• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.696-702
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• 2012

In this study, a noncontact laser ultrasonic system is proposed for rail defect detection. An Nd-Yag pulse laser is used for generation of ultrasonic waves, and the corresponding ultrasonic responses are measured by a laser Doppler vibrometer. For the detection of rail surface damages, the shape of the excitation laser beam is transformed into a line. On the other hand, a point source laser beam is used for the inspection of defects inside a rail head. Then, the interactions of propagating ultrasonic waves with defects are examined using actual rail specimens. Amplitude attenuation was mainly observed for a surface crack, and reflections were most noticeable from an internal damage. Finally, opportunities and challenges associated with real-time rail inspection from a high-speed train are discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.419-427
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• 2014

Nonlinear features of ultrasonic waves are more sensitive to the presence of a fatigue crack than their linear counterparts are. For this reason, the use of nonlinear ultrasonic techniques to detect a fatigue crack at its early stage has been widely investigated. Of the different proposed techniques, laser nonlinear wave modulation spectroscopy (LNWMS) is unique because a pulse laser is used to exert a single broadband input and a noncontact measurement can be performed. Broadband excitation causes a nonlinear source to exhibit modulation at multiple spectral peaks owing to interactions among various input frequency components. A feature called maximum sideband peak count difference (MSPCD), which is extracted from the spectral plot, measures the degree of crack-induced material nonlinearity. First, the ratios of spectral peaks whose amplitudes are above a moving threshold to the total number of peaks are computed for spectral signals obtained from the pristine and the current state of a target structure. Then, the difference of these ratios are computed as a function of the moving threshold. Finally, the MSPCD is defined as the maximum difference between these ratios. The basic premise is that the MSPCD will increase as the nonlinearity of the material increases. This technique has been used successfully for localizing fatigue cracks in metallic plates.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.226-232
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• 2014

In the present study, the characteristics of laser ultrasound in the ablation regime are investigated using simulations and experiments. The laser ultrasonic technique has been recognized as a noncontact method in the field of nondestructive tests (NDTs). In hostile environments (such as hot temperatures), this method has various advantages over the conventional contact ultrasonic method. In particular, in the ablation regime, the laser ultrasonic technique is suitable for inspecting internal defects because of the high amplitude and directivity of the longitudinal wave. In this paper, a simulation model for laser ultrasound in the ablation regime was developed. This model was subsequently applied to a defective specimen using the B-scan method to locate defects. Finally, we performed an experimental test to verify the simulation results. Consequently, the simulation demonstrated good agreement with the experimental test.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.27-32
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• 2000

In this paper, ultrasonic wave in the thermoelastic regime was generated in a steel disk by illuminating a pulse laser (Q-switched Nd:YAG) on the surface of the sample and was detected on the other side by Michelson interferometer which was stabilized by feed back control. The experimentally detected displacement waveform of the ultrasonic wave showed good agreement with the theoretically expected one. Also it was shown that sound speeds of longitudinal and shear wave were similar to ones measured by pulse-echo method using a contact transducer. As an application of the noncontact ultrasonic measurement by using laser based ultrasonics, the sound speed in the sample was monitored while the sample was heated in a furnace, and the result showed that it decreased according to the increase of sample temperature.