Esse trabalho propõe uma metodologia de otimização no processo de aprovação de componentes estruturais submetidos a carregamentos cíclicos que já tiveram a primeira rodada de testes físicos e falharam sem atingir os critérios de aprovação previamente estabelecidos. Os estudos de caso utilizados na aplicação do método foram dois componentes de suspensão de veículos comerciais. A metodologia proposta tem em sua base diversos tópicos da engenharia, como o estudo dos materiais dos componentes, análise de tensão e fadiga via elementos finitos, medição e análise de sinal de deformação e força, teste de durabilidade acelerado, além de correlação entre simulação e realidade. No âmbito da fadiga, a análise foi efetuada em ambiente virtual, através de um programa capaz de importar as tensões da simulação numérica e medições estruturais. É utilizada a metodologia S-N (tensão vida), através da criação de curvas S-N locais sintéticas, alteradas da curva original via fatores de influência como gradiente de tensão, tensão média (via diagrama de Haigh), rugosidade superficial e também pela distribuição estatística das propriedades do material. Por se tratar de carregamentos cíclicos aleatórios, uma análise de proporcionalidade do sinal é feita, além da utilização da previsão de vida em fadiga abordando os conceitos da fadiga uniaxial (utilizando tensão principal e von Mises) e também no caso multiaxial (utilizando o método dos planos críticos e tensão normal escalonada). Um grande grau de correlação entre simulação de tensão e testes físicos foi encontrado (pelo menos 90%). A previsão de falha por fadiga para os dois casos teve seus melhores resultados utilizando o método dos planos críticos. Os dois componentes encontram-se homologados por essa metodologia e atualmente são utilizados por veículos comerciais de série sem falhas observadas em campo, mostrando uma tendência de assertividade do método. / This work proposes a methodology to optimize the approval of structural components subjected to cyclic loadings that have had the first round of physical testing and failed to achieve the approval criteria previously established process. The case studies used in the application of the method were two commercial vehicle suspension components. The proposed methodology has its base in various engineering topics such as the study of the component materials, stress analysis and fatigue via finite elements, measurement and signal analysis of deformation and strength, accelerated durability test, and correlation between simulation and reality. Within the fatigue, the analysis was performed in a virtual environment, through a software able to import the stresses of numerical simulation and structural measurements. The S-N method (stress life) is used, through the creation of local synthetic S-N curves. The curve is modified from the original via influence factors such as gradient stress, mean stress (via Haigh diagram), surface roughness and also the statistical distribution of material properties. Because of the random cyclic loading, an analysis of the proportionality sign is made, in addition of the use of the fatigue life prediction by uniaxial fatigue (using principal stress and von Mises) and also in the multiaxial case (using the critical plans method and normal scaled stress). A high degree of correlation between stress and physical simulation tests was found (at least 90%). The prediction of fatigue failure for the two cases had their best results using the critical plans method. The two components are approved by this methodology and are currently used by commercial vehicles series without failures observed in the field, showing an assertiveness trend of the method.

