Reinforced cylindrical shells are used in numerous industries; common examples include undersea vehicles and industrial piping. Current models typically incorporate approximate theories to determine shell behavior, which have limitations in terms of both thickness and frequency. In addition, many applications feature coatings on the shell surface that normally have thicknesses which must also be considered. To increase the fidelity of such systems, this work develops an analytical model of an elastic cylindrical shell featuring periodically spaced ring stiffeners with an acoustic coating applied to the outer surface. There is an external fluid environment. Beginning with the equations of elasticity for a solid, spatial-domain displacement field solutions are produced incorporating unknown wave propagation coefficients. These fields are used to determine stresses at the boundaries of the shell and coating, which are then coupled with stresses from the stiffeners and fluid. The stress boundary conditions contain double-index infinite summations, which are decoupled, truncated, and recombined into a global matrix equation. The solution to this global equation results in the displacement responses of the system as well as the scattered pressure field. Two distinct loadings are considered: a ring loading and an incident acoustic wave. Thin-shell reference models are used for validation, and the acoustic response of the system is examined. It is shown that the reinforcing ribs and acoustic coating have a considerable effect on system behavior. / Master of Science

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A fully distributed multi-parameter acoustic sensing technology is proposed. Current fully distributed sensing techniques are exclusively based on intrinsic scatterings in optical fibers. They demonstrate long sensing span, but their limited applicable parameters (temperature and strain) and costly interrogation systems have prevented their widespread applications. A novel concept of acoustic fiber Bragg grating (AFBG) is conceived with inspiration from optical fiber Bragg grating (FBG). This AFBG structure exploits periodic spatial perturbations on an elongated waveguide to sense variations in the spectrum of an acoustic wave. It achieves ten times higher sensitivity than the traditional time-of-flight measurement system using acoustic pulses. A fast interrogation method is developed to avoid frequency scan, reducing both the system response time (from 3min to <1ms) and total cost. Since acoustic wave propagates with low attenuation along varieties of solid materials (metal, silica, sapphire, etc.), AFBG can be fabricated on a number of waveguides and to sense multiple parameters. Sub-millimeter metal wire and optical fiber based AFBGs have been demonstrated experimentally for effective temperature (25~700 degC) and corrosion sensing. A hollow borosilicate tube is demonstrated for simultaneous temperature (25~200 degC) and pressure (15~75 psi) sensing using two types of acoustic modes. Furthermore, a continuous 0.6 m AFBG is employed for distributed temperature sensing up to 500 degC and to accurately locate the 0.18 m long heated section. Sensing parameters, sensitivity and range of an AFBG can be tuned to fit a specific application by selecting acoustic waveguides with different materials and/or geometries. Therefore, AFBG is a fully distributed sensing technology with tremendous potentiality. / Ph. D.

A rise in interest for service robotic rovers produces a need for a low-cost method for source localization in order for a prospective robotic unit to engage with a human operator. This study examines the use of the LMS algorithm for constructing a beamformer using an optimized Weiner filter solution for this source localization application and evaluates the robustness of a developed characterization method for assuring that a proper approximation for the desired signal is achieved. The method presented in this paper encompasses using a filter and sum method in which the sums are generated for a selected set of filter angles, and this set of sums are compared and characterized to produce a selection for an approximate arrival angle from the sound source to the microphone array. These filters are adaptively trained offline using a generated desired signal chirp to represent the average human whistle and a training data set for each of the four possible room configurations. This method was tested to determine if a selected filter configuration could still produce viable outputs for scenarios in which the testing room had been changed, whether noise was injected into the testing environment, if two or three microphones were used in testing process, and whether the filter angles are aligned with the arrival angles of the signal. Results on the robustness of the adaptive LMS beamformer are presented. Limitations of the system performance are discussed and possible solutions for results that have undesired performance are given in future work. / Master of Science

Velocity tomography is a noninvasive technique that can image the interior of a rock structure. To apply tomography to rock specimens, a propagation wave, which acts as a probe, is used. The propagation wave propagates from a source until it reaches a sensor on the surface of the rock specimen. Tomograms can then be generated from the velocity distribution within the rock structure. Areas of higher velocity are typically representative of higher stress concentrations, whereas areas of low velocity can be areas of fracturing. The variation of velocity tomography described in this thesis uses acoustic emissions as sources for the propagation wave. Acoustic emission sources provide advantages over mechanical sources, since the acoustic emission source is generated by the rock as a result of deformation and fracturing. Velocity tomography of rock structures in the field has numerous applications and advantages. Velocity tomography can be used to monitor rock structures surrounding tunnels and underground openings such as mines. To monitor the rock structure, velocity tomography is used to determine areas of higher stress concentration that may be precursors to rock failure. However, velocity tomography must first be used in a laboratory environment to determine failure in rock samples before being applied to the field. The research presented includes the unconfined compression strength testing of 19 Berea sandstone samples. These samples were loaded to failure and during the experiment the acoustic emission events within the samples were monitored using a commercial acquisition system manufactured by Engineering Seismology Group (ESG) Canada. Source location software, also produced by ESG, was used for the location of the acoustic emission events. Ray inversions were performed on the data from the experiments to generate tomograms. The tomograms generated display the p-wave velocity distribution imaged within the Berea sandstone samples with the ultimate goal of being able to predict rock failure. Based on the experiments discussed in this thesis it can be inferred that velocity tomography is a useful tool for imaging the inside of the Berea sandstone samples. Precursors of rock failure could not be determined in this early stage of research. However, the tomograms do image the p-wave velocity distribution and do show a gradual progression of the p-wave velocity from the initial velocity model to higher velocities. Results of these 19 experiments do provide reasonable confidence in the method and warrant pursuit of further research to refine and improve this method of monitoring velocity tomography. / Master of Science

