CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / à corrente o uso de inspeÃÃo nÃo-destrutiva ultrassÃnica na detecÃÃo de descontinuidades nos mais diversos materiais utilizados na indÃstria Adicionalmente informaÃÃes sobre a microestrutura do material inspecionado podem ser obtidas a partir do processamento da sÃrie temporal produzida durante a inspeÃÃo A simulaÃÃo do ensaio ultrassÃnico representa uma importante ferramenta para o entendimento e previsÃo da interaÃÃo da onda mecÃnica com o meio No entanto faz-se necessÃrio primeiramente modelar o meio que reproduza as caracterÃsticas de uma amostra objeto de estudo por onde a onda propaga Cinco meios unidimensionais compostos por domÃnios (representando grÃos) com tamanho mÃdio distinto e a mesma densidade mÃdia foram definidos neste trabalho SimulaÃÃes de propagaÃÃo de ondas ultrassÃnicas nos meios modelados foram executadas para quatro diferentes frequÃncias de ondas Concomitantemente foram capturados sinais ultrassÃnicos sobre cinco amostras de aÃo contendo diferentes tamanhos mÃdios de grÃo utilizando transdutores de 2.25 5.0 10.0 e 20.0 MHz Todos os sinais obtidos foram submetidos à detrended fluctuation analysis DFA e rescaled range analysis R/S duas tÃcnicas de anÃlise de flutuaÃÃes em sÃries temporais com vista a filtrar informaÃÃes espÃrias e avaliar influÃncia das variÃveis selecionadas (tamanho de grÃo e frequÃncia do sinal) sobre os sinais ultrassÃnicos obtidos Por fim à feita uma comparaÃÃo entre os dados simulados e experimentais e avaliaÃÃo da qualidade da simulaÃÃo / It is usual the application of ultrasonic non-destructive evaluation to detect discontinuities in different materials applied in industry Furthermore information about the microstructure of the inspected material can be obtained by signal processing of time series produced during the inspection Simulation of ultrasonic testing can be an important tool to help the understanding and predicting the interaction of mechanical wave in materials First of all computational materials modeling to reproduce the characteristics of specimens through which the wave propagates is necessary Five different one-dimensional materials composed of domains (grains) with different average size and same density were designed in this work Simulations of ultrasonic wave propagation in the modeled materials were performed at four different wave frequencies Concomitantly ultrasonic signals were acquired from five steel samples containing different average grain sizes using probes with central frequency of 225 5 10 and 20 MHz Detrended fluctuation analysis DFA and rescaled range analysis R/S two techniques for analyzing fluctuations in time series were used to process the signals in order to filter out spurious information and evaluate the influence of selected variables (grain size and frequency of the signal) on the ultrasonic signals obtained Finally simulated and experimental data and compared in order to evaluate the simulation performance

Non-destructive testing (NDT) is the process of non-invasive material examination. Within this field, ultrasonic inspection is one method of examination used to detect flaws in structural and functional industrial components, to assess their structural integrity and fitness for service. Conventional NDT ultrasonic array techniques transmit on multiple elements in parallel, according to a focal law, which facilitates beam steering, focussing and scanning within the test component. Received signals are then 'stacked' to generate images of the test component. With the advent of affordable high speed computing, novel data acquisition techniques based on sequential transmission are now able to be developed, which allow images to be generated using advanced signal processing and image reconstruction algorithms. One such data acquisition technique known as Full Matrix Capture (FMC), has received considerable research attention in recent years, largely because it allows fully focused images of test components to be generated. This project provides an improved understanding of the FMC technique and associated signal processing algorithms. It achieves this through the development of novel inspection techniques and signal processing algorithms. Collectively algorithms developed within this work were termed Sequential Phased Array (SPA). Initially comparisons were made between conventional ultrasonic techniques and the SPA algorithms in terms of image quality and speed of inspection. A novel approach was then suggested to facilitate inspection through dual-layered media, separated by a refractive interface using the SPA algorithms. The use of sparse arrays to enhance the speed of inspection using the SPA algorithms was also investigated, and the trade-off between speed of inspection against image degradation was addressed. Finally a novel approach to calibration of a FMC based system was developed, in order to provide uniform image sensitivity during inspection.

