Les exigences de qualité des produits ainsi que des normes environnementales et énergétiques de plus en plus drastiques nécessitent le développement de technologies de fonctionnalisation de surface en particulier celles qui s’appuient sur les procédés de revêtement par dépôt de couches minces. Le contrôle de la qualité de surface revêtue présente un enjeu industriel d’envergure. En effet, il n’existe pas à l’heure actuelle de technique d’inspection non destructive qui allie à la fois rapidité, fiabilité et flexibilité pour le contrôle de l’uniformité de revêtement. Pour répondre à cette problématique, ce travail de thèse porte sur le développement d’une technique d’inspection basée sur la thermographie active. Après étude expérimentale et numérique de la réponse thermique de surfaces bicouches, nous proposons une première méthodologie d’exploitation des mesures issues d’une excitation ponctuelle (laser) et surfacique (flash(s)). L’approche mise en place s’appuie sur l’implantation d’un algorithme des moindres carrés partiels (PLS NIPALS). Celui-ci a été testé sur plusieurs matériaux conducteurs et non conducteurs et dans différentes configurations expérimentales puis comparé à la méthode de contrôle conventionnelle par courants de Foucault (pour les matériaux conducteurs). La méthode développée permet d’extraire la signature thermique intrinsèque de l’hétérogénéité d’épaisseur du revêtement. Une deuxième approche a été explorée, elle s’appuie sur la mise en œuvre des nouveaux outils que nous offre le « Deep Learning ». Les premiers résultats obtenus semblent prometteurs. L’ensemble des résultats ouvre le champ vers une exploitation industrielle de la thermographie infrarouge pour le contrôle non destructif de revêtement. / Product quality requirements as well as increasingly drastic environmental and energy standards require the development of surface functionalization technologies, particularly those based on thin film coating processes. The quality control of coated surface presents an important industrial challenge. Indeed, actually there is any non-destructive inspection technique that combines speed, reliability and flexibility for coating uniformity inspection. To respond this challenge, this work focuses on the development of an inspection technique based on active thermography. After experimental and numerical studies of thermal responses of bilayer surfaces, we propose firstly a measurement methodology based on a point (laser) and surface excitation (flash (s)). The approach is based on the implementation of a partial least squares algorithm (PLS-NIPALS). It was tested on several conductive and non-conductive materials and in various experimental configurations and compared to the conventional eddy current control method (for conductive materials). The developed method makes it possible to extract the intrinsic thermal signature of the coating thickness heterogeneity. A second approach has been explored, based on the classification algorithm based on Deep Learning tool. The first results seem promising. The overall results open the opportunity to an industrial exploitation of infrared thermography for non-destructive coating testing.

This study develops a reliable intelligent non-destructive evaluation (NDE) expert system for carbon-carbon (C/C) composites based on thermography, ultrasonic, computed tomography and post processing by means of fuzzy expert system technique. Data features and NDE expert knowledge are seamlessly combined in the intelligent system to provide the best possible diagnosis of the potential defects and problems. As a result, this research help ensure C/C composites' integrity and reliability. Four types of orthotropic aerospace composite material groups, which include 2-D pitched based commercial aircraft disc brakes and asmolds, 3-D PAN based C/C composites, and carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) panels, were tested. Based on the performance testing results of thermography, air-coupled ultrasonic, and x-ray computed tomography, the testing data pattern corresponding to feature and quantification of defects were found. This NDE knowledge databases were transformed to fuzzy logic expert system models. The models succeefully classified and indicated the defect's size and distribution and the intelligent systems perform NDE better than human operators. These fuzzy expert systems not only eliminate human errors in defect detection but also function as NDE experts. In addition, fuzzy expert systems improve the defect detection by incorporating fuzzy expert rules to remove noises and to measure defect size more accurately. In the future, the expert system model could be continuously updated and modified to quantify the size and distribution of defects. The systems developed here can be adapted and applied to build an intelligent NDE expert system for better quality control as well as automatic defect and porosity detection in C/C composite production process.

