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The cars of the future are designed so that to replace partial or total the fossil fuels. For this reason, the structural modifications of the materials used in the cars structure are researched being studied the lightweight materials, ecological and environmentally friendly, reusable and with improved performance in terms of mechanical strength (static and dynamic), thermal insulation and acoustic, with interface aesthetic. The paper aims to assess the structural modifications and visco-elastic properties of the composites reinforced with hemp mat subjected to artificial aging by exposure to UV radiation. Thus, samples having a percentage of reinforcing fiber hemp about 50 % were subjected to a dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), being determined visco-elastic behavior at different frequencies loading. Then, samples were exposed for 168 h at the UV-A radiations, after that their rheological behavior was re-evaluated. In terms of structural and morphological changes, the samples were analyzed with the atomic force microscope (AFM) and method of contact angle both before and after accelerated aging. It was found that after UV radiation, on the surface of the composite structure reinforced with hemp mat occurred rearrangements of chemical chains and increases of the surface roughness.

Protecting coatings as thermal barrier coating (TBC) are used for yield improvement of equipment working at high temperature. Zirconia doped with yttria ceramics are considered a good TBC material due of its low thermal conductivity, refractory, chemical inertness and compatible thermal expansion coefficient with metallic support. The paper proposes the use of an electromagnetic method for evaluation of coatings on stainless steel using a sensor with metamaterial lens and comparison of the results with those obtained by complementary methods.

Metallic strip gratings have a range of applications, from printed circuits boards to filters in microwave domains. These applications impose a rigorous and rapid quality control. This paper proposes the obtaining of electromagnetic images of metallic strip gratings using evanescent waves that are formed in slits. For their detection, two procedures can be use, namely, the diffraction of evanescent waves on circular apertures and respectively, the propagation through metamaterials, conical Swiss rolls type. In this case, the spatial resolution is better than λ/1000. The use of metamaterial, conical Swiss rolls type, allows the obtaining of a resolution in the range of λ/2000, the electromagnetic image being improved.

This paper proposes the study and implementation of metamaterials in electromagnetic non-destructive examination; these materials can serve as electromagnetic flux concentrators in the radio frequency range. Thus, the use of new types of metamaterials, namely conical Swiss roll, is proposed. Here, we present a method of extracting the necessary parameters (effective magnetic permeability and the frequency) from the data obtained by measuring network parameters. Due to the fact that conical Swiss rolls can serve as radio frequency flux concentrators, they can be used in the fabrication of electromagnetic lenses, being designed on the basis of Fourier optic principles. As a direct application, carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) plates with and without delaminations, created by impacts with low energy, were examined by means of electromagnetic transducers with a metamaterial lens. The characteristics of a carbon fibre woven structure become visible and the delaminations are clearly emphasised.

Prosthetic heart valves of the Bjork-Shiley convexo-concave (BSCC) type have been used extensively in implants; however, there have been reports of cases where one component of the valves failed, leading to the demise of the patient. This paper presents a new method for noninvasive electromagnetic evaluation for this type of valve, using an eddy current transducer with orthogonal coils. In vitro experiments on BSCC prosthetic heart valve replicas have shown that discontinuities of outlet strut with depths equal or larger than 0.4 mm can be detected with a probability of detection (POD) of 86.4%, and in the case of discontinuities with depth equal or larger than 0.6 mm with POD of 97%. Blind tests effectuated on 32 BSCC prosthetic heart valves have shown that, using the proposed method, the tested valves have been correctly classified.

This paper presents a model for evaluation of effective thermal conductivity for the composites with carbon nanotubes (CNT) having log-normal function of distribution of CNT, with direct effect over depolarization factor. The CNT are considered having cylindrical shape with L/d ratio very high. The model parameters are calculated in function of the data from literature. The influence of volume fraction of reinforced materials, of the aspect ratio of the particles included and of the ratio of the two thermal conductivities is presented.

