by Ng, Hiu Tung. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 121-123). / by Ng, Hiu Tung. / Acknowledgement --- p.i / Abstract --- p.ii / Table of Contents --- p.iv / List of Figures --- p.viii / List of Tables --- p.xi / Chapter Chapter One --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Non-destructive testing techniques --- p.2 / Chapter 1.1.1 --- Liquid penetration technique --- p.2 / Chapter 1.1.2 --- Electrical methods (Eddy current testing) --- p.3 / Chapter 1.1.3 --- Ultrasonic testing --- p.4 / Chapter 1.1.4 --- Radiography --- p.5 / Chapter 1.1.5 --- Magnetic methods --- p.6 / Chapter 1.2 --- The development of Barkhausen and magnetoacoustic emissions --- p.7 / Chapter 1.2.1 --- Barkhausen emission --- p.7 / Chapter 1.2.2 --- Magnetoacoustic emission --- p.8 / Chapter 1.3 --- The advantages of using Barkhausen and magnetoacoustic emission over the other nondestructive techniques --- p.10 / Chapter Chapter Two --- Fundamental concept in ferromagnetic materials --- p.12 / Chapter 2.1 --- Ferromagnetism --- p.12 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Curie point --- p.13 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Hysteresis loop --- p.14 / Chapter 2.2 --- Magnetic domains --- p.17 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Magneto static energy --- p.17 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Structure of domain wall --- p.19 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Domain wall motion --- p.21 / Chapter 2.2.4 --- Domain nucleation --- p.22 / Chapter 2.3 --- Magnetostriction --- p.28 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Spontaneous magnetostriction --- p.28 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Saturation magnetostriction --- p.29 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- Field-induced magnetostriction --- p.29 / Chapter 2.3.4 --- Magnetostriction of polycrystalline --- p.30 / Chapter 2.4 --- Effect of stress on magnetic properties --- p.36 / Chapter 2.4.1 --- Stress --- p.36 / Chapter 2.4.2 --- Effect of stress on the magnetization --- p.37 / Chapter 2.4.3 --- Effect of stress on the magnetostriction --- p.38 / Chapter 2.5 --- Eddy current shielding --- p.41 / Chapter Chapter Three --- Barkhausen emission and magnetoacoustic emission --- p.42 / Chapter 3.1 --- Barkhausen emission --- p.42 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- The wall potential energy model of Barkhausen emission --- p.43 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- Typical BE profiles --- p.45 / Chapter 3.2 --- Magnetoacoustic emission --- p.48 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Magnetoacoustic emission model --- p.48 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Typical MAE profiles --- p.50 / Chapter Chapter Four --- Instrumentation --- p.52 / Chapter 4.1 --- Introduction --- p.52 / Chapter 4.2 --- Experimental setup for Barkhausen emission --- p.53 / Chapter 4.3 --- Experimental setup for magnetoacoustic emission --- p.56 / Chapter 4.4 --- Specimen treatment --- p.58 / Chapter 4.4.1 --- Furnace --- p.58 / Chapter 4.4.2 --- Instron loading machine --- p.60 / Chapter 4.4.3 --- Optical microscopy --- p.60 / Chapter 4.4.4 --- Vicker's hardness tester --- p.61 / Chapter Chapter Five --- Effect of field frequency and strength on Barkhausen emission in mild steel and nickel --- p.66 / Chapter 5.1 --- Introduction --- p.66 / Chapter 5.2 --- Experiments --- p.67 / Chapter 5.3 --- Results and discussions --- p.68 / Chapter 5.4 --- Conclusions --- p.76 / Chapter Chapter Six --- Effect of residual stress on Barkhausen and magnetoacoustic emissions in steel bar --- p.77 / Chapter 6.1 --- Introduction --- p.77 / Chapter 6.2 --- Experiments --- p.81 / Chapter 6.3 --- Results and discussions --- p.84 / Chapter 6.3.1 --- BE profiles --- p.84 / Chapter 6.3.2 --- MAE profiles --- p.85 / Chapter 6.3.3 --- Optical microscopy and hardness measurements --- p.85 / Chapter 6.4 --- Conclusions --- p.92 / Chapter Chapter Seven --- Effect of residual stress on Barkhausen and magnetoacoustic emissions in a nickel bar --- p.93 / Chapter 7.1 --- Introduction --- p.93 / Chapter 7.2 --- Experiments --- p.96 / Chapter 7.3 --- Results and discussions --- p.97 / Chapter 7.3.1 --- Hardness and optical microscopy measurement --- p.97 / Chapter 7.3.2 --- BE profiles --- p.98 / Chapter 7.3.3 --- MAE profiles --- p.99 / Chapter 7.4 --- Comparison of nickel and mild steel --- p.106 / Chapter 7.5 --- Conclusions --- p.108 / Chapter Chapter Eight --- Effect of dynamic stress on Barkhausen emission in mild steel --- p.109 / Chapter 8.1 --- Introduction --- p.109 / Chapter 8.2 --- Experiments --- p.110 / Chapter 8.3 --- Results and discussions --- p.112 / Chapter 8.4 --- Conclusions --- p.118 / Chapter Chapter Nine --- Conclusions --- p.119 / References --- p.121