This thesis describes the coincident prediction and observation of thermo-acoustic instabilities in a turbulent, swirl-stabilized research combustor using a stability model constructed from validated reduced-order component models. The component models included the acoustic response to flame heat release rate at various locations in the combustor, the turbulent diffusion of uneven fuel-air mixing, and the flame's response to perturbations in both inlet velocity and equivalence ratio. These elements are closed in a system-level model to reflect their natural dynamic coupling and assessed with linear stability criteria. The results include the empirical validation of each of the component models and limited validation of the total closed-loop model with a lean premixed gaseous fuel combustor not dissimilar to an industrial burner. The degree of agreement between the predictions and the measurements encourages the conclusion that the reduced-order technique described herein not only includes the relevant physics, but has characterized them with sufficient acuracy to be the basis for design techniques for the passive avoidance of thermo-acoustic instabilities. / Master of Science

Fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) are an efficient and inexpensive method of repairing deteriorating infrastructure. FRP sheets can be applied to spalling bridge sections and columns to prevent further deterioration and increase stiffness. However, the effect of the environment on the long-term durability of FRP and how the various damage mechanisms initiate and develop are not known. Systems for structural health monitoring are being sought as a means of managing important components in transportation systems as assets in light of modern life cycle cost concepts. This study characterizes a fiber optic sensor for use in detecting acoustic emissions (AE) in FRP. The results of AE analysis (signal amplitude, frequency spectra, MARSE, and in-plane displacement) caused by simulated fiber fracture experiments and other types of mechanical loading in FRP test coupons are reported. The applications to the development of FRP structural health monitoring systems are also discussed. / Master of Science

No description available.

There is a need to monitor the existence and effects of damage in structural materials. Aircraft components provide a much publicized example, but the need exists in a variety of other structures, such as layered materials used in food packaging industries. While several techniques and models have been proposed for material characterization and condition monitoring of bulk materials, less attention has been devoted to thin sheets having no flexural rigidity. This study is therefore devoted to the development of a new method for acoustic Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) and material characterization of thin sheets used in food packaging materials or similar structures. A method for assessing the strength in the presence of crack of thin sheets used in food packaging is first presented using a modified Strip Yield Model (SYM). Resonance frequency measurement is then introduced and it is shown, at low frequency range (less than 2kHz), that a change in the physical properties such as a reduction in stiffness resulting from the onset of cracks or loosening of a connection causes detectable changes in the modal properties, specifically the resonance frequency. This observation leads to the implementation of a simple method for damage severity assessment on sheet materials, supported by a new theory illustrating the feasibility of the detection of inhomogeneity in form of added mass, as well as damage severity assessment, using a measurement of the frequency shift. A relationship is then established between the resonance frequency and the material’s elastic property, which yields a new modality for sheet materials remote characterization. The result of this study is the groundwork of a low-frequency vibration-based method with remote acoustic excitation and laser detection, for nondestructive testing and material characterization of sheet materials. The work also enhances the feasibility of the testing and condition monitoring of real structures in their operating environment, rather than laboratory tests of representative structures. The sensitivity of the new experimental approach used is liable to improvement while being high because the frequency measurement is one of the most accurate measurements in physics and metrology.

When sound waves propagate in a duct in the presence of turbulent flow, turbulent mixing can cause attenuation of the sound waves extra to that caused by the viscothermal effects. Experiments show that compared to the viscothermal effects, this turbulent absorption becomes the dominant contribution to the sound attenuation at sufficiently low frequencies. The mechanism of this turbulent absorption is attributed to the turbulent stress and the turbulent heat transfer acting on the coherent perturbations (including the sound waves) near the duct wall, i.e. sound-turbulence interaction. The purpose of the current investigation is to understand the mechanism of the sound-turbulence interaction in low-Mach-number internal flows by theoretical modeling and numerical simulations. The turbulence absorption can be modeled through perturbation turbulent Reynolds stresses and perturbation turbulent heat flux in the linearized perturbation equations. In this thesis, the linearized perturbation equations are reviewed, and different models for the turbulent absorption of the sound waves are investigated. A new non–equilibrium model for the perturbation turbulent Reynolds stress is also proposed. The proposed model is validated by comparing with experimental data from the literature, and with the data from Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) of pulsating turbulent channel flow. Good agreement is observed. / <p>QC 20150526</p>