Enhanced air-coupled impact echo technique by phase analysis of signals from multiple sensors

This paper presents an air-coupled impact echo(IE)technique that relies on the phase spectrum of the collected data to find the frequencies corresponding to the reflections from delaminations.The proposed technique takes advantage of the fact that the IE compression wave is not a propagating wave,but it is the 1st order symmetrical(S1)mode Lamb wave at zero group velocity(S1-ZGV).Therefore,it searches the phase spectra of the data collected by multiple sensors to locate the frequency corresponding to the lowest phase difference.As a result,the technique reduces the effect of propagating waves,including the direct acoustic wave and ambient noise.It is named the Constant Phase IE(CPIE).The performance of the CPIE is experimentally compared with the regular amplitude spectrum-based IE technique and two other multisensor IE techniques.The CPIE shows a performance advantage,especially in a noisy environment.

Quality evaluation of laser welds based on air-coupled ultrasound

With the wide application of laser welding technology in automobiles and rail transportation, the non-destructive testing technology for laser welding seams is also getting better. Aiming at the laser welding seam of two-layer metal sheet below 3 mm, the possibility of laser welding seam detection by air-coupling ultrasonic detection technology is discussed. By numerical analysis and experimental analysis,Lamb wave is excited on aluminum plate in air. Through the propagation simulation of Lamb wave in laser weld specimen, the influence of laser weld width and weld quality on reflectivity and transmittance is analyzed. The propagation law of Lamb wave in laser weld specimen is clarified. The results show that the quality of laser weld can be evaluated by the mode of Lamb wave A0.

Air-coupled piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers for surface stain detection and imaging

This paper proposes an air-coupled piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducer(PMUT)for detection and imaging of surface stains.A 508 kHz PMUT array is designed,fabricated,and characterized in terms of its electrical and acoustic properties,and it is used in a pulse echo validation test.Imaging of stains on metal blocks is successfully demonstrated.Compared with existing optical methods for stain detection,the proposed approach can work in a dark environment without color requirements.This work provides a new and promising route for the development of miniaturized stain detection systems.

Non-Contact Velocity Measurement of Japanese Cedar Columns Using Air-Coupled Ultrasonics

The ultrasonic wave velocities of Japanese cedar columns were measured using a non-contact method. An air-coupled ultrasonic wave was propagated through the axial and lateral directions of wood. The velocities in the axial direction (VL) showed the minimum values around the pith. The averaged VL increased from 3600 m/s towards the outside of measurement area and attained the maximum values (=4010 m/s). The velocities in the lateral direction (VRT ) showed no tendency among measurement points. The averaged VRT was 1450 m/s. The velocities obtained using the non-contact method showed a significant positive relationship with those obtained using the contact method. The averaged ratio of VL to VRT was measured to be approximately 2.2 to 2.8. These ratios were in agreement with those from a contact method. These findings suggest that it is possible to measure the velocity in Japanese cedar columns with the non-contact method by using air-coupled ultrasonics.

Non-contact air-coupled transducers Lamb wave signal multipath effect and blind separation for different modes using PZT as receiver

Due to the complexity and faintness of the detection wave patterns obtained by aircoupled transducers,if it is possible to effectively separate the various modes and obtain nondispersive signals for more accurate detection and positioning,it will help to improve the accuracy and reliability of air-coupled ultrasonic Lamb wave detection,providing better technical support for the application and development of related fields.Because of the increased complexity of aircoupled signals,there is no definite theoretical formula to describe the mode changes of aircoupled signals,so the method based on blind separation has unique value.To address these challenges,the paper proposes a single-channel blind source separation(SCBSS)method.The effectiveness of this method is evaluated through simulations and experiments,demonstrating favorable separation results and efficient computational speed.This work first conducts an in-depth analysis of the signal characteristics of air-coupled ultrasonic non-destructive testing,and simulates the ultrasonic excitation conditions of air-coupled sensors through finite element software.The study of modal changes and multipath effects caused by the variation of the incidence angle of the ACT signal is carried out,and the situation of the Lamb wave signal excited by ACT at the receiving end is analyzed.By combining ACT with PZT signals,the ultrasonic signals of air-coupled Lamb waves are compared and studied,and their modal purification is carried out.

Delamination damage detection of laminated composite beams using air-coupled ultrasonic transducers

Air-coupled ultrasonic transducers are used to generate and receive Lamb waves in quasi-isotropic laminated composite beams for delamination detection. The influence of incident angle on the excited mode is studied. Numerical calculation and experimental results show that a pure Lamb wave mode can be generated if the transmitting transducer is oriented at a specific angle, and the receiving transducer can either be oriented to detect the same mode as that generated by the transmitter or to detect another mode generated by mode conversion at a defect. A three-dimensional finite element model is created to predict the interaction of Lamb waves with delamination, and some unique mechanisms of interaction between A0 mode Lamb waves and delamination are revealed in detail. The experimental results obtained on laminated composite beam using air-coupled ultrasonic transducers are well in accordance with finite element simulation results. Research results show that air-coupled ultrasonic guided waves can be used for delamination damage detection effectively in laminated composite beams.

Identification of damaged corn seeds using air-coupled ultrasound

Corn,an important staple in many countries around the world,is subject to a very inefficient germination rate due to worm-damaged seeds.However,air-coupled ultrasound is a rapid,safe and widely accepted method for the early detection of such damage.In this study,the current effectiveness and future prospects of this technique for identifying damaged seeds were explored.The presented procedure started with drawing a sample of 810 seed particles,consisting of 400 that were intact,400 manually damaged and 10 damaged by worms.Then the principal component analysis(PCA)method was used to reduce the dimensions of air-coupling ultrasonic information and extract the top ten principal components.Finally,a KNN decision tree by using SIMCA software and a Fisher recognition model by using MATLAB software were constructed.The pattern recognition was established by using KNN,which has the most accurate recognition rate.The correct recognition rate of modeling for the front and back data of the intact particles was 98%and 100%,respectively;and for the manually damaged particles,99%and 97%,respectively.The results show that the model developed by using air-coupled ultrasonic data can classify corn seed particles both with and without holes to provide a basis for the development of a seed selection system,which has a significant role in improving the clarity and the germination rate.