The remote field eddy current (RFEC) technique is used to investigate the possibility of detecting the discontinuities practiced on pressure tubes samples from nuclear reactors, pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWR) type. In this article, we propose to develop the RFEC using the technique of rotating magnetic field (RMF). A method for calculating the field generated by the eddy current transducer with RMF using propagator matrix was developed. The experimental measurements are realized for artificial discontinuities practiced in pressure tubes samples.

This paper presents the design and development of a two-dimensional eddy current sensor array and the improved response of the array using a super-resolution algorithm. A computational model of the array is derived using dyadic Green's function and volume integral method. This application was realized for detecting fatigue cracks, introduced in AISI 304 samples by subjecting them to cyclical loading.

This article presents a novel send-receive type of inner-eddy-current transducer. A rotating magnetic field created by three rectangular coils, fed by a triphased alternating-current system, was used for emission. The reception part is made from a circumferential array of coils, consecutively interrogated by measurement equipment. The source that creates the rotating magnetic field is described. The field created by this in free space is presented, and the forward problem using the volume integral method and dyadic Green's function for cylindrical layered media is solved. The experimental measurements are in good agreement with the predictions of the model.

This article presents the electronic equipment and experimental results obtained with an eddy-current transducer with a rotating magnetic field, at the control of Zr2.5%Nb pressure tube samples. Different types of artificial discontinuities with diverse shapes, positions, and severities were examined. In all the cases, the signal-to-noise ratio obtained was higher than 3. This fact recommends that the transducer and measurement system should be used in the examination of pressure tubes from pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR) nuclear power plants.

International audience; This paper proposes the study and implementation of a sensor with a metamaterial (MM) lens in electromagnetic nondestructive evaluation (eNDE). Thus, the use of a new type of MM, named Conical Swiss Rolls (CSR) has been proposed. These structures can serve as electromagnetic flux concentrators in the radiofrequency range. As a direct application, plates of composite materials with carbon fibers woven as reinforcement and polyphenylene sulphide as matrix with delaminations due to low energy impacts were examined. The evaluation method is based on the appearance of evanescent modes in the space between carbon fibers when the sample is excited with a transversal magnetic along z axis (TMz) polarized electromagnetic field. The MM lens allows the transmission and intensification of evanescent waves. The characteristics of carbon fibers woven structure became visible and delaminations are clearly emphasized. The flaws can be localized with spatial resolution better than λ/2000. © 2015, by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

The current stage of nondestructive evaluation techniques imposes the development of new electromagnetic (EM) methods that are based on high spatial resolution and increased sensitivity. In order to achieve high performance, the work frequencies must be either radifrequencies or microwaves. At these frequencies, at the dielectric/conductor interface, plasmon polaritons can appear, propagating between conductive regions as evanescent waves. In order to use the evanescent wave that can appear even if the slits width is much smaller that the wavwelength of incident EM wave, a sensor with metamaterial (MM) is used. The study of the EM field diffraction against the edge of long thin discontinuity placed under the inspected surface of a conductive plate has been performed using the geometrical optics principles. This type of sensor having the reception coils shielded by a conductive screen with a circular aperture placed in the front of reception coil of emission reception sensor has been developed and "transported" information for obtaining of magnified image of the conductive structures inspected. This work presents a sensor, using MM conical Swiss roll type that allows the propagation of evanescent waves and the electromagnetic images are magnified. The test method can be successfully applied in a variety of applications of maxim importance such as defect/damage detection in materials used in automotive and aviation technologies. Applying this testing method, spatial resolution can be improved.