Adhesion, heterogeneous catalysis, electrochemistry, and many other important processes and properties are driven by interactions at surfaces and interfaces. Vibrational sum frequency generation spectroscopy (VSFG) is an increasingly popular analytical technique because it can provide information about the nature and physical orientation of functional groups at these surfaces and interfaces. Analysis of VSFG data can be complicated by the presence of SFG signal that is not associated with a resonant vibration. This nonresonant sum frequency generation (NR-SFG) signal can interfere with the resonant signal and influence the detected spectrum. Methods have been developed to remove NR-SFG signal; however, these methods tend to be complicated and expensive. In fact many SFG practitioners do not have the ability to remove NR-SFG signal components, and systems designed to remove NR-SFG signal contributions may not be able to do so for some materials. We have worked to help develop a better understanding of NR-SFG. As part of this work, a better understanding of the temporal and phase behavior of NR-SFG signal has been developed, based on the behavior of NR-SFG signal from Si(111) wafers. This work calls into question some assumptions underlying nonresonant suppression methods based on time-domain detection. A new method for nondestructively testing (NDT) materials has been developed that uses nonresonant second harmonic generation, the degenerate form of SFG. This new NDT technology has the potential to detect several forms of material damage, such as aluminum sensitization, and plastic deformation of materials, which are largely invisible to current NDT technologies. Methods for extracting functional group orientation from VSFG data that contains NR-SFG contributions are also demonstrated and used to investigate how the surface of high density polyethylene changes in response to mechanical deformation. This work shows that the inability to remove NR-SFG contributions from VSFG spectra does not mean that these instruments cannot be used to make important discoveries. It simply means that NR-SFG contributions must be properly understood and accounted for during experimental design, and kept in mind during the analysis of VSFG spectra.

Terahertz (THz) wavelengths have attracted recent interest in multiple disciplines within engineering and science. Situated between the infrared and the microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum, THz energy can propagate through non-polar materials such as clothing or packaging layers. Moreover, many chemical compounds, including explosives and many drugs, reveal strong absorption signatures in the THz range. For these reasons, THz wavelengths have great potential for non-destructive evaluation and explosive detection. Three-dimensional (3-D) reflection imaging with considerable depth resolution is also possible using pulsed THz systems. While THz imaging (especially 3-D) systems typically operate in transmission mode, reflection offers the most practical configuration for standoff detection, especially for objects with high water content (like human tissue) which are opaque at THz frequencies. In this research, reflection-based THz synthetic-aperture (SA) imaging is investigated as a potential imaging solution. THz SA imaging results presented in this dissertation are unique in that a 2-D planar synthetic array was used to generate a 3-D image without relying on a narrow time-window for depth isolation [1]. Novel THz chemical detection techniques are developed and combined with broadband THz SA capabilities to provide concurrent 3-D spectral imaging. All algorithms are tested with various objects and pressed pellets using a pulsed THz time-domain system in the Northwest Electromagnetics and Acoustics Research Laboratory (NEAR-Lab).

