• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2005.03a
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• pp.331-342
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• 2005

This paper presents a non-destructive evaluation (NDE) technique for detecting damages on a jointed steel plate on the basis of the time of flight and wavelet coefficient, obtained from wavelet transforms of Lamb wave signals. Support vector machines (SVMs), which is a tool for pattern classification problems, was applied to the damage estimation. Two kinds of damages were artificially introduced by loosening bolts located in the path of the Lamb waves and those out of the path. The damage cases were used for the establishment of the optimal decision boundaries which divide each damage class's region from the intact class. In this study, the applicability of the SVMs was investigated for the damages in and out of the Lamb wave path. It has been found that the present methods are very efficient in detecting the damages simulated by loose bolts on the jointed steel plate.

• Journal of Korean Society of Disaster and Security
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.53-60
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• 2018

To diagnosis the local damages of the steel plates, magnetic flux leakage (MFL) method that is known as a adaptable non-destructive evaluation (NDE) method for continuum ferromagnetic members was applied in this study. To analysis the sensitivity according to thickness of steel plate in MFL method based damage diagnosis, several steel plate specimens that have different thickness were prepared and three depths of artificial damage were formed to the each specimens. To measured the MFL signals, a MFL sensor head that have a constant magnetization intensity were fabricated using a hall sensor and a magnetization yoke using permanent magnets. The magnetic flux signals obtained by using MFL sensor head were improved through a series of signal processing methods. The capability of local damage detection was verified from the measured MFL signals from each damage points. And, the peak to peak values (P-P value) extracted from the detected MFL signals from each thickness specimen were compared each other to analysis the MFL based local damage detection sensitivity according to the thickness of steel plate.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.429-436
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• 2004

For the in-situ health monitoring of critical members in civil infra-structures, ultrasonic guided Lamb waves-based non-destructive evaluation (NDE) is very suitable. However, a chief drawback of the Lamb wave techniques is that multiple modes exist at all frequencies and the modes are generally dispersive, which means that the received signals may be very complicated. To overcome these complications, selective transmitting and receiving of a single A/sub 0/ mode within a frequency range can be adopted. Furthermore, a wavelet technique can be utilized to decompose the Lamb wave response into wavelet coefficients as a tool for signal processing. The changes in the Lamb waves interacting with damages in the steel plates are successfully characterized by this wavelet technique, through the amplitude change of the wavelet coefficients. In this paper, the feasibility of detecting a line crack on the surface of a steel plate and loosened bolts in a joint steel specimen using the Lamb waves and the wavelet technique is investigated.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.339-353
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• 2005

This paper presents the results of a feasibility study on an impedance-based damage detection technique using thickness modes of piezoelectric (PZT) patches for steel structures. It is newly proposed to analyze the changes of the impedances of the thickness modes (frequency range > 1 MHz) at the PZT based on its resonant frequency shifts rather than those of the lateral modes (frequency range > 20 kHz) at the PZT based on its root mean square (RMS) deviations, since the former gives more significant variations in the resonant frequency shifts of the signals for identifying localities of small damages under the same measurement condition. In this paper, firstly, a numerical analysis was performed to understand the basics of the NDE technique using the impedance using an idealized 1-D electro-mechanical model consisting of a steel plate and a PZT patch. Then, experimental studies were carried out on two kinds of structural members of steel. Comparisons have been made between the results of crack detections using the thickness and lateral modes of the PZT patches.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.90-95
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• 2014

Local wall thinning is a point of concern in almost all steel structures such as pipe lines covered with a thermal insulator made up of materials with low thermal conductivity(fiberglass or mineral wool); hence, Non Destructive Technique(NDT) methods that are capable of detecting the wall thinning and defects without removing the insulation are necessary. In this study we developed a Pulsed Eddy Current(PEC) system to detect the wall thinning of Ferro magnetic steel pipes covered with fiber glass thermal insulator and shielded with Aluminum plate. The developed system is capable of detecting the wall thickness change through an insulation of thickness 10cm and 0.4mm aluminum shielding. In order to confirm the thickness change due to wall thinning, two different sensors, a hall sensor and coil sensor were used as a detecting element. In both cases, the results show a very good change corresponding to the thickness change of the test specimen. During these experiments a carbon steel tube of diameter 210mm and a length of 620mm, which is covered with insulator of 95mm thickness was used. To simulate the wall thinning, the thickness of the tube is changed for a specified length such as 2.5mm, 5mm and 8 mm from the inner surface of the tube. A 0.4mm thick Aluminum plate was covered on the Test specimen to simulate the shielding of the insulated pipelines. For both hall sensor and coil detection methods Fast Fourier transform(FFT) was calculated using window approach and the results for the test specimen without Aluminum shielding were summarized which shows a clear identification of thickness change in the test specimen by comparing the magnitude spectra. The PEC system can detect the wall thinning under the 95 mm thickness insulation and 0.4 mm Al shielding, and the output signal showed linear relation with tube wall thickness.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.127-132
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• 2002

Recent deepwater offshore structures in Gulf of Mexico utilize butt welded tubular joints. Application of welded tubular joint includes tendons, production risers, and steel catenary risers. Fatigue life assessment of these joints becomes more critical because the structures to which they are attached are allowed to undergo cyclic and sometimes large displacements around an anchored position. Estimating the fatigue behavior of these tubular members in the design stage is generally conducted by using S-N curves specified in the codes and standards. Applying the stress concentration factor of the welded structure to S-N approach often results in very conservative assessment because the stress field acting on the tubular has a non-uniform distribution through the thickness. Fracture mechanics and fitness for service (FFS) technology have been applied in the design of the catenary risers. This technology enables the engineer to establish proper requirements on weld quality and inspection acceptance criteria to assure satisfactory structural integrity during its design life. It also provides guidance on proper design curves to be used and a methodology for accounting for the effects of non-uniform stress distribution through the wall thickness. An attempt was made to develop set of S-N curves based on fracture mechanics approach by considering non-uniform stress distribution and a threshold stress intensity factor. Series of S-N curves generated from this approach were compared to the existing S-N curves. For flat plate butt joint, the S-N curve generated from fracture mechanics matches with the IIW class 100 curve when initial crack depth was 0.5 mm (0.02"). Similar comparison with API X′ was made for tubular joint.. These initial crack depths are larger than the limits of inspection by current Non-destructive examination (NDE) means, such as Automatic Ultrasonic Inspection (AUT). Thus a safe approach can be taken by specifying acceptance criteria that are close to limits of sizing capability of the selected NDE method. The comparison illustrates conservatism built into the S-N design curve.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.38-44
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• 2002

MFL method is a qualitative inspection tool and is a reliable, fast and economical NDT method. The application of MFL method to the inspection of storage tank floor plates has been shown to be a viable means. Examination of tank floors previously depended primarily upon ultrasonic test methods that required slow and painstaking application. Therefor most ultrasonic inspection of storage tank has been limited to spot testing only. Our NDE group have developed magnetic flux leakage system to overcome limitation of ultrasonic test. The developed system consists of magnetic yoke, array sensor, crawler and software. It is proved that the system is able to detect artificial flaw like 3.2mm diameter, 1.2mm depth in 6mm thick steel plate.