The focus of this thesis is to derive analytical tools for the design of infrared nondestructive tests in single and multi layer material bodies. This requires the predetermination of the parameters of the experiment such that the infrared image has the required resolution for defect detection. Inverse heat conduction in single and multi-layer materials is investigated to determine the required frequency of excitation in order to obtain a desired temperature at the observation point. We use analytical quadrupole representation to derive a polynomial relation to estimate the frequency of the periodic excitation as a function of the temperature amplitude at a given observation point within the body. The formula includes characteristic geometric and material parameters of the system. The polynomial formula can be an e ective design tool for quick frequency predetermination in the design of non-destructive testing experiments with infrared thermography. The convergence and accuracy of the formula is assessed by comparison with the analytical thermal quadrupole solution and experimental results. We also investigate the e ect of the nite length of the material domain in order to establish the range of applicability of a simpli ed formula based on semi-in nite domain assumption. The e ect of nite length is investigated analytically by using (i) Fourier series which accounts for transients and (ii) Time varying solution associated to the steady state solution when a purely periodic excitation is applied. These results are also compared with numerical solution obtained with commercial nite element software ANSYSTM.

Cette thèse porte sur l’évaluation et la caractérisation non destructives (END/CND) par ultrasons de matériaux composites contribuant en partie au concept de contrôle santé structural (SHM). Plus particulièrement, les phénomènes d’adhésion et de vieillissement de structures sandwichs composites à âme en nid d’abeille sont d’un intérêt déterminant pour l’aéronautique. Les propriétés liées à ces deux phénomènes ont été étudiées à l’aide de modèles théoriques, de simulations numériques et de résultats expérimentaux. Sur la base de travaux antérieurs, les ondes de Lamb ont permis de caractériser l’adhésion et le vieillissement. Des simulations complémentaires par éléments finis ont été menées avec le logiciel Comsol Multiphysics©. Des défauts d’adhésion tels que les délaminages ou décohésions ont pu être détectés et localisés au moyen de la Transformée de Fourier à Court Terme (TFCT) par fenêtre glissante, par simulation et par l’expérience. Dans la perspective de cadences d’END industrielles, les transducteurs multiéléments permettent une inspection et une caractérisation locales du collage. À titre de comparaison, la modélisation par série de Debye (DSM) a permis de résoudre localement le problème inverse sur un plan de coupe d’un composite à nid d’abeille. Le vieillissement de structures sandwichs a été étudié dans un premier temps par ondes de Lamb dans l’air et dans un second temps par mesure d’impédance électromécanique via un transducteur en contact avec les échantillons. Les résultats de modélisation et expérimentaux montrent que les fréquences et largeurs de résonances varient suivant le taux de porosités, illustrant la sensibilité de ces méthodes au vieillissement. / This thesis focuses on the ultrasonic non-destructive testing and evaluation (NDT&E) of composite materials contributing in part to the concept of structural health monitoring (SHM). Specifically, adhesion phenomena and aging of composite sandwich core honeycomb structures are of crucial interest for aeronautics. The properties related to these two phenomena were studied using theoretical models, numerical simulations and experimental results. Based on previous works, using Lamb waves allow to characterize adhesion and aging. Additional simulations were carried out with the finite element software Comsol Multiphysics©. Adhesion defects such as delamination or debonding at the interfaces have been detected and located by means of the Short Term Fourier Transform (STFT) by sliding window, both numerically and experimentally. In view of NDT industrial rates, phased array transducers allow inspection and characterization of local bonding. By comparison, the Debye series method (DSM) was conducted locally to solve the inverse problem of a cut plane of a honeycomb composite. First, sandwich structure aging was investigated using Lamb waves in the air. Second, the aging was evaluated by measuring the electromechanical impedance of a transducer in contact with the samples. These experimental results show that the resonance frequencies and widths variations depend on the degree of porosity, indicating the sensitivity of these methods to the aging.

