• Computers and Concrete
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.267-278
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• 2016

In order to observe the internal damage of concrete in real time, we introduced acoustic emission nondestructive detecting technology into a series of fracture tests; the test results revealed the whole process that concrete undergoes when it sustains damage that leads to failure, according to the change rules of the acoustic emission parameters. The results showed that both the initiation and unstable loads can be accurately determined using the abrupt change of the acoustic emission rate curves and the turning point of the acoustic emission parameters' accumulative curves. The whole process, from damage to failure, includes five phases, beginning with damage, such as cracking, a stable crack growth process, a critical unstable stage, and unstable propagation. The brittle fracture characteristics of concrete change when steel bars are joined, because the steel bars and the concrete structure bond, which causes an increase in the acoustic emission signals within the fracture process of the reinforced concrete. The unstable propagation stage is also extended. Our research results provide a valid methodology and technical explanations, which can help researchers to monitor the cracking process of concrete structures, in real time, during actual projects.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.6 no.5_6
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• pp.689-709
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• 2010

In this paper, a low cost, low power but multifunctional wireless sensor node is presented for the impedance-based SHM using piezoelectric sensors. Firstly, a miniaturized impedance measuring chip device is utilized for low cost and low power structural excitation/sensing. Then, structural damage detection/sensor self-diagnosis algorithms are embedded on the on-board microcontroller. This sensor node uses the power harvested from the solar energy to measure and analyze the impedance data. Simultaneously it monitors temperature on the structure near the piezoelectric sensor and battery power consumption. The wireless sensor node is based on the TinyOS platform for operation, and users can take MATLAB$^{(R)}$ interface for the control of the sensor node through serial communication. In order to validate the performance of this multifunctional wireless impedance sensor node, a series of experimental studies have been carried out for detecting loose bolts and crack damages on lab-scale steel structural members as well as on real steel bridge and building structures. It has been found that the proposed sensor nodes can be effectively used for local wireless health monitoring of structural components and for constructing a low-cost and multifunctional SHM system as "place and forget" wireless sensors.

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.21-26
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• 2019

Various pipes are buried in the city as needed, such as water pipes, gas pipes and hydrogen pipes. As the time passes, buried pipes becomes aged due to crack, etc. these pipes has the risk of accidents such as explosion and leakage. To prevent the risks, many pipes are repaired or replaced, but the location of the pipes can also be changed. Failure to identify the location of the altered pipe may cause an accident by touching the pipe. In this paper, we propose a method to detect buried pipes by gathering the GPR images by using GPR and Learning with Faster R-CNN. Then experiments was carried out by raw data sets and data sets augmentation applied to increase the amount of images.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.295-299
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• 2023

Herein, we propose a simple fabrication method for MXene-coated V-groove sensors for applications. To enhance the sensitivity of this sensor, we applied MXene particles, instead of conventional metal layers, as a sensing material on the sensor's surface. This allows for an easier fabrication, as well as higher sensitivity of the sensor compared to those of our previously demonstrated metal-based V-groove sensor. Additionally, polyurethane-acrylate, a UV-curable liquid polymer, can be easily applied using micro-electromechanical systems-based surface-texture micromachining. The sensor sensitivity is approximately 0.08 /mm, and it can be improved by increasing the number of V-grooves. We believe that the proposed MXene-based wearable sensor offers a great potential in detecting various types of motions characteristic of human activities.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.153-161
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• 2009

After several PWSCCs were found in Bugey(France), Ringhals(Sweden), Tihange(Belgium), Oconee, Arkansas, Crystal Fever, Davis-Basse, VC Summer(U.S.A.), Thuruga(Japan), USNRC and PNNL started the research on PWSCC, that is, PINC project. The aim of this project is to fabricate and obtain representative NDE mock-ups with flaws to simulate tight PWSCC cracks, to identify and quantitatively assess NDE methods for accurately detecting, sizing and characterizing tight cracks such as PWSCC, to document the range of locations and crack morphologies associated with PWSCC and observed responses and to incorporate findings from other ongoing PWSCC research programs, as appropriate. By participating in PINC project, Korean morphology technique about PWSCC and NDE technique have improved and become similar lever with other advanced country. Therefore, the evaluation technique of integrity for nickel alloy component has been improved by cooperation with university, research institute and industries.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.99-107
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• 2006