Cette étude s’inscrit dans le cadre de l’inspection en service des soudures des réacteurs nucléaires de génération IV, en vue de contribuer à la démonstration de sûreté. La structure anisotrope et hétérogène des soudures multipasses en acier inoxydable austénitique rend leur contrôle ultrasonore difficile. Ainsi, afin d'interpréter correctement les signaux mesurés et de caractériser les défauts potentiels, une description de la soudure est utilisée. Elle constitue la connaissance a priori introduite dans la méthode de l'Energie Topologique. L’étude réalisée se décline en deux temps : le développement de la méthode en milieu borné et sa comparaison avec le Matched Field Processing, puis son application au cas de soudures réelles. L'extension de la méthode de l'Energie Topologique aux milieux bornés isotropes et homogènes vise à tirer parti des réflexions multiples. Plusieurs solutions du problème numérique de propagation, obtenues pour différentes conditions aux frontières, sont judicieusement associées afin de sélectionner les échos de diffraction porteurs d'information. Selon le type de défaut à imager des énergies topologiques spécifiques sont définies. La technique est introduite analytiquement avant d'être validée numériquement puis expérimentalement.Dans un second temps, la méthode est appliquée au milieu complexe de la soudure. La procédure est testée expérimentalement sur des soudures réelles afin d'évaluer les performances en localisation. Cependant, en raison de la variabilité de la structure, la qualité de l'image peut se dégrader selon les cas d'étude. La possibilité de générer des sources arbitraires permet de pallier en grande partie cette difficulté. / The present study has been done as part of the in-service inspection of weld structure belonging to generation IV nuclear reactors. It aims at checking both the safety and integrity of these components. The anisotropic and heterogeneous structure of austenitic stainless steel welds disturbs the ultrasonic non destructive testing. Thus, a weld description model is necessary to properly analyze the ultrasonic measured signals and to characterize potential flaws. The weld model makes a priori knowledge up in the Topological Energy method. The study is divided into two parts: development of the method in a bounded medium and comparison with the Matched Field Processing method, and then its application to real weld structures.The work firstly focuses on expanding the Topological Energy method to isotropic and homogeneous bounded medium to take advantage of multiple reflections between the flaw and edges. For that, different conditions are numerically applied to boundaries. By adding up these conditions it becomes possible to select the appropriate scattering signal. Modified topological energies are defined according to the type of analyzed flaws. The approach is analytically demonstrated before being validated firstly from synthetical data and then from experimental data.The second part deals with the application of the method to the complex weld structure. The process is experimentally tested on welds in order to evaluate efficiency of flaws localization. However, the image's quality can be deteriorated because of variability of the structure. By generating arbitrary ultrasonic source this difficulty is mostly overcame.

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) techniques are widely used in a number of Non – destructive Evaluation (NDE) applications. There is a need to develop effective techniques for SHM, so that the safety and integrity of the structures can be improved. Two most widely used SHM methods for plates and rods use either the spectrum of the impedances or monitor the propagation of lamb waves. Piezoelectric wafer – active sensors (PWAS) were used for excitation and sensing. In this study, surface response to excitation (SuRE) and Lamb wave propagation was monitored to estimate the integrity of the round objects including the pipes, tubes and cutting tools. SuRE obtained the frequency response by applying sweep sine wave to surface. The envelope of the received signal was used to detect the arrival of lamb waves to the sensor. Both approaches detect the structural defects of the pipes and tubes and the wear of the cutting tool.

The use of ultrasound contrast agents increases the information available for reconstruction during ultrasound imaging. Previously studied microbubbles, consisting of a gas core, are subject to limitations such as a short lifetime and a large size. Droplets with a liquid perfluorocarbon core that is stabilized by cellulose nanofibers eliminate these drawbacks, but require further investigation. By studying the frequency-dependent attenuation profile of the cellulose nanofiber coated perfluorocarbon droplets within an ultrasound field, information about the droplets as oscillators can be retrieved, enabling characterization of their physical properties. In this study, the frequency-dependent attenuation profile was experimentally acquired and compared between two concentrations, using flat transducers covering the frequency range of 1-15 MHz. The data collected in the time domain was processed and transformed into the frequency domain and the attenuation was calculated across the entire frequency range. Among the frequencies studied, the attenuation increases with frequency and covers the range of approximately 0.25-8.3 dB/cm and 0.01-3.3 dB/cm at the concentrations of 50 million droplets/ml and 10 million droplets/ml respectively. The attenuation reaches a minimum at 3 MHz within the highest concentration, compared to 4.43 MHz within the lowest. The increase of the attenuation with frequency is explained by the droplets not exhibiting large oscillations within the range covered. It is probable that the droplets do exhibit oscillations, due to a viscosity lower than that of water, but a resonance frequency is not found within the spectrum studied. This could be explained by a shell elasticity or a small droplet radius placing the resonance frequency outside of the spectrum studied, or high levels of damping broadening the resonance peak. Localizing the resonance frequency would enable characterization of these physical properties of the cellulose nanofiber shell as well as the perfluorocarbon liquid core of the droplets. The increase of the attenuation with frequency demonstrates that the droplets do not produce a maximized amount of scattering at a specific frequency within the range studied, which is observed among other oscillating particles implemented as ultrasound contrast agents. The attenuation is, however, larger than that of blood across all frequencies except for those among which the attenuation reaches its minimum. Potential errors that are affecting the results include droplet vaporization, the formation of flocs after the mechanical agitation has ceased, the experimental setup, the settings on the pulse generator, the sensitivity of the transducers and the processing code.