Microwave sensor (MWS) compared with classical sensor, offers many advantage such as rapid and nondestructive measurement. At microwave (MW) frequencies, dielectric properties of materials depend on frequency, moisture content, bulk density and temperature. MW waveguide sensors can measure properties of materials based on MW interaction with matter, and provide information about dielectric properties of investigated dielectric material, characterized with complex permittivity. The paper presents a new approach for determination of the dielectric properties of dielectric material by embedding a metamaterial (MM) structure over the aperture of waveguide sensor in order to increase the sensing properties of classical waveguide sensor. The optimal design of MM structure for waveguide sensor tuning in MW X-band is obtained. In this new approach the MM function in two ways: like a tool for increasing the sensibility of classical waveguide sensor and the tool sensitive to the dielectric properties of investigated material through the adjusted resonance frequency of designed MM units. The numerical simulation of 2D MM structure properties and experimental results for dielectric properties of dielectric materials are carried out.

The most common defects in turbine blades may be faulty microscopic and mesoscopic appeared in matrix, no detected by classical nondestructive testing (i.e. using phased array sensors), broken fibers can also appear and develop under moderated loads, or cracks and delaminations due to low energy impacts, etc. The paper propose to present the results obtained from testing of glass fiber reinforced plastic used in the construction of the wind turbine blades as well as the monitoring of the entire scalable blade using wireless sensors placed on critical location on blade. In order to monitories the strain/stress during the tests, the determination of the location and the nature of defects have been simulated using FEM.

Using glass fabric reinforced composites for structure of wind turbine blades requires high mechanical strengths especially to cyclic stresses. Studies have shown that approximately 50% of composite material failure occurs because of fatigue. Composites behavior to cyclic stresses involves three stages regarding to stiffness variation: the first stage is characterized by the accelerated decline of stiffness with micro-cracks, the second stage - a slight decrease of stiffness characterized by the occurrence of delamination and third stage characterized by higher decreases of resistance and occurrence of fracture thereof. The aim of the paper is to analyzed the behavior of composites reinforced with glass fibers fabric type RT500 and polyester resin subjected to tensile cyclic loading with pulsating quasi-static regime with asymmetry coefficient R = 0. The samples were tested with the universal tensile machine LS100 Lloyd Instruments Plus, with a load capacity of 100 kN. The load was applied with different speeds of 1 mm/min, 10 mm/min and 20 mm/min. After tests, it was observed that the greatest permanent strains were recorded in the first load cycles when the total energy storage by material was lost due to internal friction. With increasing number of cycles, the glass/polyester composites ability to store energy of deformation decreases, the flow phenomenon characterized by large displacements to smaller loading forces appearing.

This paper presents a possibility to use Resonant Ultrasound Spectroscopy as nondestructive evaluation method for ceramic elements of prosthesis such as ceramic femoral heads. With this method can be emphasized the incorrect sintering of these elements as well as eventually cracks. If the number of resonance peaks is big enough, the elements of elasticity matrix can be determined, demonstrated by effective measurements on zirconia with different stabilizers cylindrical samples taken into study.Copyright © 2014 by ASME

The improvement of electromagnetic image quality of microscopic discontinuities in conductive pieces, damages of CFRP composites as well as metallic strip gratings from flexible printed circuits can be made using evanescent modes generated in slits, in spaces between carbon fibers and respectively in cracks. In order to generate the evanescent modes, plane electromagnetic waves, TMz polarized are used as excitation. The manipulation of the evanescent modes is made by means of metamaterials lens, conical Swiss roll type. The sensor allows the electromagnetic nondestructive evaluation of metallic strip grating, emphasizing the interruption of strips, CFRP delaminations due to impact with low energy as well as micrometric open at surface cracks in metallic pieces.

This work is dedicated to the calculation of the electromagnetic field created by an arbitrary current source in the proximity of a cylinder consisting of a certain number of concentric layers made of materials with various electrical conductivities and magnetic permeabilities, using the method of the transfer matrix. The general results obtained are then particularized for the case of an eddy current transducer with a rotating magnetic field, having its reception part of a special construction. The inversion method used to determine the thickness of the protective coatings on a conductive cylinder is presented.