Abstract not available

Asphalt and Portland cement concrete constitutes a significant portion of the total infrastructure all over the world. It has been reported that much of this concrete infrastructure is now approaching or has already passed its original design life. Thus it is critical to be able to quantitatively assess the condition of these concrete components. In order to rehabilitate or repair the civil infrastructure, nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques have been of great interest for infrastructure management agencies. However concrete components present several specific NDE challenges that must be addressed. . Concrete naturally exhibits large scale heterogeneous microstructure with a great deal of local material property variability, For this reasons, many conventional NDE techniques that work well for steel and other homogeneous materials cannot be applied to concrete; concrete is unable to transmit high frequencies, as the heterogeneity of the concrete causes signals of smaller wavelengths or wavelengths equal to the nominal aggregate size to be scattered and severely attenuated. Nevertheless, progress has been made towards accurate and reliable in-place NDE of concrete structures and materials, for example impact echo, ultrasonic pulse velocity method, and the ultrasonic wave transmission method. However, the detection of smaller sized defects or remote defects that are located away from the testing location still pose problems. In addition, the large size and potential limited access conditions of civil structures raise additional challenges. To overcome the limitations of current NDE techniques for concrete, this research considers two different types of ultrasonic waves (coherent and incoherent wave) to quantitatively characterize and monitor defects in heterogeneous concrete materials. The global objective of this research is to determine the feasibility and applicability of using these ultrasonic waves as a global, rapid, reliable, and non-biased technique for the routine screening of defects or monitoring of concrete structures and materials. Three different problems are considered: 1) characterization of segregation in asphaltic concrete, 2) crack depth determination in pier cap of concrete bridge structure, and 3) monitoring of self-healing process in cement-based concrete.

Recent advances in metamaterials research has enabled the development of highly sensitive near-field microwave sensors with unprecedented sensitivity. In this work, we take advantage of the increase in the sensitivity to produce a compact, lightweight, affordable, and accurate measurement system for the applications of microwave imaging and material characterization. This sensitivity enhancement due to the inclusion of metamaterials opens the door for the use of inexpensive microwave components and circuits such as direct detectors while leveraging the high sensitivity of the metamaterial probe to deliver an overall accurate measurement system comparable to that of a traditional probe used in conjunction with a vector network analyzer. The sensor developed is composed of a metamaterial sensor with an RF direct detection circuit. In this work, two prototype measurement systems have been designed and tested. Measurement of small cracks in conductors and material characterization using the proposed system were performed. The results from the newly developed sensors were compared with the results from vector network analyzer measurements. Good agreement was obtained. The feasibility of a compact, lightweight, affordable, and accurate system has been demonstrated by using the developed prototypes.

The ultrasonic nondestructive technique is mainly used to evaluate interior defect, material properties and outside dimensions by measuring the transmitting and reflecting sound waves. Generally, the evaluation of the ultrasonic testing depends on the amplitudes and delay time of the received signals; however, this research is focused on the analysis of the phase differences of the received signals. The leakage phenomenon of surface waves propagating at the liquid-solid interface has been studied for more than fifty years. The main characteristic of this phenomenon is the 180-degree phase difference between the reflected and leaky ultrasound when a bounded ultrasonic beam is incidented. And the null zone caused by the interference of these two waves is appearing in the reflected field. The phase difference is changed as the surface condition altered, including surface roughness and layered structures. The normal-mode theory is used at this research to analyze the analytical model of the leaky surface wave in thin layered structures. In experiments, the measurements of the reflected field are proceeded by the scanning system, so as to analyze the phase difference between the reflected and leaky ultrasound and calculate the layer thickness by the phase difference. As a result of the surface roughness of the thin layers, the leakage is more serious when the ultrasound propagates with lower frequency. For the consideration of locating the null-zone in the reflected field, this research prefers using lower frequency as an initial frequency at the beginning of the testing, then increasing the frequency to achieve a better sensitive of the thickness.