Today, microbubbles are one of the most commonly used ultrasound contrast agents, since their high compressibility results in a strongly scattered signal. Despite this advantage, microbubbles experience limitations by the decreased stability and large diameter. The cellulose nanofiber (CNF) stabilized perfluoropentane (PFC5) droplets have the possibility of eliminating these drawbacks. In order to examine the droplet behavior and scattering ability when exposed to ultrasound, the acoustic response of the droplets is studied and compared with that of microbubbles (MBs). Therefore, this thesis aims to design an experimental set-up and a processing method to determine the phase velocity, bulk modulus and compressibility of the CNF-coated PFC5 droplets. The experimental study of the acoustic characterization uses pulse-echo spectroscopy with an aluminum reflector and seven flat transducers covering the frequency range 0.7 to 14.1 MHz. By using fast Fourier transform, while accounting for the 2πn ambiguity, the phase velocity profiles are obtained. The dispersions within this frequency spectrum are 1391-1487 m/s and 1387-1488 m/s for the concentrations 10 ∙ 106 and 50 ∙ 106 droplets/ml, respectively. These profiles display an increasing phase velocity with frequency and a slight increase in dispersion with concentration. These results agree with theory and studies examining the phase velocity of MBs. The bulk modulus presents values between 3-4 GPa, while the compressibility is 2.7 − 3.2 ∙ 10-10 𝑃𝑎-1 within the frequency range studied. Compared to water and certain MBs, both possessing a lower bulk modulus, the droplets are less compressible. To conclude, the droplets have similar phase velocity profiles with the same dependencies on frequency and concentration as MBs, resulting in similar behavior of these droplets when exposed to ultrasound. Hence, affecting the wave similarly to MBs in terms of spreading. The droplet are, however, not as compressible. This most likely affects their oscillation and they, hence, might not have equally beneficial scattering ability. This could reduce their utilization as contrast agents. Some of the potential error sources present during the laboratory work and the development of the post-processing code were not achieving perfect optimization of the transducer alignment, vaporization of the droplets resulting in reduced concentration, possible diffraction, not optimal processing of data and inadequate correction for 2πn ambiguity.

The railroad industry is pivotal in the United States to ensure that the supply chain does not shut down for the American people. Non-Destruction Evaluation (NDE) approaches are preferred and performed on the railways to ensure the safety of the population that is exposed to the railway industry. When damage occurs on the rail base, there is an increased risk derailment of the train cars. Due to the nature of the railroad industry, there are challenges with developing a quick and reliable inspection method, along with the improvement of current NDE methods. The load, speed, and cycles of trains have increased the load that track sections endure over time. Some railways that were originally built in the early 20th century are still utilized today, designed for trains that are not nearly as heavy or fast as used today. Defects and damage on the railways lead to the need of development of an NDE approach utilizing Line Scan Thermography approaches. One of the most common defects that are formed are on the rail base is known as “base nicks” and “half-moon cracks”, these types of defects can occur over time. This research aims to study the feasibility of applying this NDE technique to detect defects that can occur on a rail base, both internal and external. For this research, a heat source up to 6000 W and tested velocities up to 447.1 mm/s (1.0 mph) are used to study the effects of line scanning thermography on various samples. In total, 10 samples are employed to test for feasibility: each one having a unique set of defects. Some defects fabricated on these samples are internal, such as bottom drilled holes (BDH) and side drilled holes (SDH); some of these samples are fabricated from actual rail samples. From tests conducted for internal defects, it can be concluded that defects with diameters of 6.35 mm (0.25”) can be detected at a remaining thickness from the observation surface of 6.35 mm. Along with internal defects, there are also external defects employed on the samples; these defects include simulated base nicks, fractures, and half-moon cracks. For surface defects tests from this research, it is found that the anomalies can be detected visually. The results from the experimental studies provide insight and limitations of LST for the possibility of a future commercial application.

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