The present work approaches the problem of determining, by analytical solutions, the electromagnetic field created by an arbitrary distribution of alternating currents placed outside an infinitely long non-magnetic conductive cylinder. Making use of the dyadic Green function method, the electromagnetic field outside the cylinder is expressed as the sum of the field in free space and the field created by the currents induced in the conductive cylinder. The general results we obtained are particularized for the analytical solutions describing the operation of an eddy current transducer with rotating magnetic field for the case of a conductive cylinder non-coaxial with the current source.

Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics are used in most wide domains due their low density, lack of mechanical fatigue phenomena and high strength–to weight ratio. From electromagnetic point of view, Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics structure represents an inhomogeneous structure of electric conductive fibers embedded into a dielectric material, thus an electromagnetic configurable architecture can be used to evaluate above mentioned defects. The paper proposes a special sensor, send receiver type and the obtaining of electromagnetic image by post-processing each coil signals in each point of scanning, using a sub-encoding image reconstruction algorithm and super-resolution procedures. The layout of fibers can be detected interrogating only diagonal reception coils.

The most important part of wind turbine is the blade that must be tested during the fabrication and during the functioning when can be damaged by moisture absorption, fatigue, wind gusts or lightning strikes. The novelty of the paper is represented by the employing of wireless sensors embedded in a scalable wind turbine blade made from Glass Fiber Reinforced Plastics together with Fiber Bragg Gratings in order to effectuate structural health monitoring in static conditions. The sensors are placed on critical location on blade determined by FEM simulation and a comparison between the complementary methods is done.

Zinc oxide nanostructured materials, such as films and nanoparticles, could provide a suitable platform for development of high performance biosensing material due to their unique fundamental material properties. In this study, the enzyme biosensing consisting of a zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles were grown on SiO2/Si substrates by vacuum thermal evaporation method and their sensing characteristics are examined in air and investigated. The film morphology is characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) the film crystalline quality and by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Also, the interest in surface waves appeared due to evanescent waves in the metallic strip grating structure (MSG-Ag/ZnO/SiO2/Si) in sub-wavelength regime. Before testing the sensor with metamaterials (MMs) lens in the sub-wavelength regime, a simulation of the evanescent wave's formation has been performed at the edge of Ag strips, with thicknesses in the range of micrometers.

This paper presents two methods, non-contact low frequency ultrasound method and fiber Bragg gratings, and their application to nondestructive testing of glass fiber reinforced composites used in wind turbine blades. Theoretical models are used and experimental results are in good concordance with destructive testing results.

In this paper, we investigate the cholesterol sensors consisting of a mixture of cholesterol oxidase (ChOx) and zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles were grown on ITO/glass substrates by vacuum thermal evaporation method and their sensing characteristics are examined in air. Also, the interest in surface waves appeared due to evanescent waves in the metallic strip grating in sub-wavelength regime. Before testing the transducer with metamaterials lens in the sub-wavelength regime, a simulation of the evanescent wave's formation has been performed at the edge of Ag strips, with thicknesses in the range of micrometers.

The control of wind turbine's components is very rigorous, while the tower and gearbox have more possibility for revision and repairing, the rotor blades, once they are deteriorated, the defects can rapidly propagate, producing failure, and the damages can affect large regions around the wind turbine. This paper presents the test results, performed on glass fiber reinforced plastics (GFRP) suitable to construction of wind turbine blades (WTB). The Young modulus, shear modulus, Poisson's ratio, ultimate stress have been determined using tensile and shear tests. Using Dynamical Mechanical Analysis (DMA), the activation energy for transitions that appear in polyester matrix as well as the complex elastic modulus can be determined, function of temperature.

