• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.101-113
• /
• 2006

Structural health monitoring results obtained with the electro-mechanical (E/M) impedance techniqueand Lamb wave transmission methods during fatigue crack propagation of an Arcan specimen instrumented with piezoelectric wafer active sensors (PWAS) are presented. The specimen was subjected in mixed-mode fatigue loading and a crack was propagated in stages. At each stage, an image of the crack and the location of the crack tip were recorded and the PWAS readings were taken. Hence, the crack-growth in the specimen could be correlated with the PWAS readings. The E/M impedance signature was recorded in the 100 - 500 kHz frequency range. The Lamb-wave transmission method used the pitch-catch approach with a 3-count sine tone burst of 474 kHz transmitted and received between various PWAS pairs. Fatigue loading was applied to initiate and propagate the crack damage of controlled magnitude. As damage progressed, the E/M impedance signatures and the waveforms received by receivers were recorded at predetermined intervals and compared. Data analysis indicated that both the E/M impedance signatures and the Lamb-wave transmission signatures are modified by the crack progression. Damage index values were observed to increase as the crack damage increases. These experiments demonstrated that the use of PWAS in conjunction with the E/M impedance and the Lamb-wave transmission is a potentially powerful tool for crack damage detection and monitoring in structural elements.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.93-105
• /
• 2011

This paper presents a flexible low-profile antenna sensor for fatigue crack detection and monitoring. The sensor was inspired by the sense of pain in bio-systems as a protection mechanism. Because the antenna sensor does not need wiring for power supply or data transmission, it is an ideal candidate as sensing elements for the implementation of engineering sensor skins with a dense sensor distribution. Based on the principle of microstrip patch antenna, the antenna sensor is essentially an electromagnetic cavity that radiates at certain resonant frequencies. By implementing a metallic structure as the ground plane of the antenna sensor, crack development in the metallic structure due to fatigue loading can be detected from the resonant frequency shift of the antenna sensor. A monostatic microwave radar system was developed to interrogate the antenna sensor remotely. Fabrication and characterization of the antenna sensor for crack monitoring as well as the implementation of the remote interrogation system are presented.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
• /
• v.8 no.5
• /
• pp.419-424
• /
• 2005

This paper has performed fatigue and nondestructive test of bogie frame for Korean tilting train. Before the fatigue test, static tests were carried out. From the test, the structural safety was investigated using Goodman diagram. After the static test, the fatigue test were conducted under tilting load conditions. The fatigue test was conducted for $10{\times}10^6$ cycles. During the fatigue test, the nondestructive tests using magnetic particle and liquid penetrant were performed at $6{\times}10^6$ cycle and $10{\times}10^6$cycle. From the crack detection tests, it was known that there was no fatigue crack in the bogie frame.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
• /
• 2007.05a
• /
• pp.905-908
• /
• 2007

The purpose of this work is to obtain fundamental data about fatigue crack detection of the welded exhaust flange by using the AE method. The acoustic emission method as a nondestructive evaluation is one of high technical test for realtime monitoring in the dangerous industry fields. Signal analysis of both AE sensor and accelerometer for fatigue crack failure are presented in this paper.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
• /
• 2005.11a
• /
• pp.234-238
• /
• 2005

This paper explains the fatigue test procedure of a composite train carbody. The composite carbody with length of 23m was manufactured as a sandwich structure composed of a 40mm-thick aluminium honeycomb core and 5mm-thick woven fabric carbon/epoxy face. In order to evaluate fatigue strength of the composite carbody, the carbody will be excited by two 50-ton capacity hydraulic actuators. The excitation frequency will be measured by natural frequency evaluation test under full weight condition. The test The fatigue test is to be conducted For $2{\times}10^6$cycles. During the fatigue test, the nondestructive tests using X-ray and liquid penetrant will be performed. From crack detection tests, the location and Fatigue crack progress will be investigated.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.30 no.2 s.245
• /
• pp.210-218
• /
• 2006

This paper has performed static, fatigue and nondestructive test of tilting' bolster frame for Korean tilting train. From the static test, the structural safety was investigated using Goodman diagram. After the static test, the fatigue test were conducted under tilting load conditions. The fatigue test was conducted for $10\times10^6$ cycles. During the fatigue test, the nondestructive tests using magnetic particle and liquid penetrant were performed at $6\times10^6$cycle and $10\times10^6$cycle. From the crack detection tests, it was known that there was no fatigue crack in the tilting bolster.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.6 no.4
• /
• pp.349-362
• /
• 2010

