Detection of internal crack growth in polyethylene pipe using guided wave ultrasonic testing

Despite the success of guided wave ultrasonic inspection for internal defect detection in steel pipes,its application on polyethylene(PE)pipe remains relatively unexplored.The growth of internal cracks in PE pipe severely affects its pressure-holding capacity,hence the early detection of internal cracks is crucial for effective pipeline maintenance strategies.This study extends the scope of guided wave-based ultrasonic testing to detect the growth of internal cracks in a natural gas distribution PE pipe.Laboratory experiments and a finite element model were planned to study the wave-crack interaction at different stages of axially oriented internal crack growth with a piezoceramic transducer-based setup arranged in a pitch-catch configuration.Mode dispersion analysis supplemented with preliminary experiments was performed to isolate the optimal inspection frequency,leading to the selection of the T(0,1)mode at 50-kHz for the investigation.A transmission index based on the energy of the T(0,1)mode was developed to trace the extent of simulated crack growth.The findings revealed an inverse linear correlation between the transmission index and the crack depth for crack growth beyond 20%crack depth.

Test of subcritical crack growth and fracture toughness under water-rock interaction in three types of rocks

The subcritical crack growth and fracture toughness in peridotite, lherzolite and amphibolite were investigated with double torsion test. The results show that water-rock interaction has a significant influence on subcritical crack growth. With water-rock interaction, the crack velocity increases, while the stress intensity factor declines, which illustrates that water-rock interaction can decrease the strength of rocks and accelerate the subcritical crack growth. Based on Charlse theory and Hilling & Charlse theory, the test data were analyzed by regression and the correlation coefficients were all higher than 0.7, which shows the correlation is significant. This illustrates that both theories can explain the results of tests very well. Therefore, it is believed that the subcritical crack growth attributes to the breaking of chemical bond, which is caused by the combined effect of the tensile stress and the chemical reaction between the material at crack tip and the corrosive agent. Meanwhile, water-rock interaction has a vital effect on fracture toughness. The fracture toughness of samples under atmospheric environment is higher than that of samples immersed in water. And water-rock interaction has larger influence on fracture toughness in amphibolite than that in peridotite and lherzolite.

Study on hydrogen assisted cracking susceptibility of HSLA steel by implant test

DMR-249 A is an indigenously developed high strength low alloy steel for Indian ship building industry for making ship-hull and is extensively used in the construction of war ships and submarines. Welding electrodes conforming to SFA 5.5 AWS E8018 C1 has been indigenously developed for welding of this steel using shielded metal arc welding process. In the present study, susceptibility to hydrogen assisted cracking of DMR-249 A steel welds made using this electrode has been assessed using implant test. Implant tests were conducted using this electrode at two different levels of diffusible hydrogen, measured using gas chromatography technique. It is observed that both the steel and the welding consumable are not susceptible to hydrogen assisted cracking even with a high diffusible hydrogen level of 9 m L/100 g of weld metal. In implant tests, specimen did not fracture even after loading to stress levels higher than the yield strength of the base metal. The good resistance of this steel and the welding consumable, even with high levels of diffusible hydrogen, is attributed to absence of a susceptible microstructure in both the weld metal and heat affected zone. Hence, this study shows that, in the absence of a susceptible microstructure, hydrogen assisted cracking is unlikely to occur even if hydrogen level is high. It also confirms that in welding of DMR-249 A with indigenously developed E8018 C1 electrode, hydrogen assisted cracking is not a concern and no preheating is required to avoid it during welding.

Detection of Damage and Crack in Railhead by Using Eddy Current Testing

Eddy current testing is a nondestructive testing method, which is used to detect discontinuities and defects in conductive materials. Using this technique, two different types of artificial defects in a railhead were evaluated in order to analyze the relationship between different types of defects and eddy current signals, and to obtain data on the size of the rail surface defects and crack location. The actually used rail sample was also studied. Surface cracks and defects were clearly observed as amplitude and phase changes of detected signals. This study succeeds in quantitatively analyzing and discriminating the damage types.