In real life experience, machine and structure elements are subjected to complex loading history. Combined loading testes facilitate the understanding of materials behavior subjected to multiaxial stress state. In this paper are presented experimental investigations used to evaluate the influence of an initial type of loading on material properties which will be subsequently tested through another load type. Initial tests are tension tests, by different elongations, and subsequent tests are torsion tests, until break. Circular cross section specimens will be used in these tests. Tension tests have been performed on a universal testing machine. Subsequently torsion tests have been conducted through an attachable device. It was found that the energy associated with plastic deformation obtained by subsequent torsional tests has the dominant influence on the material total plastic energy, although initial test was tension.

The paper analyses the elasto-plastic behavior of ten samples of E355 steel pipe of the same inner diameter, but with wall thickness ranging between 1.100 and 2.500 mm and length about 100 mm. The samples were subjected to variable internal pressure which was increased from 0 to 600-800 bar (up to the breaking of the pipe), being used the hydraulic oil, type HM46. The outer diameter of the tested pipes was measured successive for each increase of pressure with 100 bars, thus being determined the flow curve of the pipe material characterized by the elasto-plastic behavior and a tenacious failure. It was found that thin pipes, with the ratio between the inner and outer diameter less than 1.1, shows a different flow curve compare to pipes with thick walls, having the ratio between the inner and outer diameter greater than 1.1, the deformations being about two times higher. The rheological models of each type of pipes were identified.

Composite structures are used mainly two types of reinforcement materials: woven glass fabric and the chopped strand mat, each contributing either to increase the resistance of the composite whole or in isotropic distribution of stresses. This paper presents a comparison of the visco-elastic characteristics of composites reinforced with glass fabric and the chopped strand mat and the breaking mode of the two types of the composite. The first type of samples contain three layers of chopped strand mat known as MAT with density of 450g/m2 and 225g/m2) and the second type is composed of four layers of woven glass fabric type RT500 (density of 500g/m2). Both specimens were cut in accordance with EN ISO 527-2 SR. Characteristic curve of the two types of specimens highlights visco-elastic-plastic behavior which largely depends on the type of reinforcement used as the matrix resin is the same in both cases (orthophthalic polyester resin). Breaking mode of those types of specimens were observed and analyzed by electronic microscope.

CFRP have applications among most different domains due their low density, high elastic modulus and high ultimate strength along the carbon fibers direction, no fatigue and the expansion coefficient is small. This paper presents the behavior of carbon fiber woven-PPS composites at low velocity impacts. The transversal electrical conductivity is modified due to the plastic deformation following the impacts, and thus electromagnetic procedures can be used for assessment of CFRP using a high resolution sensor with metamaterials lens and comparing the results with those obtained from ultrasound testing with phased array sensor. The area of the delamination is overestimated when the method of phased array ultrasound is used and substantially underestimated by the electromagnetic testing. There were a good agreement between the simulations with finite element method and experimental measurements.

This paper presents a method for estimating the reliability of eddy-current nondestructive inspection by using the rotating magnetic field method. The results of the inspection are considered as memory-less stochastic processes, with the possibility of representation in a bi-dimensional space: ‘good product’ and ‘bad product’. The general formulae are calculated by using the master equation for the time behaviour of the probabilities, the numerical data used for results estimation being obtained by means of an automatic eddy current installation with rotating magnetic field. The samples used had 20 μm, 40 μm and 98 μm deep artificial faults, and the control speed ranged between 0.05 and 1 m s−1.

In the paper we describe the new approach to the dielectric properties of biological material investigation with implementation of artificial metamaterial structure (MMS) with negative permittivity and permeability over the open waveguide sensor in order to increase the sensing properties of classical waveguide sensor and achieve the optimal design of metamaterial structure for waveguide sensor tuning in microwave X-band. In the paper we investigate the possibility of metamaterial structure using for upgrading properties of classical waveguide sensor. The novel waveguide sensor was designated for non-destructive determination of biological tissues dielectric properties measurement in microwave frequency band. We have used numerical simulation for design of 2D metamaterial structure with negative refraction index and for optimisation of sensor parameters. An experimental method for dielectric constant of biological materials measurement is described in the paper.