Apresenta-se uma metodologia que tem como base a análise de campos magnéticos no monitoramento da qualidade da energia de sistemas elétricos. Em particular, são avaliados os aspectos referentes à detecção de faltas em sistemas elétricos. Diferente do processo de monitoração tradicional, cujos sensores precisam estar fisicamente conectados aos circuitos analisados, propõe-se estudar a viabilidade da utilização dos sinais provenientes da assinatura magnética resultante no exame do desempenho dos sistemas elétricos. Ressalta-se, assim, a característica não invasiva deste processo. Em uma primeira instância, simulações numéricas e medidas experimentais são usadas para estimar a validade deste método. Com base em valores das correntes de falta fase-terra, relacionados a configurações reais de sistemas de distribuição, provenientes de simulações numéricas e disponibilizadas na literatura, são calculados os campos magnéticos em regiões pré-selecionadas próximas às linhas. A seguir, aplicam-se os conceitos relacionados a wavelets no tratamento dos sinais resultantes. É nesta etapa que, por meio da decomposição da assinatura magnética correspondente, serão obtidos os dados necessários para se correlacionar os componentes dos sinais ao diagnóstico das faltas, nos sistemas elétricos. A Análise de múltirresolução é aplicada. Além destes resultados teóricos, aqueles provenientes de uma bancada experimental são examinados. Algumas configurações canônicas foram pré-selecionadas, visando estudar a eventual influência dos aspectos geométricos nos resultados relacionados à decomposição do sinal em análise. Embora métodos analíticos pudessem ser empregados na determinação da assinatura magnética resultante, os métodos numéricos, tais como o método dos elementos finitos, foram utilizados visando agilizar a obtenção de resultados teóricos a serem avaliados. Da mesma forma, aplicativos já disponibilizados comercialmente foram utilizados na decomposição dos sinais. Esta metodologia foi aplicada, também, para identificar faltas, aplicando-se a análise da variância para os diversos níveis do detalhe wavelet. A validação da metodologia foi feita pela comparação entre os resultados simulados e obtidos experimentalmente. / A methodology based on the analysis of magnetic fields for monitoring the quality of energy in electrical systems is presented herein. Aspects referring to fault detection in electrical systems in particular are evaluated. Contrary to the traditional monitoring process, in which sensors must be physically linked to the circuits under analysis, the results are presented from a feasibility study on the use of signals arising from the resulting magnetic signature by means of the electrical systems analysis. Thus the non-invasive characteristic of this process should be pointed out. First, numerical simulations and experimental measures were used to estimate the validity of this method. Based on values of the current of phase-earth fault related to actual features of the distribution systems and derived from numeric simulations found in the literature, the magnetic fields, in pre-established regions, were calculated. Following this, the concepts related to wavelets in the treatment of resulting signals were applied. It is in this phase that, by means of the decomposition of the corresponding magnetic signature, the data necessary to correlate the signal components for the diagnosis of faults in electrical systems were obtained. A Multiresolution Analysis (MRA) was applied. In addition to these theoretical results, the results from a laboratory workbench were also examined. Some canonical features were pre-selected, aiming to study the influence of geometric aspects on the results related to the signal decomposition analyzed. Although analytical methods could be employed to determine the resulting magnetic signature, numerical methods, such as the finite element method, were used to expedite obtaining the theoretical results to be analyzed. Likewise, commercial software was also used for the decomposition of signals. This methodology was validated by comparing the measured and simulated magnetic flux density. This methodology was also applied to identify and classify faults by means of the variance curve towards the wavelet detail.

Zur Untersuchung der Schädigungs- und Versagensmechanismen eines in Beton eingebetteten Multifilamentgarns im Auszugversuch wurde die Schallemissionsanalyse zur Identifizierung und Lokalisierung von Filamentbrüchen eingesetzt. Im ersten Schritt wurden dazu die Schall emittierenden Ursachen (Filamentriss, Filamentablösung und Mikroriss im Beton) für eine Differenzierung charakterisiert. Es wurden Versuche zur Erzeugung von isolierten Signalen durchgeführt, welche mit Hilfe der Signal- und Frequenzanalyse untersucht wurden. Bei dem durchgeführten Garnauszugversuch konnte eine hohe Lokalisierungsgenauigkeit der Filamentbrüche erzielt werden. Der Schädigungsverlauf des Garns während des Auszugversuchs konnte detailliert untersucht werden.