Edge crack growth of mortar plate specimens under uniaxial loading tests

In this paper, a compression-to-tension conversion technique is developed by applying predominant mode I loading test, using a servo-controlled compression system. The technique is applied to thin mortar plate specimens of different widths that include a prefabricated crack on either a single side to facilitate unilateral crack propagation, or prefabricated cracks positioned on both sides asymmetrically with respect to the specimen midpoint to facilitate bilateral crack propagation under direct tensile stress with a loading rate of 0.001 mm/s. The results show that the main pathways of unilateral crack propagation governing specimen failure are fluctuated locally, but present an approximately straight line overall in the absence of pre-existing internal defects. However, the pathways of bilateral crack propagation are relatively complex, although they present similar characteristics. Analysis results suggest that bilateral crack propagation can be basically divided into three stages, i.e. a stage of linear propagation, a stage representing deviation from the other crack, and a stage where one crack approaches either the other crack or approaches the opposite edge of the specimen, and thereby forming a continuous crack through the specimen. In addition, the stressestrain curves of bilateral crack specimens do not vary significantly around the point of peak stress prior to specimen failure, which means that the specimens do not fail instantaneously.

Oblique Y-groove cracking test of the welding cold cracking susceptibility of domestic X-70 pipeline steel

Gas Transmitting From West to East Project' is significant. It should ensure the welding quality and safety of pipeline. The task is very arduous to guarantee the quality of the project in the condition of long line, complex weather and geology features. In this paper, the welding cold cracking susceptibility of domestic X 70 pipeline steel adopted by the project, which is one of the most interesting questions of welding quality about petrol pipeline, was studied by means of oblique Y groove cracking test. The crack ratio of surface and section was tested under the conditions of different welding materials and preheat temperature .The thickness of plate steel was 14.7 mm and 10.3 mm . The results reveal that X 70 pipeline steel has good crack resistance. The research has important value for the construction of large scale pipeline engineering and the application of domestic X 70 pipeline steel.

Nondestructive testing for crack of tunnel lining using GPR

Lining craze, as a common engineering damage, affects the bearing capacity and the safety of tunnels.To improve the capabilities of the surface crack detection in the tunnel lining, ground penetrating radar(GPR) was employed. The principle and method of GPR for cracks investigation of tunnel lining were expounded. As an application example, some field measurements in order to detect the depth of cracks for the tunnel lining were achieved in a new tunnel. All GPR investigations were made with the antennae of 1 GHz. The cracks of concrete structure were located, and the distributing and depth of cracks are inspected and estimated by GPR. The results of investigation show GPR is accurate and efficient to detect cracks of tunnel lining.

Fractal characteristics of cracks and fragments generated in unloading rockburst tests

True triaxial rockburst experiments with four different unloading rates were performed on four prism specimens of granite sampled from Beishan, China. The damage evolution in the rockburst test was investigated from two aspects including fracture surface crack and fragment characteristics. The scanning electron microscopy was used to observe the micro crack information on fragment surface. Combing binarization and box counting dimensions, the fractal dimensions of cracks were obtained. Meanwhile,the fragments were collected and a sieving experiment was conducted. We weighed the fragments qualities, counted the amount of fragments and measured the fragments length, width and thickness.Utilizing four methods to calculate damage fractal dimensions of fragments, the trend of fractal value changing with unloading rates can be roughly described. It can be concluded from these experiments that the fractal dimension either for crack or for fragment holds a decreasing trend with the decreasing unloading rate, indicating a reduction of damage level.

A review on evaluation of crack resistance of asphalt mixture by semi-circular bending test

Although there are many kinds of fracture tests to choose from in evaluating the crack resistance of asphalt mixture,the semi-circular bending(SCB)test has attracted a lot of attention in the academic road engineering community because of its simplicity,stability,and flexibility in testing and evaluation.The SCB test has become a common method to study the cracking resistance of asphalt mixture in recent years.This paper mainly summarizes the overview of the SCB test,summarizes some research results and common characterization parameters of the SCB test method in monotone test and fatigue test in recent years,and predicts and suggests the research direction of the SCB test in the future.It is found that the research on the monotonic SCB test is more comprehensive,and the research on the SCB fatigue test needs to be further improved in the aspects of loading mode,characterization parameter selection,and so on.Researchers can flexibly adjust the geometric dimensions and the test parameters of semi-cylindrical specimens,and conduct comprehensive analysis combined with the results of numerical simulation.The crack resistance of asphalt mixture can be comprehensively evaluated by fracture energy,fracture toughness,stiffness,flexibility index and other fracture indicators,combined with the crack propagation of the specimen.The analysis of numerical simulation can confirm the test results.In order to standardize the setting of fatigue parameters for future application,it is necessary to standardize the setting of bending performance.

