2D and 3D time-frequency dynamic characteristics in the quality assessment of welded joints.

The authors of this article have been looking for new parameters and dynamic characteristics which can be applied to the non-destructive testing of welded joints. All the characteristics have been based on the recorded data generated during the vibration tests of welded joints both with and without failures. This article has dealt with the methods of assessing welded joints using either 2D or 3D time-frequency dynamic characteristics. The calculation procedure that was used for analyzing the simultaneous changes of the response modules, registered by acceleration sensors, has been presented. The vibration amplitudes were transformed into a function of time and frequency (simultaneously) and presented over 2D or 3D time-frequency characteristics. The analyses of the characteristics were performed for a plate without a welded joint, for a plate with a non-defective welded joint and for a plate with a defective welded joint caused by edge bonding. Having analyzed and registered the 2D or 3D time-frequency dynamic characteristics it could be noticed that by presenting the responses, analyzed simultaneously against time and frequency, allowed for the evaluation of whether the examined system maintained non-linearity and, at the same time, allowed for the quality of the welded joint to be indirectly assessed. The proposed measurement parameters of the quality of a welded joint can be defined as a dispersion of the colors from the obtained characteristics. The faults (and the vibration nonlinearity) of the welded joints will be bigger if the dispersion is greater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]