Στην παρούσα διατριβή, ερευνάται αν οι διακυμάνσεις της τριχοειδούς πίεσης είναι δυνατό να παράσχουν ποσοτική πληροφορία που αφορά τη χωρική κατανομή της διαβροχής σε πορώδη μέσα κλασματικής διαβροχής. Για το σκοπό αυτό πραγματοποιήθηκαν πειράματα εκτόπισης της ελαϊκής φάσης από υδατική υπό σταθερή παροχή σε πορώδη μέσα κλασματικής διαβροχής. Τα πορώδη μέσα κλασματικής διαβροχής κατασκευάστηκαν με τυχαία ανάμιξη γυάλινων και πλαστικών (PTFE) σφαιρών, απαράλλαχτης διαμέτρου, έτσι ώστε η γεωμετρία των πόρων να διατηρηθεί αναλλοίωτη. Η χωρική κατανομή των διαφορετικών ειδών σφαιρών διέφερε ακόμη και όταν τα σχετικά τους κλάσματα ήταν ίδια. Κατά τη διάρκεια των πειραμάτων λαμβάνονταν μετρήσεις της μεταβατικής απόκρισης της τριχοειδούς πίεσης και στιγμιότυπα της εκτόπισης ανά τακτά χρονικά διαστήματα. Αρχικά πραγματοποιήθηκαν πειράματα εκτόπισης σε πορώδη μέσα που ήταν ενδιάμεσα υδατοδιαβρεκτά και ισχυρά ελαιοδιαβρεκτά. Τα ληφθέντα σήματα τριχοειδούς πίεσης, αναλύθηκαν με τη μέθοδο των κυματιδίων (wavelet) και συσχετίσθηκαν με τα γεγονότα ροής που ελάμβαναν χώρα. Η διαβροχή των περιοχών των πορωδών μέσων που εισδύονταν από υδατική φάση περιγράφηκε μέσω ενός εμπειρικού δείκτη διαβροχής ο οποίος συσχετίστηκε με τα φάσματα λεπτομέρειας που προέκυψαν από την ανάλυση των σημάτων. Στην περίπτωση ομοιόμορφης και ενδιάμεσης υδατοδιαβροχής ευνοούνται γεγονότα ροής που συνοδεύονται από σημαντικές διακυμάνσεις της τριχοειδούς πίεσης ώστε να καθίσταται δύσκολη η παραπάνω συσχέτιση. Για το λόγο αυτό πραγματοποιήθηκαν πειράματα εκτόπισης με χρήση ενός δεύτερου ζεύγους ρευστών. Τα πορώδη μέσα κλασματικής διαβροχής ως προς το δεύτερο ζεύγος ρευστών ήταν υδατοδιαβρεκτά και ισχυρά ελαιοδιαβρεκτά. Στην περίπτωση του δεύτερου ζεύγους ρευστών, τα σήματα τριχοειδούς πίεσης χαρακτηρίζονταν από αργές και μικρές σε ύψος διακυμάνσεις. Αυτή η διαφορετικότητα επέβαλλε τη βελτίωση της μεθόδου ανάλυσης των σημάτων ώστε να μπορεί να εφαρμοστεί σε όλα τα σήματα που ελήφθησαν στα πειράματα εκτόπισης της παρούσας εργασίας. Υιοθετήθηκαν πλέον δύο εμπειρικοί δείκτες διαβροχής: ο πρώτος δείκτης, Λ, δηλώνει τη διαβροχή της ενεργούς διεπιφάνειας και ο δεύτερος δηλώνει τη διαβροχή της επιφάνειας του πορώδους μέσου που γεμίζει με υδατική φάση όταν κινηθεί η προαναφερθείσα διεπιφάνεια. Οι δύο δείκτες διαβροχής συσχετίστηκαν με την «ενέργεια» των σημάτων, τη «συχνότητα» των φασμάτων λεπτομερειών του βέλτιστου επιπέδου ανάλυσης των σημάτων και τις χρονομέσες τιμές τριχοειδούς πίεσης. / A transparent porous medium of controlled fractional wettability is fabricated by mixing water-wet glass microspheres with strongly oil-wet polytetrafluouroethylene microspheres and packing them between two transparent glass plates. The displacement experiments performed for two pairs of fluids: a) silicon oil and water and b) paraffin oil and water. The growth pattern is video recorded and the transient response of the pressure drop across the pore network is measured for various fractions of oil-wet particles. The measured global capillary pressure fluctuates as the result of the variation of the equilibrium curvature of menisci between local maxima and local minima. By using wavelet transform on the capillary pressure signal, the best level detail spectrum arises and its peaks indict the parts of the original signal with the most important fluctuations, each of those is analyzed again. The best level detail coefficients give the “energy” of the analyzed part of the capillary pressure signal while the number of the most important fluctuations of the best level detail spectrum to the time interval they took place gives the “frequency” of the best level detail spectrum. The time averaged capillary pressure, the “energy” and the “frequency” are associated with the frontal wettability of the interface separating the two fluids before the invasion step and one number which denotes the regional wettability of the invaded area.