Exploring an eco-friendly approach to improve soil tensile behavior and cracking resistance

Soil tensile strength is a critical parameter governing the initiation and propagation of tensile cracking.This study proposes an eco-friendly approach to improve the tensile behavior and crack resistance of clayey soils.To validate the feasibility and efficacy of the proposed approach,direct tensile tests were employed to determine the tensile strength of the compacted soil with different W-OH treatment concentrations and water contents.Desiccation tests were also performed to evaluate the effectiveness of W-OH treatment in enhancing soil tensile cracking resistance.During this period,the effects of W-OH treatment concentration and water content on tensile properties,soil suction and microstructure were investigated.The tensile tests reveal that W-OH treatment has a significant impact on the tensile strength and failure mode of the soil,which not only effectively enhances the tensile strength and failure displacement,but also changes the brittle failure behavior into a more ductile quasi-brittle failure behavior.The suction measurements and mercury intrusion porosimetry(MIP)tests show that W-OH treatment can slightly reduce soil suction by affecting skeleton structure and increasing macropores.Combined with the microstructural analysis,it becomes evident that the significant improvement in soil tensile behavior through W-OH treatment is mainly attributed to the W-OH gel's ability to provide additional binding force for bridging and encapsulating the soil particles.Moreover,desiccation tests demonstrate that W-OH treatment can significantly reduce or even inhibit the formation of soil tensile cracking.With the increase of W-OH treatment concentration,the surface crack ratio and total crack length are significantly reduced.This study enhances a fundamental understanding of eco-polymer impacts on soil mechanical properties and provides valuable insight into their potential application for improving soil crack resistance.

Numerical simulation of plate rigid restraint cracking tests based on cohesive element model

Cohesive element is developed from the Dugdal-Barenblatt model in the field of fracture mechanics. The mechanical constitutive relation of cohesive element can be artificially assumed depending on the specific applications. It has been successfully applied in the study of crystal plasticity/brittle fracture process and decohesion between delaminations. In this paper, tensile experiments of large steel plate with different length of pre-existing cracks are conducted. Based on commercial software ABAQUS, cohesive element is adopted to simulate the tensile tests, and appropriate parameter values are obtained by fitting displacement-force curves. Using these parameters, a numerical method is presented by applying cohesive element to thermo-elastic-plastic finite element method （TEP-FEM） to simulate plate rigid restraint cracking （PRRC） tests. By changing constitutive relation of cohesive element, dimensions of the model and welding conditions, the influence of welding restraint intensity and welding conditions on the crack propagation are discussed, respectively. Three types of welding cold cracking are simulated. Significant influence of welding cold cracking on resistant stress in welding line is captured by this numerical method.

The Dry Cracking of Cementitious Materials in the Eccentric Ring Test and the Concentric Ring Test

In order to reduce the randomness of the occurrence of cracks and shorten the long cracking time in the traditional concentric ring tests,the elliptical ring test,the square-eccentric ring test,and the eccentric ring test have been gradually developed.In this paper,we reported experiments on the eccentric ring test and concentric ring test that were carried out to compare the differences between the two methods.It is found that an increase in the water-cement ratio and the amount of aggregate will increase the cracking time.However,a more obvious cracking tendency of cement-based materials can be seen in the eccentric ring test.The correlation between humidity and strain was established by the use of the Kelvin equation and the Laplace equation so that the coupling analysis of humidity and strain during the drying process of cement-based materials could be determined.The experimental results show that the external surface humidity will decrease rapidly in the early stage of drying,while the interior areas of the cement-based materials decrease more slowly.The closer to the inner circle will decrease the humidity slowly.

