely available due to the phased array transducers.

This article describes the use of the frequency domain finite element (FDFE) technique for guided wave mode selection in inhomogeneous waveguides. Problems with Rayleigh-Lamb and Shear-Horizontal mode excitation in isotropic homogeneous plates are first studied to demonstrate the application of the approach. Then, two specific cases of inhomogeneous waveguides are studied using FDFE. Finally, an example of guided wave mode selection for inspecting disbonds in composites is presented. Identification of sensitive and insensitive modes for defect inspection is demonstrated. As the discretization parameters affect the accuracy of the results obtained from FDFE, effect of spatial discretization and the length of the domain used for the spatial fast Fourier transform are studied. Some recommendations with regard to the choice of the above parameters are provided.

Nondestructive evaluation of adhesive joints in metal plate-like structures can be performed with ultrasonic guided waves. The key is to generate a mode that is sensitive to defects in the adhesive. This mode typically must be generated by mode conversion that occurs at a transition in the waveguide associated with the edge of the adhesive. Transmissibility, through mode conversion, is analyzed by a simple modeling method to quantitatively match wave structures in the continuous portion of a waveguide cross-section. The existence of mode pairs that have nearly identical wave structures in the continuous portion of the waveguide is shown; and more importantly, we show that incident modes having high transmission coefficients are converted to these mode pairs.