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Selection of a nondestructive evaluation method for inspection of composite materials is a difficult process due to their multilithic nature and complex failure. Development of new techniques, which are more cost-effective and practical, are needed. Transmitted light intensity has the potential to satisfy these criteria. By measuring light intensity transmitted through a composite sample during fatigue testing, changes in the intensity were correlated to damage development within the sample. By applying image enhancement and analysis techniques, damage development due to matrix cracking and delamination, was detected and presented in images that were easy to understand. / Master of Science

The use of metal strain gauges and ultrasonic transducers have long been studied in the field of Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) as a part of structural health monitoring (SHM). Strain gauges use electrical resistance to monitor strains during the loading of a component. Ultrasonic transducers are piezo devices that use a crystal-like sensing element with very low excitation energy that can monitor small strains such as acoustic emissions (AEs). These types of devices have been used to locate the sources of AEs from artificial sources, such as Hsu-Nielsen pencil lead break (PLB) tests, or natural sources such as quasi-static fracture or crack propagation. This type of evaluation has significant advantages over other types of damage inspections such as liquid die penetrant, Blue Light, Eddy Current, or X-ray inspections where visual inspections, large defects, and high levels of user experience are required. The ultrathin silicon membrane (USM) sensor developed by NanoSonic Inc. is a piezoresistive sensor, incorporating the best aspects of a conventional strain gauge and ultrasonic transducer. The sensor can measure both the strain of a component, as well as any acoustic emission that is emitted on the component. To the author's knowledge this is the only sensor capable of simultaneous measurement of these two data types. This paper presents the sensor's ability to be used for quasi-static fracture monitoring. The sensor is first compared to commercial ultrasonic transducers in an unloaded pencil lead break (PLB) test for determining the ability in measuring lamb waves for source location estimation. The NanoSonic USM sensor is further compared to commercial strain gauges and ultrasonic transducers during a PLB test under a tensile load where it is demonstrated the USM sensor yields similar measurements to both commercial sensors. The final test was a quasi-static fracture test, where the NanoSonic USM sensor was able to detect substantially lower energy AEs than the previous test and record the strain history during fracture. This duality of the USM sensor demonstrates an inherent usefulness to NDE and SHM fields. The sensor offers sensing capabilities comparable to commercially available sensors in a smaller package, with less power consumption, at a lower cost. / Master of Science / Nondestructive evaluation (NDE) is a field within structural health monitoring (SHM) that refers to determining any defects within a component that would hinder its performance without modifying its existing condition. This has historically been done by visual inspection by which experienced personnel examine the part for defects. This is inherently flawed as cracking below the surface of a component is common and would not be detected and extensive experience is required to successfully complete this task. Components in hard-to-reach places, with coatings, or that are small also prove challenges to visual inspection. Engineers have developed several new testing methods to combat these flaws. The use of acoustic emission (AE) testing allows sensors, called ultrasonic transducers, to receive and emit sounds at high frequencies to conduct the inspection. This can be done by emitting a sound which is then propagated as a wave along the surface of the component, if the wave hits a defect, it is scattered. A receiving sensor would then receive an unexpected signal, indicating that there is a problem. Furthermore, an array of these sensors can be employed to 'listen' for these surfaces waves that may be emitted during the standard operation of the components. Things like high loads, cracking, and impacts will all be able to be detected. The use of an array of sensors will allow the location of these events. This paper will discuss a new type of sensor, an ultrathin silicon membrane (USM) sensor developed by NanoSonic Inc. This type of sensor can detect high frequencies similar to an ultrasonic transducer, as well as measure large loads that would deform the part, resulting in an event known as strain. The novelty of the NanoSonic USM sensor is its ability to monitor both pieces of information simultaneously, which is believed to be the first to do so in the field. The ability to obtain information on strain and locations of acoustic events within a component during standard operation would be a valuable prospect for the aerospace, civil, and automotive industries.