Ultrasonic Guided Waves (UGWs) are a useful tool in structural health monitoring (SHM) applications that can benefit from built-in transduction, moderately large inspection ranges and high sensitivity to small flaws. This paper describes a SHM method based on UGWs, discrete wavelet transform (DWT), and principal component analysis (PCA) able to detect and quantify the onset and propagation of fatigue cracks in structural waveguides. The method combines the advantages of guided wave signals processed through the DWT with the outcomes of selecting defect-sensitive features to perform a multivariate diagnosis of damage. This diagnosis is based on the PCA. The framework presented in this paper is applied to the detection of fatigue cracks in a steel beam. The probing hardware consists of a PXI platform that controls the generation and measurement of the ultrasonic signals by means of piezoelectric transducers made of Lead Zirconate Titanate. Although the approach is demonstrated in a beam test, it is argued that the proposed method is general and applicable to any structure that can sustain the propagation of UGWs.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.35 no.5
• /
• pp.327-335
• /
• 2021

Microcracks can rapidly grow and develop in high-strength steels used in offshore structures. It is important to render these microcracks harmless to ensure the safety and reliability of offshore structures. Here, the dependence of the aspect ratio (As) of the maximum depth of harmless crack (a_hlm) was evaluated under three different conditions considering the threshold stress intensity factor (Δk_th) and residual stress of offshore structural steel F690. The threshold stress intensity factor and fatigue limit of fatigue crack propagation, dependent on crack dimensions, were evaluated using Ando's equation, which considers the plastic behavior of fatigue and the stress ratio. a_hlm by peening was analyzed using the relationship between Δk_th obtained by Ando's equation and Δk_th obtained by the sum of applied stress and residual stress. The plate specimen had a width 2W = 12 mm and thickness t = 20 mm, and four value of As were considered: 1.0, 0.6, 0.3, and 0.1. The a_hlm was larger as the compressive residual stress distribution increased. Additionally, an increase in the values of As and Δk_th(l) led to a larger a_hlm. With a safety factor (N) of 2.0, the long-term safety and reliability of structures constructed using F690 can be secured with needle peening. It is necessary to apply a more sensitive non-destructive inspection technique as a non-destructive inspection method for crack detection could not be used to observe fatigue cracks that reduced the fatigue limit of smooth specimens by 50% in the three types of residual stresses considered. The usefulness of non-destructive inspection and non-damaging techniques was reviewed based on the relationship between a_hlm, a_NDI (minimum crack depth detectable in non-destructive inspection), a_{cr N} (crack depth that reduces the fatigue limit to 1/N), and As.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
• /
• v.1 no.3
• /
• pp.309-322
• /
• 2014

Detection of fatigue cracks at an early stage of their development is important in structural health monitoring. The breathing of cracks in a structure generates higher harmonic components of the exciting frequency in the frequency spectrum. Previously, the residual operational deflection shape (R-ODS) method was successfully applied to beams with a single crack. The method is based on the ODSs at the exciting frequency and its higher harmonic components which consider both amplitude and phase information of responses to map the deflection pattern of structures. Although the R-ODS method shows the location of a single crack clearly, its identification for the location of multiple cracks in a structure is not always obvious. Therefore, an improvement to the R-ODS method is presented here to make the identification process distinct for the beams with multiple cracks. Numerical and experimental examples are utilised to investigate the effectiveness of the improved method.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.38-47
• /
• 2007

The initiation of fatigue cracks in a simulated aircraft structure with a series of rivet holes was detected by acoustic emission(AE), then the crack length was determined by surface acoustic wave(SAW) technique. With the initiation and growth of fatigue cracks, AE events increased intermittently to form a stepwise incremental curve of cumulative AE events whereas the crack length increased more or less monotonically. With the SAW technique employed, the crack sizing for 13 different cracks including some short cracks was performed. With the reference to the measurement by traveling microscope, cracks in the range of $1{\sim}8mm$ long were reliably sized by the SAW technique. Although it was impossible to size the short fatigue cracks in the range shorter than 1 mm, the SAW technique still appeared practically useful for a range of crack lengths often found in aircraft structures.