Dysfunction in the central nervous system of the neonate is often first identified through seizures. The diffculty in detecting clinical seizures, which involves the observation of physical manifestations characteristic to newborn seizure, has placed greater emphasis on the detection of newborn electroencephalographic (EEG) seizure. The high incidence of newborn seizure has resulted in considerable mortality and morbidity rates in the neonate. Accurate and rapid diagnosis of neonatal seizure is essential for proper treatment and therapy. This has impelled researchers to investigate possible methods for the automatic detection of newborn EEG seizure. This thesis is focused on the development of algorithms for the automatic detection of newborn EEG seizure using adaptive time-frequency signal processing. The assessment of newborn EEG seizure detection algorithms requires large datasets of nonseizure and seizure EEG which are not always readily available and often hard to acquire. This has led to the proposition of realistic models of newborn EEG which can be used to create large datasets for the evaluation and comparison of newborn EEG seizure detection algorithms. In this thesis, we develop two simulation methods which produce synthetic newborn EEG background and seizure. The simulation methods use nonlinear and time-frequency signal processing techniques to allow for the demonstrated nonlinear and nonstationary characteristics of the newborn EEG. Atomic decomposition techniques incorporating redundant time-frequency dictionaries are exciting new signal processing methods which deliver adaptive signal representations or approximations. In this thesis we have investigated two prominent atomic decomposition techniques, matching pursuit and basis pursuit, for their possible use in an automatic seizure detection algorithm. In our investigation, it was shown that matching pursuit generally provided the sparsest (i.e. most compact) approximation for various real and synthetic signals over a wide range of signal approximation levels. For this reason, we chose MP as our preferred atomic decomposition technique for this thesis. A new measure, referred to as structural complexity, which quantifes the level or degree of correlation between signal structures and the decomposition dictionary was proposed. Using the change in structural complexity, a generic method of detecting changes in signal structure was proposed. This detection methodology was then applied to the newborn EEG for the detection of state transition (i.e. nonseizure to seizure state) in the EEG signal. To optimize the seizure detection process, we developed a time-frequency dictionary that is coherent with the newborn EEG seizure state based on the time-frequency analysis of the newborn EEG seizure. It was shown that using the new coherent time-frequency dictionary and the change in structural complexity, we can detect the transition from nonseizure to seizure states in synthetic and real newborn EEG. Repetitive spiking in the EEG is a classic feature of newborn EEG seizure. Therefore, the automatic detection of spikes can be fundamental in the detection of newborn EEG seizure. The capacity of two adaptive time-frequency signal processing techniques to detect spikes was investigated. It was shown that a relationship between the EEG epoch length and the number of repetitive spikes governs the ability of both matching pursuit and adaptive spectrogram in detecting repetitive spikes. However, it was demonstrated that the law was less restrictive forth eadaptive spectrogram and it was shown to outperform matching pursuit in detecting repetitive spikes. The method of adapting the window length associated with the adaptive spectrogram used in this thesis was the maximum correlation criterion. It was observed that for the time instants where signal spikes occurred, the optimal window lengths selected by the maximum correlation criterion were small. Therefore, spike detection directly from the adaptive window optimization method was demonstrated and also shown to outperform matching pursuit. An automatic newborn EEG seizure detection algorithm was proposed based on the detection of repetitive spikes using the adaptive window optimization method. The algorithm shows excellent performance with real EEG data. A comparison of the proposed algorithm with four well documented newborn EEG seizure detection algorithms is provided. The results of the comparison show that the proposed algorithm has significantly better performance than the existing algorithms (i.e. Our proposed algorithm achieved a good detection rate (GDR) of 94% and false detection rate (FDR) of 2.3% compared with the leading algorithm which only produced a GDR of 62% and FDR of 16%). In summary, the novel contribution of this thesis to the fields of time-frequency signal processing and biomedical engineering is the successful development and application of sophisticated algorithms based on adaptive time-frequency signal processing techniques to the solution of automatic newborn EEG seizure detection.