M.A. (Psychology) / The~present study is an exploratory investigation into the deliberate self-harm syndrome. Throughout the text, a distinction is made between other types of self-harm (for example, indirect self-harm such as alcohol abuse; "direct self-harm performed by a psychotic individual) and the self-harm performed within the deliberate self-harm syndrome (that is, direct, voluntary, non-lethal self-harm, performed by a non-psychiatric individual). The aim of this study is to foster an understanding of this syndrome and, accordingly, to facilitate acceptance of the individuals who suffer from this syndrome, without displaying the need to classify these individuals into any one particular psychiatric category. It is hoped that this aim is realised through a discussion of associated features and related.patterns of the syndrome. This research conducted an investigation of 21 individuals who appeared to fit into the syndrome. Three of the subjects were excluded from the study because their type of self-harm and/or their motivation for self-harming differed from those individuals who suffer from the deliberate self harm syndrome. Although some queries were made about the suitability of eight of the subjects, enough evidence has been put forward by the study to assume the possible existence of such a syndrome, and for the syndrome to be taken seriously. Many grey areas were discussed with regards to the criteria that should be considered when determining whether an individual fits into the syndrome or not. This merely serves to both highlight and confirm the point that it is not a rigid psychiatric category that is being proposed, but that there are, nevertheless, certain criteria that need to be considered when whether an individual deliberately self-harms, discussed in this study) determining or not (as even though there were certain limitations in the study (most of them being related to the study's exploratory point of departure) the researcher is of the opinion that the information provided in this study, should be treated with the respect that it deserves.

Diploma thesis analyses low-speed flow measurement. Thesis consist of 4 chapters. First chapter is about liquids and its attributes, flow meters, especially induction flow meter, which is very important for designed sensor. In second chapter is detailed process of designing sensor. Description of realization and measurement of flow is in the third chapter. Result summary is in conclusion.

This thesis presents the development and validation of a new wireless Impact Echo (IE) system for condition assessment of reinforced concrete slabs. The new IE prototype was compared with other commercially available non-destructive testing (NDT) devices used for similar purposes, namely Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR) and Ultrasonic Pulse Echo (UPE). Monitoring and structural inspections are critical to effective management of civil infrastructure and NDTs can enhance the quality of condition assessments by providing objective visualizations of the interior of a structural element. The IE method, first developed in the 1980s, has seen few advancements in the last 20 years. The method has been standardized and used on site, but the underlying technology has become outdated. The data obtained from the transducer is difficult to interpret and requires a computer to post-process it before being usable, thus limiting the direct feedback of the method when conducting tests on-site. Because of those limitations and the test being relatively more time consuming than other alternatives, the method is lacking in usability. A new prototype IE device was designed and built by the project industry partner, FPrimeC Solutions. The methodology followed the traditional approach, but it was designed to work with today’s technology. The device is operated wirelessly via a Bluetooth connection, uses smaller-sized electronic components, and connects with a user-friendly interface on a small tablet to set-up the tests and compute the results immediately. The first part of the project focused on product development by testing iterations of the prototype and providing user feedback to improve the device and accompanying software. The second part of the project aimed to validate the new technology using a set of three large reinforced concrete slabs containing artificial defects. The studied points of interest were sound concrete, effect of boundaries and steel reinforcements, vertical cracks, presence of a hollow conduit, artificial voids and delamination. The IE results were also compared with those from commercial GPR and UPE devices. GPR was found to be the quickest method by far, although the results gathered seemed to be limited by the presence of steel reinforcement and also failed to locate certain defects. UPE was a bit slower than GPR, but was generally able to locate more accurately the artificial flaws created in the test specimens. The results showed poor definition of the flaws making it difficult sometimes to properly locate them. The UPE results also seemed to be negatively affected by the presence of reinforcement which were causing frequent abnormal values. Lastly, the IE method was used. This method was greatly improved during the first phase, but it is still a time-consuming method. The value of the data, however, has great potential when compared to the other options. It accurately located most of the flaws generated and was practically unaffected by the presence of steel reinforcing bars. Also, with further analysis of the data, it was possible to determine the depth of some of the flaws accurately. Due to the time-consuming testing phase and the longer analysis of the data required to obtain the higher quality of results, this study suggests that IE is not likely to be the best choice for a general inspection of a large area (depending on the nature of the information needed). Rather, it is suggested to first conduct a general review of the structure using a quicker method like GPR to locate the problematic areas. After that, refining the grid at key locations to test with IE should provide the best quality of data in a reasonable amount of time.