Statistics released in the fall 1989 showed that 238,357 (41%) of the nation's 577,710 bridges are either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. New materials, such as fiber reinforced polymeric composites (FRP), are being suggested for use in bridge systems to solve some of the current problems. These materials are thought to be less affected by corrosive environmental conditions than conventional civil engineering materials. Therefore they may require less maintenance and provide longer life spans. More specifically, glass fiber reinforced vinyl ester matrix composites are considered possible replacements for deteriorating conventional bridge decks due to their durability, decreased weight, and relative affordability. In order to facilitate rapid acceptance of FRP structural components into the world of civil structural engineering, effective and efficient NDE techniques must be explored and documented in these situations. This thesis will discuss the use of Infrared Thermography (IRT) as a means of detecting debonds and voids caused by conditions encountered both in fabrication and in the field. As forced convective hot air is applied within the bridge deck, debonds between bridge deck components near the riding surface appear cold while imperfections near the bottom of the deck give rise to concentrations of heat. These variations in thermal propagation patterns are observed by the infrared camera and indicate possible structural deficiencies. Results of experimentation and thermal analyses from laboratory studies of a model bridge deck and some from in situ full-scale investigations are presented. / Master of Science

Structural health monitoring (SHM) is the process of using measurements of a structure's response to known excitations and trying to determine if damage has occurred to the structure. This also fits the description of non-destructive evaluation (NDE). The main difference is that NDE takes place while the structure is out of service and SHM is intended to take place while the structure is in service. As such, SHM provides the opportunity to provide early warning against structural failure. This thesis intends to advance the state of the art in SHM by examining two approaches to SHM: vibration based and impedance based, and to associate these with the NDE method of stress intensity factors. By examining these methods the goal is to try and answer some of the important questions in SHM process. The first is to experimentally validate a crack model and to see how small of a crack can be detected by vibration methods. The second is to use the concept of stress intensity factor to perform an SHM type of measurement to determine the remaining life of a structure once the impedance method has determined that damage has occurred. The measurement system considered consists of using several different piezoceramic materials as self-sensing actuators and sensors. The structures are a simple beam and a more complex lug element used in aircraft applications. The approach suggested here is to use the impedance and vibration methods to detect crack initiation and then to use the proposed stress intensity method to measure the stress intensity factor of the structure under consideration. / Master of Science

La détection d'endommagements et de changements des propriétés élastiques dans des structures, utilisant les variations des paramètres dynamiques, fait l'objet d'une attention particulière depuis plusieurs années dans les domaines du génie mécanique et du génie civil. Le principe général repose sur le fait que la variation des propriétés physiques (e.g. rigidité, masse, module d'Young, conditions aux limites) entraîne une variation des caractéristiques dynamiques de la structure (e.g. fréquences de résonance, amortissements modaux et déformées modales). La présence d'endommagement provoque ainsi une diminution de la rigidité de la structure, c'est-à-dire une augmentation de sa flexibilité et de son amortissement que l'on retrouve dans la forme des modes et les valeurs des fréquences. Utilisant le changement de ces informations entre un état sain et un état endommagé, plusieurs méthodes non-destructives ont été proposées dans la littérature afin d'identifier et de localiser ces endommagements. Ces pratiques et ces activités sont d'une importance considérable puisqu'elles permettent en premier lieu d'anticiper et donc d'éviter des ruptures dans les structures, toujours catastrophiques, et plus généralement de mettre en place des plans de maintenance prédictives, en lien avec le suivi sur le long terme de leur intégrité (Structural Health Monitoring). Ces méthodes de surveillance se popularisent également du fait de la réduction des coûts des instrumentations, liés à l'apparition de nouveaux équipements à bas coût, ayant des performances satisfaisantes. L'objectif de ce travail est de tester les différentes solutions permettant la détection, la localisation et la quantification des changements dans des structures simples. Plusieurs méthodes ont été testées et une approche nouvelle a été proposée basée sur l'utilisation de la méthode des perturbations. Trois approches ont été suivies: une modélisation par éléments finis (analyse modale), une simulation numériques par éléments finis (analyse temporelle) et enfin des analyses expérimentales sur des poutres en Plexiglas au laboratoire, les trois volets de ce travail ayant permis de tester la sensibilité des méthodes non-destructives (NDE) globales et locales pour la détection et la localisation. Les changements ont été associés à une variation locale du module de Young (E), numériquement pour les solutions numériques et par chauffage local sur des sections de la poutre dans le volet expérimental. Dans tous les