Structural health monitoring (SHM) is an active research area devoted to the assessment of the structural integrity of critical components of aerospace, civil and mechanical systems. Guided wave methods have been proposed for SHM of plate-like structures using permanently attached piezoelectric transducers, which generate and sense waves to evaluate the presence of damage. Effective interrogation of structural health is often facilitated by sensors and actuators with the ability to perform directional scanning. In this research, the novel class of Frequency Steerable Acoustic Transducers (FSATs) is proposed for directional generation/sensing of guided waves. The FSATs are characterized by a spatial arrangement of the piezoelectric material which leads to frequency-dependent directionality. The resulting FSATs can be employed both for directional sensing and generation of guided waves, without relying on phasing and control of a large number of channels. Because there is no need for individual control of transducer elements, hardware and power requirements are drastically reduced so that cost and hardware limitations of traditional phased arrays can be partially overcome. The FSATs can be also good candidates for remote sensing and actuation applications, due to their hardware simplicity and robustness. Validation of the proposed concepts first employs numerical methods. Next, the prototyping of the FSATs allows an experimental investigation confirming the analytical and numerical predictions. Imaging algorithm based on frequency warping is also proposed to enhance results representation.

This research seeks to expand the role of variational and adjoint processing methods into segments of the sonar, radar, and nondestructive testing communities where they have not yet been widely introduced. First, synthetic aperture reconstruction is expressed in terms of the adjoint operator. Many, if not all, practical imaging modalities can be traced back to this general result, as the adjoint is the foundation for backprojection-type algorithms. Next, active surfaces are developed in the context of the Helmholtz equation for the cases of opaque scatterers (i.e., with no interior field) embedded in free space, and penetrable scatterers embedded in a volume which may be bounded. The latter are demonstrated numerically using closed-form solutions based on spherical harmonics. The former case was chosen as the basis for a laboratory experiment using Lamb waves in an aluminum plate. Lamb wave propagation in plates is accurately described by the Helmholtz equation, where the field quantity is the displacement potential. However, the boundary conditions associated with the displacement potential formulation of Lamb waves are incompatible with the shape gradient derived for the Helmholtz equation, except for very long or very short wavelengths. Lastly, optical flow is used to solve a new and unique problem in the field of synthetic aperture sonar. Areas of acoustic focusing and dilution attributable to refraction can sometimes resemble the natural bathymetry of the ocean floor. The difference is often visually indistinguishable, so it is desirable to have a means of detecting these transient refractive effects without having to repeat the survey. Optical flow proved to be effective for this purpose, and it is shown that the parameters used to control the algorithm can be linked to known properties of the data collection and scattering physics.

Alkali-silica reaction (ASR) and delayed ettringite formation (DEF) are expansive reactions that can lead to the premature deterioration of concrete structures. Both have been implicated in the deterioration of numerous structures around the world, including many transportation structures in Texas. As a result of considerable research advances, ASR and DEF are now avoidable in new construction, but evaluating and managing the existing stock of structures damaged by these mechanisms remains a challenge. While the published guidance for evaluating structures is very effective at diagnosing the presence of ASR and DEF, there remain significant weaknesses with respect to the evaluation of structural safety and serviceability and nondestructive testing (NDT) is a minor component of the evaluation process. The research described in this dissertation involved a wide range of tests on plain and reinforced concrete at multiple scales. This included small cylinders and prisms, larger plain and reinforced concrete specimens in outdoor exposure, full-scale reinforced concrete beams, and core samples from the outdoor exposure specimens and full-scale reinforced concrete beams. Nondestructive test methods were applied at all scales, and the full-scale beams were also tested in four-point flexure to determine the effects of ASR and DEF on flexural strength and serviceability. Severe expansions from ASR and DEF did not reduce the strength of the full-scale beams or result in excessive deflections under live loads, despite significant decreases in the compressive strength and elastic modulus measured from core samples. Most NDT methods were found to be effective at low expansions but had difficulty correlating to larger expansions. Two promising NDT methods have been identified for future research and development, and guidance regarding existing test methods is offered. / text