Anomaly detection generally refers to algorithmic procedures aimed at identifying relatively rare events in data sets that differ substantially from the majority of the data set to which they belong. In the context of data series generated by sensors mounted on mobile devices for non-destructive inspection and monitoring, anomalies typically identify defects to be detected, therefore defining the main task of this class of devices. In this case, a useful way of operationally defining anomalies is to look at their information content with respect to the background data, which is typically noisy and therefore easily masking the relevant events if unfiltered. In this thesis, a Kullback-Leibler (KL) Divergence filter is proposed to detect signals with relatively high information content, namely anomalies, within data series. The data is generated by using the model of a broad class of proximity sensors that apply to devices commonly used in engineering practice. This includes, for example, sensory devices mounted on mobile robotic devices for the non-destructive inspection of hazardous or other environments that may not be accessible to humans for direct inspection. The raw sensory data generated by this class of sensors is often challenging to analyze due to the prevalence of noise over the signal content that reveals the presence of relevant features, as for example damage in gas pipelines. The proposed filter is built to detect the difference of information content between the data series collected by the sensor and a baseline data series, with the advantage of not requiring the design of a threshold. Moreover, differing from the traditional filters which need the prior knowledge or distribution assumptions about the data, this KL Divergence filter is model free and suitable for all kinds of raw sensory data. Of course, it is also compatible with classical signal distribution assumptions, such as Gaussian approximation, for instance. Also, the robustness and sensitivity of the KL Divergence filter are discussed under different scenarios with various signal to noise ratios of data generated by a simulator reproducing very realistic scenarios and based on models of real sensors provided by manufacturers or widely accepted in the literature.

Concrete has been used in a number of civil engineering applications due to its interesting fresh, hardened, and durability-related properties. 28-day compressive strength is the most important hardened state property and is frequently used as an indicator of the material’s quality. However, early-age mechanical properties are a key factor nowadays to enhance construction planning. Several advanced techniques have been proposed to appraise concrete microstructure and quality, and among those electrical resistivity (ER) is one of the most commonly used since it is a non-destructive and low-cost technique. Although recent literature data have shown that ER may be significantly influenced by a variety of parameters such as the test setup, material porosity and moisture content, binder type/amount and presence of supplementary cementing materials (SCMs) along with the nature of the aggregates used in the mix, further research must be performed to clarify the influence of the raw materials (i.e. SCMs and aggregate nature) on ER using distinct setups. Therefore, this work aims to appraise the influence of the coarse aggregate nature and binder replacement/amount on the concrete ER and compressive strength predictions models through ER. Twenty-four concrete mixtures were developed with two different coarse aggregate natures (i.e. granite and limestone), two different water-to-binder ratios (w/b; i.e. 0.6 and 0.4) and incorporating two different SCMs (i.e. slag and fly-ash class F) with different replacement levels. Moreover, three distinct ER techniques (e.g. bulk, surface, and internal) and compressive strength tests were performed at different ages (i.e. 3, 7, 14, and 28 days). Results indicate that the binder type and replacement amount significantly affect ER and compressive strength. Otherwise, the coarse aggregate nature presented only trivial influence for 0.6 w/b mixes, except for 50% fly-ash replacement samples; whereas for concrete specimens with enhanced microstructure (i.e. 0.4 w/b), the aggregate nature influence was statically significant especially for the binary mixtures with high SCMs replacement levels (i.e. 70% GGBS and 50% fly-ash). Finally, all ER test setups were considered to be quite suitable and reliable NDT techniques correlating themselves very well. Yet the internal resistivity setup demonstrated to be the device which yields the lowest variability amongst them.

abstract: Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) is a branch of scientific methods and techniques used to evaluate the defects and irregularities in engineering materials. These methods conduct testing without destroying or altering material’s structure and functionality. Most of these defects are subsurface making them difficult to detect and access. SONIC INFRARED (IR) is a relatively new and emerging vibrothermography method under the category of NDT methods. This is a fast NDT inspection method that uses an ultrasonic generator to pass an ultrasonic pulse through the test specimen which results in a temperature variation in the test specimen. The temperature increase around the area of the defect is more because of frictional heating due to the vibration of the specimen. This temperature variation can be observed using a thermal camera. In this research study, the temperature variation in the composite laminate during the SONIC IR experimentation using an infrared thermal camera. These recorded data are used to determine the location, dimension and depth of defects through SONIC IR NDT method using existing defect detection algorithms. Probability of detection analysis is used to determine the probability of detection under specific experimental conditions for two different types of composite laminates. Lastly, the effect of the process parameters such as number of pulses, pulse duration and time delay between pulses of this technique on the detectability and probability of detection is studied in detail. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Mechanical Engineering 2019