Magnetic nondestructive testing is very useful far detecting a crack on the surface or near of the surface of the ferromagnetic materials. The distribution of the magnetic flux leakage (DMFL) on a specimen has to be obtained quantitatively to evaluate the crack. The magnetic camera is proposed to obtain the DMFL at the large lift-off. The magnetic camera consists of a magnetic source, magnetic lens, analog to digital converters (ADCs), interface, and computer. The magnetic leakage fields or the distorted magnetic fields from the object, which are concentrated on the magnetic lens, are converted to analog electrical signals tv arrayed small magnetic sensors. These analog signals are converted to digital signals by the ADCs, and are stored, imaged, and processed by the interface and computer. However the magnetic camera has limitations with respect to converting and switching speed, full range and resolution, direct memory access (DMA), temporary storage speed and volume because common ADCs were used. Improved techniques, such as those that introduce the operational amplifier (OP-Amp), amplify the signal, reduce the connection line, and use the low pass filter (LPF) to increase the signal to noise ratio are necessary. This paper proposes the exclusive embedded ADC including OP-Amp, LPF, microprocessor and DMA circuit for the magnetic camera to satisfy the conditions mentioned above.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.39-47
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• 2004

In this paper, the defects of two-dimensional anisotropic elastic bodies are identified by using the boundary element method. The use of numerical models that contain only boundary integral terns reduces the dimensionality of the problem by one. This advantage is particularly important in problems such as crack mechanics. Avoiding domain meshing is also particularly advantageous in the solution of inverse problems since it overcomes mesh perturbations and simplifies the procedure. In this paper, nondestructive approaches for the existing isotropic materials are extended to analyze the elastic bodies made of anisotropic materials such as composites. After verifying that the proposing boundary element model is in good agreement with numerical results reported by other investigators, the effect of noise in the measurements on the identifiability is studied with respect to different design parameters of layered composites. Sample studies are carried out for various layup configurations and loading conditions. The effects of the layup sequences in detecting flaw of composites is explored in this paper.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.211-219
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• 2014

Closed cracks are difficult to detect using conventional ultrasonic testing because most incident ultrasound passes completely through these cracks. Nonlinear ultrasound inspection using sub-harmonic frequencies a promising method for detecting closed cracks. To implement this method, a sub-harmonic phased array (PA) is proposed to visualize the length of closed cracks in solids. A sub-harmonic PA generally consists of a single transmitter and an array receiver, which detects sub-harmonic waves generated from closed cracks. The PA images are obtained using the total focusing method (TFM), which (with a transmitter and receiving array) employs a full matrix in the observation region to achieve fine image resolution. In particular, the receiving signals are measured using a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) to collect PA images for both fundamental and sub-harmonic frequencies. Oblique incidence, which is used to boost sub-harmonic generation, inevitably produces various surface waves that contaminate the signals measured in the receiving transducer. Surface wave interference often degrades PA images severely, and it becomes difficult to read the closed crack's position from the images. Various methods to prevent or eliminate this interference are possible. In particular, enhancing images with signal processing could be a highly cost-effective method. Because periodic patterns distributed in a PA image are the most frequent interference induced by surface waves, spatial frequency filtering is applicable for removing these waves. Experiments clearly demonstrate that the spatial frequency filter improves PA images.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.726-736
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• 2007

In this paper, real-time image scanning system using linescan cameras is designed. The system is specially designed to diagnose and analyse the conditions of tunnels such as crack widths through the captured images. The system consists of two major parts, the image acquisition system and the image merging system. To save scanned image data into storage media in real-time, the image acquisition system has been designed with two different control and management modules. The control modules are in charge of controlling the hardware device and the management modules handle system resources so that the scanned images are safely saved to the magnetic storage devices. The system can be mounted to various kinds of vehicles. After taking images, the image merging system generates extended images by combining saved images. Several tests are conducted in laboratory as well as in the field. In the laboratory simulation, both systems are tested several times and upgraded. In the field-testing, the image acquisition system is mounted to a specially designed vehicle and images of the interior surface of the tunnel are captured. The system is successfully tested in a real tunnel with a vehicle at the speed of 20 km/h. The captured images of the tunnel condition including cracks are vivid enough for an expert to diagnose the state of the tunnel using images instead of seeing through his/her eyes.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2007

As fiber reinforced composite materials are widely used in aircraft, space structures and robot arms, the study on non-destructive testing methods has become an important research area for improving their reliability and safety. AE (acoustic emission) can evaluate the defects by detecting the emitting strain energy when elastic waves are generated by the initiation and growth of crack, plastic deformation, fiber breakage, matrix cleavage, or delamination. In the paper, AE signals generated under uniaxial tension were measured and analyzed using the $8{\times}8$ matrix piezo electric sensor. The electronic circuit to control the transmitting distance of AE signals was designed and constructed. The optical data storage system was also designed to store the AE signal of 64channels using LED (light emitting diode) elements. From the tests, it was shown that the source location and propagation path of AE signals in composite materials could be detected effectively by the $8{\times}8$ matrix piezo electric sensor.