This work proposes the utilization of the phase information from the response signal of an eddy current transducer with orthogonal coils in order to get an enlarged image of carbon fibers from a graphite-epoxy composite type [−45 2 0 ,+45 2 0 ] S and [−45 2 0 ,0 2 0 +45 2 0 ] S consisting of 24 fiber layers. A 2D Fourier transform was then applied to the phase signal, which is propagated backward by means of an operator that represents the solution of a Helmholtz equation. The image can be focused on a fiber layer choosing an adequate phase multiplication constant. With the view to obtain a clear-cut fiber contour, a Canning optimal regularizing algorithm was used. By choosing another phase multiplication constant the image can be focused on another fiber layer.

This work presents a new type of eddy-current sensor used in non-destructive evaluation, being able to detect with equal sensitivity both long and short flaws, in any orientation. The proposed sensor is of send–receive encircling type, using for the control operation a rotating magnetic field.

This work presents a magnetic sensor designed to determine the fatigue level in parts made of ferromagnetic steels using the incremental magnetic permeability method.

The work presents a method for the quantitative evaluation of the shape and severity of discontinuities by processing the signal delivered by the sensor with orthogonal coils. Unlike other sensors used by now to this end, the sensor we propose presents the advantage of a more exact localization of the discontinuity and an increased resolution.

The automatic systems for eddy current non-destructive control permit rendering evident superficial discontinuities in the electroconductive products. Their response is influenced by numerous factors and therefore it is quite difficult to quantitatively estimate the shape and severity of the detected discontinuity, based on the sensor's response. This work presents an artificial intelligence system based on fuzzy logic, dedicated to the quantitative evaluation of the severity of material discontinuities existing on wires, which dramatically reduces noise influence and enables to determine the discontinuity depth as a function of prescribed quality classes.

Prosthetic heart valves of the Bjork-Shiley Convexo-Concave (BSCC) type have long been used extensively in implants; however, there have been reports of cases where one component of the valves failed, leading to the demise of the patient. This paper presents a new method for noninvasive electromagnetic evaluation for this type of valve, using an eddy current transducer with orthogonal coils. In vitro experiments have shown that discontinuities of outlet strut with depths equal or larger than 0.4mm can be detected with a probability of detection (POD) of 86.4%, and in the case of discontinuities with depth equal or larger than 0.6mm with POD of 97%.Copyright © 2008 by ASME

The design of microwave and millimeter wave devices requires more and more accurate synthesis procedures to satisfy the increasingly stringent specifications of modern communication systems [1]. Most of the available synthesis techniques are based on models that do not conveniently describe the physical behavior of circuits. The goal of the present paper is to calculate the scattering matrix for the case of single and cascaded strip gratings. The strip gratings allow a complete transmission of certain frequencies and a complete reflection at other frequencies and, then, exists a simple type of frequency selective surface [2]. A wide variety of filter characteristics can be obtained by cascading multiple layers of frequencies-selective surfaces. In this paper, a new method for scattered matrix analysis is presented. This method is based on Floquet harmonics analysis.

This paper presents complementary methods used in nondestructive evaluation (NDE) of composite materials reinforced with carbon woven fibers as two electromagnetic methods using sensor with orthogonal coils and sensor with metamaterials lens as well as ultrasound phased array method and Fiber Bragg gratings embedded instead of a carbon fiber for better health monitoring. The samples were impacted with low energy in order to study delamination influence. The electromagnetic behavior of composite was simulated by finite- difference time-domain (FDTD) software, showing a very good concordance with electromagnetic nondestructive evaluation tests.

For the control of fuel channels of PHWR CANDU type, a novel type of rotating magnetic field eddy current transducer was developed, as well as the afferent electronic equipment. So, the position and the tilt of garter springs using neuro‐fuzzy network could be determined, and the presence of the discontinuities on external and internal surface of the tubes can be emphasized. A numerical code for the solving of the forward problem was developed.