Non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques are critical to ensure integrity and safety of engineered structures. Structural health monitoring (SHM) is considered as the next step in the field enabling continuous monitoring of structures. The first part of the thesis concerns NDT and SHM using guided waves in plates, or Lamb waves, to perform imaging of plate structures. The imaging is performed using a fixed active array setup covering a larger area of a plate. Current methods are based on conventional beamforming techniques that do not efficiently exploit the available data from the small arrays used for the purpose. In this thesis an adaptive signal processing approach based on the minimum variance distortionless response (MVDR) method is proposed to mitigate issues related to guided waves, such as dispersion and the presence of multiple propagating modes. Other benefits of the method include a significant increase in resolution. Simulation and experimental results show that the method outperforms current standard processing techniques. The second part of the thesis addresses transducer design issues for resonant ultrasound inspections. Resonant ultrasound methods utilize the shape and frequency of the object's natural modes of vibration to detect anomalies. The method considered in the thesis uses transducers that are acoustically coupled to the inspected structures. Changes in the transducer's electrical impedance are used to detect defects. The sensitivity that can be expected from such a setup is shown to highly depend on the transducer resonance frequency, as well as the working frequency of the instrument. Through simulations and a theoretical argumentation, optimal conditions to achieve high sensitivity are given.

In this project Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy is used to investigate a new kind of photodiode that is based on nanowires. The photo current and I-V curves for different temperatures, different applied biases, in darkness and illumination condition have been studied. The experiment was conducted in the temperature range from 78 K (-195ºC) to 300 K (27ºC). These photo diodes are designed to work on NIR wavelengths. The results show some excellent properties, such as high break down voltage, and that is an important advantage for photo detectors, low and constant reverse saturation current (Is). The results show some defects, most of them come from fabrication. The design of the sample is also discussed.

Time domain analysis in vector network analyzers (VNAs) is a method to represent the frequency response, stated by the S-parameters, in time domain with apparent high resolution. Among other utilities time domain option from Agilent allows to measure microwave devices into a specific frequency range and down till DC as well with the two time domain mode: band-pass and low-pass mode. A special feature named gating is of important as it allows representing a portion of the time domain representation in frequency domain.   This thesis studies the time domain option 010 from Agilent; its uncertainties and sensitivity. The task is to find the best method to measure the antenna element matching taking care to reduce the influence of measurement errors on the results.   The Agilent 8753ES is the instrument used in the thesis. A specific matching problem in the antenna electric down-tilt (AEDT) previously designed by Powerwave Technologies is the task to be solved. This is because it can not be measured directly with 2-port VNAs. It requires adapters, extra coaxial cables and N-connectors, all of which influences the accuracy. The AEDT connects to the array antenna through cable-board-connectors (CBCs). The AEDT and the CBCs were designed before being put into the antenna-system. Their S-parameters do not coincide with the ones measured after these devices were put in the antenna block.   Time domain gating and de-embedding algorithms are two methods proposed in this thesis to measure the S-parameters of the desired antenna element while reducing the influence of measurement errors due to cables CBCs and other connectors. The aim is to find a method which causes less error and gives high confidence measurements.   For the time domain analysis, reverse engineering of the time domain option used in the Agilent VNA 8753ES is implemented in a PC for full control of the process. The results using time-domain are not sufficiently reliable to be used due to the multiple approximations done in the design. The methodology that Agilent uses to compensate the gating effects is not reliable when the gate is not centered on the analyzed response. Big errors are considered due to truncation and masking effects in the frequency response.   The de-embedding method using LRL is implemented in the AEDT measurements, taking away the influences of the CBCs, coaxial cables and N-connector. It is found to have sufficient performance, comparable to the mathematical model. Error analysis of both methods has been done to explaine the different in measurements and design.

Es desenvolupa una metodologia que combina algoritmes exploratoris i iteratius que pren com a base el concepte de concordança del coeficient de correlació W de Kendall. A partir de conjunts complexos d'ítems i les seves puntuacions (activitats d'avaluació, problemes, pràctiques, indicadors de rendiment, mesuraments i, en general, qualsevol variable quantitativa) s'aconsegueixen identificar conjunts concordants, és a dir, estructures explicatives de la dificultat del conjunt de ítems. La lectura d'aquests conjunts es pot fer de dues maneres gràcies a la informació que proporcionen els algoritmes creats: a) Transversal, de manera que els conjunts concordants formen el "esquelet de dificultat" del problema i són, per tant, referències per estudiar la resta de puntuacions en altres ítems. b) Longitudinal, mitjançant l'estudi del que anomenem Mapes de Concordança, els quals mostren l'evolució dels conjunts concordants en anar incorporant elements en cada iteració, i detectant per tant els ítems discordants respecte a conjunts estables donats. L'aplicació d'aquesta metodologia és molt àmplia, i és susceptible de ser posada en pràctica en qualsevol camp de les ciències on es realitzin mesures i es vulgui observar les variacions creuades entre individus. En aquesta investigació s'aplica a l'assignatura de Laboratori de mesures electròniques. Els resultats aporten llum a la manera de millorar les pràctiques existents i de construir-ne de noves en el futur. / Se desarrolla una metodología que combina algoritmos exploratorios e iterativos que toma como base el concepto de concordancia del coeficiente de correlación W de Kendall. A partir de conjuntos complejos de ítems y sus puntuaciones (actividades de evaluación, problemas, prácticas, indicadores de rendimiento, mediciones y, en general, cualquier variable cuantitativa) se consiguen identificar conjuntos concordantes, es decir, estructuras explicativas de la dificultad del conjunto de ítems. La lectura de estos conjuntos puede hacerse de dos maneras gracias a la información que proporcionan los algoritmos creados: a) Transversal, de manera que los conjuntos concordantes forman el “esqueleto de dificultad” del problema y son, por tanto, referencias para estudiar el resto de puntuaciones en otros ítems. b) Longitudinal, mediante el estudio de lo que denominamos Mapas de Concordancia, los cuales muestran la evolución de los conjuntos concordantes al ir incorporando ítems en cada iteración, y detectando por tanto los ítems discordantes respecto a conjuntos estables dados. La aplicación de dicha metodología es muy amplia, siendo susceptible de ser puesta en práctica en cualquier campo de las ciencias donde se realicen mediciones y se quiera observar las variaciones cruzadas entre individuos. En la presente investigación se aplica a la asignatura de Laboratorio de medidas electrónicas. Los resultados arrojan luz sobre la manera de mejorar las prácticas existentes y de construir otras nuevas en el futuro. / We have developed a new methodology that combines both exploratory and iterative algorithms which is based on the concept of concordance of the correlation coefficient W of Kendall. Starting from complex sets of items and their scores (assessment activities, problems, practices, performance indicators, measurements and, in general, any quantitative variable) it is possible to identify consistent sets, i.e., structures that explain the difficulty of the set of items. Reading these sets can be done in two different ways thanks to the information provided by the algorithms created: a) Transversal, so that the concordant sets form the "backbone difficulty" of the problem and, therefore, they become references to study the remaining scores on other items. b) Longitudinal, by studying what we call concordance maps, which show the evolution of the consistent sets when new items are incorporated after each iteration and thus detecting the discordant items with regard to given stable sets. The application of this methodology is very broad, being useful in any field of science where measurements are carried out and you may want to see cross-variations among individuals. In this research it has been applied to the subject Electronic Measurements Laboratory. The results point to different ways to improve the existing practices and create new ones in the future.