Analysis of Crack Expansion and Morphology of Cross-Laminated Timber Planar Shear Test

To describe the dynamic cracking process of the CLT vertical layer,the correlation between a load-displacement curve,specimen cracking,and planar shear failure mechanism of the CLT were explored.A three-point bending test and an improved planar shear test are used to evaluate the shear performance of the CLT.In this study,the load-displacement curve is recorded,the experimental part is synchronized with the video,the dynamic process of cracking of the vertical layer is observed and analyzed throughout the test.From the load-displacement curve,the image characteristics of the initial cracking and the sudden increase of the cracking of the specimen are summar-ized.The description results of the whole dynamic process of the CLT vertical layer cracking are analyzed by pla-nar shear strength value,cracking phenomenon,and azimuth angle of cracking surface.The main conclusions show that the three-point bending test and the improved plain shear test can be used to test the plain shear strength of the CLT,with a difference of only 5.7%.The original crack and the new crack expansion account for 18.9%and 81.1%of the main cracking surface,respectively.And the vertical layer of the CLT specimen under three-point bending has three cracking morphologies,such as radial shake,ring shake,neither along with the radial shake nor along with the ring shake.The azimuth angle of the cracking surface of the CLT vertical layer under planar shear is quite consistent with the first main plane azimuth of the vertical layer of the CLT specimens under the three-point bending test and the shearing test.The shape in the cracking direction of the left half-span or the right half-span of the vertical layer of the specimen is similar to the Chinese character eight.

On the Bump Tests of Cracked Shafts Using Acoustic Emission Techniques

An investigation about the application of Acoustic Emission (AE) techniques to analyze the dynamic response of different cracked shafts rendered in bump tests is presented in this work. The experimental apparatus devised for this work complies of six shafts with different transverse crack sizes and a high-frequency data acquisition system. The AE signals generated in the bump tests performed on the different cracked shafts are captured by a wideband AE transducer. Those signals are treated by using statistical moments, wavelet transforms, and frequency- and time-domain procedures. A transverse crack of predetermined depth is etched into each shaft. The experimental results show that the values of kurtosis and skewness estimated for the AE signals can be used to identify the crack size.

Determining rock crack stress thresholds using ultrasonic through-transmission measurements

The crack initiation stress threshold is widely used in excavation industries as rock spalling strength when designing deep underground structures to avoid unwanted brittle failures.While various strain-based methods have been developed for the estimation of this critical design parameter,such methods are destructive and often requires subjective interpretations of the stress–strain curves,particularly in rocks with pre-existing microcracks or high porosity.This study explore the applicability of non-destructive ultrasonic through-transmission methods for determining rock damage levels by assessing the changes in transmitted signal characteristics during loading.The change in velocity,amplitude,dominant frequency,and root-mean-square voltage are investigated with four different rock types including marble,sandstone,granite,and basalt under various stress levels.Results suggest the rate of signal variations can be reliably used to estimate crack closure and crack initiation stress levels across the tested rocks before failure.Comparison of the results between the conventional techniques and the new proposed methods based on ultrasonic monitoring are further discussed.

Crack propagation and damage evolution of metallic cylindrical shells under internal explosive loading

This paper investigates the three-dimensional crack propagation and damage evolution process of metallic column shells under internal explosive loading.The calibration of four typical failure parameters for 40CrMnSiB steel was conducted through experiments and subsequently applied to simulations.The numerical simulation results employing the four failure criteria were compared with the differences and similarities observed in freeze-recovery tests and ultra-high-speed tests.This analysis addressed the critical issue of determining failure criteria for the fracture of a metal shell under internal explosive loads.Building upon this foundation,the damage parameter D_(c),linked to the cumulative crack density,was defined based on the evolution characteristics of a substantial number of cracks.The relationship between the damage parameter and crack velocity over time was established,and the influence of the internal central pressure on the damage parameter and crack velocity was investigated.Variations in the fracture modes were found under different failure criteria,with the principal strain failure criterion proving to be the most effective for simulating 3D crack propagation in a pure shear fracture mode.Through statistical analysis of the shell penetration fracture radius data,it was determined that the fracture radius remained essentially constant during the crack evolution process and could be considered a constant.The propagation velocity of axial cracks ranged between 5300 m/s and 12600 m/s,surpassing the Rayleigh wave velocity of the shell material and decreasing linearly with time.The increase in shell damage exhibited an initial rapid phase,followed by deceleration,demonstrating accelerated damage during the propagation stage of the blast wave and decelerated damage after the arrival of the rarefaction wave.This study provides an effective approach for investigating crack propagation and damage evolution.The derived crack propagation and damage evolution law serves as a valuable reference for the development of crack velocity theory and the construction of shell damage evolution modes.

