• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.129-135
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• 1997

Previous studies has shown that the curve of low-cycle fatigue life was not expressed with the single line subjected to Manson-Coffin's law type and bent to short life in low ${\Delta}{\varepsilon}_p$ region. The main cause of this phenomenon has been considered that the localization of plastic strain in the crack initiation process fosters the crack initiation. In this study, the low-cycle fatigue life was investigated for each specimens omitted crack initiation process and it was found that fatigue life curve in log(${\Delta}{\varepsilon}_p$)-log($N_f$)was bent in low ${\Delta}{\varepsilon}_p$ region as ever. Therefore, the main cause of appearance of knee point in fatigue life curve is not found in the crack initiation process but in the crack propagation process. In the crack propagation process, the localization of the plastic strain in the vicinity of crack tip and the influence of test environment on the crack propagation rate were observed and these inclinations were more remarkable in low ${\Delta}{\varepsilon}_p$ region. Hence, it was concluded that these two phenomena in the crack propagation process were proved to the main cause which accelerates the crack propagation in low ${\Delta}{\varepsilon}_p$ region and bent the fatigue life curve in result.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.301-310
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• 2020

The laser ultrasonic technique is gaining popularity for nondestructive evaluation (NDE) applications because it is a noncontact and couplant-free method and can inspect a target from a remote distance. For the conventional laser ultrasonic techniques, a pulsed laser is often used to generate broadband ultrasonic waves in a target structure. However, for crack detection using nonlinear ultrasonic modulation, it is necessary to generate narrowband ultrasonic waves. In this study, a pulsed laser is shaped into dual-line arrays using a spatial mask and used to simultaneously excite narrowband ultrasonic waves in the target structure at two distinct frequencies. Nonlinear ultrasonic modulation will occur between the two input frequencies when they encounter a fatigue crack existing in the target structure. Then, a nonlinear damage index (DI) is defined as a function of the magnitude of the modulation components and computed over the target structure by taking advantage of laser scanning. Finally, the fatigue crack is detected and localized by visualizing the nonlinear DI over the target structure. Numerical simulations and experimental tests are performed to examine the possibility of generating narrowband ultrasonic waves using the spatial mask. The performance of the proposed fatigue crack localization technique is validated by conducting an experiment with aluminum plates containing real fatigue cracks.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.686-695
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• 2012

This paper proposes a noncontact thermography technique for fatigue crack evaluation under a cyclic tensile loading. The proposed technique identifies and localizes an invisible fatigue crack without scanning, thus making it possible to instantaneously evaluate an incipient fatigue crack. Based on a thermoelastic theory, a new fatigue crack evaluation algorithm is proposed for the fatigue crack-tip localization. The performance of the proposed algorithm is experimentally validated. To achieve this, the cyclic tensile loading is applied to a dog-bone shape aluminum specimen using a universal testing machine, and the corresponding thermal responses induced by thermoelastic effects are captured by an infrared camera. The test results confirm that the fatigue crack is well identified and localized by comparing with its microscopic images.

• 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.32 no.4
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• pp.355-361
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• 2012

This paper presents an experimental study on the detection and location of nonlinear scattering source due to the presence of fatigue crack in a laboratory specimen. The proposed technique is based on a combination of nonlinear elastic wave spectroscopy(NEWS) and time reversal(TR) focusing approach. In order to focus on the nonlinear scattering position due to the fatigue crack, we employed only one transmitting transducer and one receiving transducer, taking advantage of long duration of reception signal that includes multiple linear scattering such as mode conversion and boundary reflections. NEWS technique was then used as a pre-treatment of TR for spatial focusing of reemitted second harmonic signal. The robustness of this approach was demonstrated on a cracked specimen and the nonlinear TR focusing behavior is observed on the crack interface from which the second harmonic signal was originated.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.13-27
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• 2023

Fatigue crack is a fatal problem for steel structures. Early detection and maintenance can help extend the service life and prevent hazards. This paper presents the ultrasonic guided waves-based (UGWs-based) fatigue crack detection of a steel I-beam. The semi-analytical finite element model has been built to obtain the wave propagation characteristics. Damage indices in both time and frequency domains were analyzed by considering the characteristic variations of UGWs including the amplitude, phase angle, and wave packet energy. The pulse-echo and pitch-catch methods were combined in the detection scheme. Lab-scale experiments were conducted on welded steel I-beams to verify the proposed method. Results show that the damage indices based on the characteristic variations in the time domain can identify and localize the fatigue crack before it enters the rapid growth stage. The damage severity can be reasonably evaluated by analyzing the time-domain damage indices. Two nonlinear damage indices in the frequency domain give earlier warnings of the fatigue crack than the time-domain damage indices do. The identification results based on the above two nonlinear indices are found to be less consistent under various excitation frequencies. More robust nonlinear techniques needed to be searched and tested for early crack detection in steel I-beams in further study.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.141-158
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• 2005

A new design of distributed crack sensors based on the topological change of transmission line cables is presented for the condition assessment of reinforced concrete (RC) structures during and immediately after an earthquake event. This study is primarily focused on the performance of cable sensors under dynamic loading, particularly a feature that allows for some "memory" of the crack history of an RC member. This feature enables the post-earthquake condition assessment of structural members such as RC columns, in which the earthquake-induced cracks are closed immediately after an earthquake event due to gravity loads, and are visually undetectable. Factors affecting the onset of the feature were investigated experimentally with small-scale RC beams under cyclic loading. Test results indicated that both crack width and the number of loading cycles were instrumental in the onset of the memory feature of cable sensors. Practical issues related to dynamic acquisition with the sensors are discussed. The sensors were proven to be fatigue resistant from shake table tests of RC columns. The sensors continued to show useful performance after the columns can no longer support additional loads.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.345-352
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• 2016

As aircrafts are being operated at high altitude, wing structures experience various fatigue loadings under cryogenic environments. As a result, fatigue damage such as a crack could be develop that could eventually lead to a catastrophic failure. For this reason, fatigue damage monitoring is an important process to ensure efficient maintenance and safety of structures. To implement damage detection in real-world flight environments, a special cooling chamber was built. Inside the chamber, the temperature was maintained at the cryogenic temperature, and harmonic fatigue loading was given to a wing structure. In this study, piezoelectric active-sensing based guided waves were used to detect the fatigue damage. In particular, a beamforming technique was applied to efficiently measure the scattering wave caused by the fatigue damage. The system was used for detection, growth monitoring, and localization of a fatigue crack. In addition, a sensor diagnostic process was also applied to ensure the proper operation of piezoelectric sensors. Several experiments were implemented and the results of the experiments demonstrated that this process could efficiently detect damage in such an extreme environment.