• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.4 no.4
• /
• pp.449-464
• /
• 2008

An array based, outward monitoring, ultrasonic guided wave based SHM technique using a single transmitter and multiple receivers (STMR), with a small footprint is discussed here. The previous implementation of such SHM arrays used a phase-reconstruction algorithm (that is similar to the beam-steering algorithm) for the imaging of reflectors. These algorithms were found to have a limitation during the imaging of defects/reflectors that are present in the "near-field" of the array. Here, the "near-field" is defined to be approximately 3-4 times the diameter of the compact array. This limitation is caused by approximations in the beam-steering reconstruction algorithm. In this paper, a migration-based reconstruction algorithm, with dispersion correction in the frequency domain, is discussed. Simulation and experimental studies are used to demonstrate that this algorithm improves the reconstruction in the "near-field" without decreasing the ability to reconstruct defects in the "far-field" in both isotropic and anisotropic plates.