cas, nous sommes en situations réelles afin de proposer l'identification des caractéristiques modales par des méthodes opérationnelles (Operative Modal Analysis) telles que la méthode du décrément aléatoire et la méthode de décomposition dans le domaine fréquentiel (Frequency Domain Decomposition). Les résultats d'identification ont montré une très bonne corrélation entre les valeurs numériques et les valeurs expérimentales obtenues : fréquences de résonance et déformés modale. Pour identifier l'endommagement, les méthodes de localisation basées sur la courbure des déformées propres, la matrice de flexibilité, la courbure de flexibilité et enfin sur la méthode d'inversion des modes ont été employées. D'après les résultats obtenus, la méthode d'inversion se montre efficace dans le cas de variations modales faibles et transitoires, alors que la méthode de la courbure de flexibilité donne généralement de bons résultats et apparait robuste lorsque les variations sont plus prononcées. / The detection of damage and changes in elastic properties of structures, using the variation of dynamic parameters, has been the subject of special attention for several years in the fields of mechanical and civil engineering. The general principle is based on the fact that the variation of physical properties (e.g. stiffness, mass, Young's modulus, boundary conditions) leads to a change in the dynamic characteristics of structures (e.g. resonance frequencies, modal damping and mode shapes). The presence of damage causes a decrease in the rigidity of structures, which give rise to an increase in flexibility and damping, which can be seen in mode shapes and frequency values. Using the change of this information between a healthy and damaged condition, several non-destructive methods have been proposed in the literature in order to identify and locate the damage. These practices and activities are of considerable importance. They allow us to anticipate and avoid breaks in structures, which are always catastrophic, and more generally, they allow us to establish the plans of a predictive maintenance, along with monitoring of the long-term of integrity (Structural Health monitoring). These monitoring methods are equally us popular because of the low cost of instrumentation, related to the appearance of new equipment at low cost, having the satisfactory performance. The objective of this work is to test different solutions, allow for detection, localization and quantification of changes in simple structures. Several methods have been tested and a new approach is proposed based on the use of the perturbation method. Three approaches are followed: finite element modeling (modal analysis), finite element numerical simulation (temporal analysis), and finally, experimental analysis of a Plexiglas beam in the laboratory. These three scopes of work have allowed us to test the sensitivity of global and local non-destructive methods (NDE) for detection and localization of damage. Changes associated with a local variation of Young's modulus (E) are tested numerically in modal and temporal analysis, and shown experimentally in local heating on the sections of beam. In all cases, we are in real life situations, where we identify modal characteristics by operational methods (Operative Modal Analysis) such as the random decrement technique and the method of decomposition in the frequency domain (Frequency Domain Decomposition). The results show a very good correlation between the numerical and experimental values obtained: resonant frequencies and mode shapes. For identifying damage, localization methods based on the curvature of mode shape, flexibility matrix, curvature of flexibility, and finally on the method of inversion of modes are employed. According to the results, the method of inversion proves effective in the case where modal variation is low and transient, whereas, the curvature of flexibility (ULS method) usually gives good results and appears robust when the changes are more pronounced.

In this thesis project, an underwater 3D scanner based on structured light has been constructed and developed. Two other scanners, based on stereoscopy and a line-swept laser, were also tested. The target application is to examine objects inside the water filled reactor vessel of nuclear power plants. Structured light systems (SLS) use a projector to illuminate the surface of the scanned object, and a camera to capture the surfaces' reflection. By projecting a series of specific line-patterns, the pixel columns of the digital projector can be identified off the scanned surface. 3D points can then be triangulated using ray-plane intersection. These points form the basis the final 3D model. To construct an accurate 3D model of the scanned surface, both the projector and the camera need to be calibrated. In the implemented 3D scanner, this was done using the Camera Calibration Toolbox for Matlab. The codebase of this scanner comes from the Matlab implementation by Lanman & Taubin at Brown University. The code has been modified and extended to meet the needs of this project. An examination of the effects of the underwater environment has been performed, both theoretically and experimentally. The performance of the scanner has been analyzed, and different 3D model visualization methods have been tested. In the constructed scanner, a small pico projector was used together with a high pixel count DSLR camera. Because these are both consumer level products, the cost of this system is just a fraction of commercial counterparts, which uses professional components. Yet, thanks to the use of a high pixel count camera, the measurement resolution of the scanner is comparable to the high-end of industrial structured light scanners.