Crack mechanism of ground fissures in loess layer of Fenwei Basin, China

The Fenwei Basin, covered by loess, experiences severe ground fissure disasters. These disasters disrupt the continuity of the loess and pose significant threats to engineering construction safety along transportation routes. Nevertheless, the crack characteristics and the influence zone of ground fissures in the loess layer remain inadequately investigated. To effectively prevent and control ground fissure disasters, physical model tests and the PFC(particle flow code) numerical simulation method are used to investigate the crack mechanism of buried ground fissures in the loess layer. The results show that there are two main cracks in the layer profile, which have a Y-shape morphology. As the dip angle of the preset cracks increased from 60° to 90°, the main deformation zone at the surface gradually shifted towards the footwall. The process of crack propagation from depth to surface is divided into five stages. Additionally, the results confirm the accuracy of the width of the rupture zone d2in the footwall calculated by the cantilever beam theory. These findings can offer theoretical guidance for determining the avoidance distance of ground fissures in loess regions, as well as for implementing disaster prevention and corresponding control measures for various stages of buried ground fissure propagation.

Mechanical anisotropy associated with beddings in shale under Brazilian test conditions:Insights from acoustic emission statistics

A comprehensive understanding of shale’s bedding anisotropy is crucial for shale-related engineering activities,such as hydraulic fracturing,drilling and underground excavation.In this study,seven Brazilian tests were conducted on shale samples at different bedding orientations with respect to the loading direction(0°,45°and 90°)and the disc end face(0°,45°and 90°).An acoustic emission(AE)system was employed to capture the evolution of damage and the temporal-spatial distribution of microcracks under splitting-tensile stress.The results show that the Brazilian tensile strength decreases with increasing bedding inclination with respect to the disc end face,while it increases with the angle between bedding and loading directions.Increasing the bedding inclination with respect to the end face facilitates the reduction in b value and enhances the shale’s resistance to microcrack growth during the loading process.Misalignment between the bedding orientation and the end face suppresses the growth of mixed tensile-shear microcracks,while reducing the bedding angle relative to the loading direction is beneficial for creating mixed tensile-shear and tensile cracks.The observed microscopic failure characteristics are attributed to the competing effects of bedding activation and breakage of shale matrix at different bedding inclinations.The temporal-spatial distribution of microcracks,characterized by AE statistics including the correlation dimension and spatial correlation length,illustrates that the fractal evolution of microcracks is independent of bedding anisotropy,whereas the spatial distribution shows a stronger correlation.The evolution features of correlation dimension and spatial correlation length could be potentially used as precursors for shale splitting failure.These findings may be useful for predicting rock mass instability and analyzing the causes of catastrophic rupture.

Catalytic cracking of light diesel over Au/ZSM-5 catalyst for increasing propylene production

The catalytic cracking of light diesel oil （235–337 ＆#176;C） over gold‐modified ZSM‐5 was investigated in a small confined fluidized bed at 460 ＆#176;C and ambient pressure. Different Au/ZSM‐5 catalysts were prepared by a modified deposition‐precipitation method by changing the preparation procedure and the amount of gold loading and were characterized by X‐ray diffraction, N2 adsorp‐tion‐desorption, temperature‐programmed desorption of NH3, transmission electron microscopy and inductively coupled plasma spectrometer. It was found that a small amount of gold had a posi‐tive effect on the catalytic cracking of light diesel oil and increased propylene production at a rela‐tively low temperature. The maintenance of the ZSM‐5 MFI structure, pore size distribution and the density of weak and strong acid sites of the Au/ZSM‐5 catalysts depended on the preparation pa‐rameters and the Au loading. Simultaneous enhancement of the micro‐activity and propylene pro‐duction relies on a synergy between the pore size distribution and the relative intensity of the weak and strong acid sites. A significant improvement in the micro‐activity index with an increase of 4.5 units and in the propylene selectivity with an increase of 23.2 units was obtained over the Au/ZSM‐5 catalyst with an actual Au loading of 0.17 wt%.