New concepts in assembly technology boost our daily life in an unknown way. High end semiconductor industry today deals with functional structures down to a few nanometers. ITRS roadmap predicts an ongoing decrease of the “DRAM half pitch” over the next decade. Packaging of course is not intended to realize pitches at the nanometer scale, but has to face the challenges of integrating such semiconductor devices with smallest pitch and high pin counts into systems. Advanced techniques of nondestructive evaluation (NDE) with resolutions in volume better than 1 micrometer vixen size are urgently needed for the safety and reliability of electronic systems, especially those that are used in long living applications. The development speed of integrated circuits is still very high and is not expected to decrease in the next future. The integration density of microelectronic devices is increasing, the dimensions become smaller and the number of I/O's is getting higher. The development of new types of packages must be done with respect to reliability issues. Potential damage sources must be identified and finally avoided in the new packages. In power electronics production the condition monitoring receives a lot of interest to avoid electrical shortcuts, dead solder joints and interface crac king. It is also desired to detect and characterize very small defects like transportation phenomenon or Kirkendall voids. For this purpose, imaging technologies with resolutions in the sub-micron range are required.

La técnica de las ondas de Lamb acopladas por aire representa un importante avance en el área de los Ensayos No Destructivos (END) de materiales laminares.Sin embargo la compleja naturaleza de las vibraciones mecánicas encontradas en acústica, hacen que el análisis y el estudio de esta área del conocimiento sea un tema muy complejo. De allí que la posibilidad de contar con una herramienta de simulación de software que permita la evaluación y prueba de diferentes configuraciones de excitación y recepción acústica utilizando la flexibilidad de un modelo de computadora sea de una gran utilidad y ayuda.El objetivo de la presente tesis es proveer al área de los END con un software de simulación gratuito: The LAMB Matlab® toolbox basado en el modelo del software libre de la GNU.El software es capaz de simular el comportamiento de sistemas de END basados en ondas de Lamb acopladas por aire en láminas isótropas simples utilizando transductores tipo array.El programa se basa en un arreglo tipo C-scan de un sistema de END y está compuesto por tres bloques principales: 1) Excitación, 2) Propagación y 3) Recepción.La verificación individual del funcionamiento de dichos módulos se presenta a lo largo de la tesis mediante una serie de comparaciones entre simulaciones y datos experimentales provenientes de diferentes pruebas. Por otro lado, la validación del programa completo se llevo a cabo por medio de experimentos en láminas de cobre y aluminio; utilizando un sistema real de END por ondas de Lamb acopladas en aire mediante arrays cóncavos.La influencia negativa en el desempeño general de dicho sistema de END real basado en este tipo de transductores se comprobó efectivamente mediante el simulador desarrollado. Esto se debió fundamentalmente al efecto de directividad de los sensores individuales en los transductores y a la simetría cóncava de los arrays.Para emular este comportamiento la tesis presenta un modelo geométrico bidimensional simple de un filtro espacial, junto a las simulaciones de un nuevo tipo de array plano propuesto.El programa desarrollado comprobó así mismo la naturaleza coherente de los campos acústicos emitidos en aire por las láminas sujetas a vibraciones de Lamb. Esto se realizó mediante la implementación de un conformador de haz simple de suma y demora; constituyéndose así la etapa inicial de procesamiento de señal del bloque de recepción del programa.El objetivo principal del presente trabajo fue contribuir con un modelo operativo de simulación y prueba de nuevos diseños de arrays e implementación de estrategias de procesado de señal útiles en sistemas de END basados en ondas de Lamb acopladas por aire.Finalmente, si bien el objetivo de la calibración del programa no se pudo conseguir; si se logró efectivamente un notable grado de similitud con un sistema de END real. / Air-coupled ultrasonic Lamb waves represent an important advance in Non- Destructive Testing and Evaluation (NDT & NDE) techniques of plate materials and structures. Examples of these advances are the characterization and quality assessment of laminate materials in manufacturing processes, the location of damaged parts in aircrafts and structure monitoring in the aerospace industry.However the rich and complex nature of mechanical vibrations encountered in acoustics make the subject of analysis and study of these systems a very complex task. Therefore a simulation tool that permits the evaluation and testing of different configuration scenarios using the flexibility of a computer model is an invaluable aid and advantage.The objective of this thesis is to provide the field of NDT with free open source software i.e. the LAMB Matlabrtoolbox. The toolbox is capable of simulating the behaviour of Lamb wave based NDE systems for single ideal isotropic laminates using air-coupled ultrasonic arrays. The programme usesa pitch-catch type of a Cscan NDE arrangement and is composed of three integrated sections each individually modelling a feature in the system: 1) Excitation, 2) Propagation, and 3) Reception.For assessment of the individual modules of the toolbox the thesis presents comparisons between each section simulations and the data obtained from different acoustic experiments. The validation of the complete simulator was carried out by evaluation tests on the copper and aluminium plates by use of a real hardware prototype of a Lamb wave based NDE system with aircoupled concave arrays.The negative impact on the performance of the real air-coupled NDE systembased on concave arrays was effectively confirmed by the programme. This was produced by the inherent directivity of the individual sensors as well as their concave arrangement. To emulate this behaviour the thesis introduces a simple two-dimensional geometric model for the inclusion of the spatial filtering effect of the sensors plus a group of simulations for a new proposed air-coupled plane array transducer.The software also verified the spatial coherent nature of the Lamb wave fields emitted by a plate in air. This was demonstrated by the implementation of a delay and sum beamformer to constitute an initial signal processing stage in the reception section.

For successful identification of structural defects in plates and pipes, it is essential to understand structural wave propagation characteristics such as dispersion relations. Analytical approaches to identify the dispersion relations of homogeneous, simple plates and circular pipes have been investigated by many researchers. However, for plates or pipes with irregular cross-sectional configurations or multi-layered composite structures, it is almost impossible to obtain the analytical dispersion relations and associated mode shapes. In addition, full numerical modeling approaches such as finite element (FE) methods are not economically feasible for high (e.g., ultrasonic) frequency analyses where an extremely large number of discretized meshes are required, resulting in significantly expensive computation. In order to address these limitations, Hybrid Analytical/Finite Element Methods (HAFEMs) are developed to model composite plates and pipes in a computationally-efficient manner. When a pipe system is used to transport a fluid, the dispersion curves obtained from a “hollow” pipe model can mislead non-destructive evaluation (NDE) results of the pipe system. In this study, the HAFEM procedure with solid elements is extended by developing fluid elements and solid-fluid boundary conditions, resulting in the dispersion curves of fluid-filled pipes. In addition, a HAFEM-based acoustic transfer function approach is suggested to consider a long pipe system assembled with multiple pipe sections with different cross-sections. For the validation of the proposed methods, experimental and full FE modeling results are compared to the results obtained from the HAFEM models. In order to detect structural defect locations in shell structures from defect-induced, subtle wave reflection signals and eliminate direct-excitation-induced and boundary-reflected, relatively-strong wave signals, a time-frequency MUSIC algorithm is applied to ultrasonic wave data measured by using an array of piezoelectric transducers. A normalized, structurally-damped, cylindrical 2-D steering vector is proposed to increase the spatial resolution of time-frequency MUSIC power results. A cross-shaped array is selected over a circular or linear array to further improve the spatial resolution and to avoid the mirrored virtual image effects of a linear array. Here, it is experimentally demonstrated that the proposed time-frequency MUSIC beamforming procedure can be used to identify structural defect locations on an aluminum plate by distinguishing the defect-induced waves from both the excitation-generated and boundary-reflected waves.