Universidade Federal de Uberlândia / When the surfaces of two elastic bodies present relative motions under certain amount of contact pressure the mechanical system can be instable. Experiments conducted on elastic bodies under friction forces shown that the dynamical system is self-excited by the non-linear behavior of frictional forces. The main objectives of this thesis are the study of the pressure and stress fields, due to mechanical contact, and the estimation of friction using the vibrations signals measured on a reciprocating wear testing machine using non-linear signal analysis formulation. The finite element methodology is detailed presented to solve stress fields in contact problems. A two input and one output MISO model is proposed to represent the non-linear system dynamics. The global output is the sum of two outputs produced by one linear path associated in parallel with a non-linear path. This last path has a non-linear model that represents the friction force and another linear transfer function connected in series. Since the linear path is identified by traditional signal analysis, the non-linear function can be evaluated by the global input/output relationships, and can be correlated to wear conditions of the contact surfaces. Validation tests are conducted in a tribological system composed by a sphere in contact with a prismatic body witch has an imposed harmonic motion. The global output force is simultaneously measured by piezoresistive and piezoelectric load cells. The sphere and prismatic body vibrations are measured by accelerometers and by a laser Doppler vibrometer. All signals are digitalized with the same time base and the data is transferred to a microcomputer. The non-linear signal analysis technique uses this data to identify the friction force. The estimated friction force and the stress fields are compared to surfaces of bodies after tribological tests to show the efficiency of proposed methodology. / Quando as superfícies de dois corpos elásticos em contato apresentam movimento relativo, o sistema mecânico pode se tornar instável. Experimentos conduzidos com corpos elásticos em contato mostram que o sistema é um sistema auto excitado devido à característica não linear da força de atrito. Os objetivos principais desta tese são o estudo do campo de pressões e tensões, devido ao contato mecânico, e a estimativa da força de atrito com a analise de sinais não lineares aplicada aos sinais de vibração medidos em um tribômetro do tipo alternativo. O método de elementos finitos é apresentado detalhadamente como algoritmo de solução dos campos de pressões e tensões em corpos submetidos ao contato mecânico. Um modelo de duas entradas e uma saída é utilizado para representar um sistema dinâmico não linear. A saída total é composta da soma da parcela devida ao caminho linear da estrutura e da parcela devida ao caminho não linear. Esta ultima parcela possui um modelo não linear, representando a força de atrito, e outra função linear em série. Desde que a função transferência do caminho linear é identificada a partir da análise de sinais tradicional, a parcela não linear é obtida pelas relações globais entre a entrada e a saída do sistema global, sendo posteriormente correlacionada as condições superficiais das amostras. Os testes de validação são realizados em um tribômetro do tipo alternativo com contra corpo esférico e corpo prismático o qual possui um movimento harmônico imposto. A força de reação da estrutura ao atrito entre os corpos é medida simultaneamente por uma célula de carga piezelétrica e por uma célula de carga piezoresistiva. As velocidades do corpo e do contra corpo são medidos por um acelerômetro e um vibrômetro laser respectivamente. Todos os sinais são digitalizados sobre a mesma base de tempo e transferidos a um micro computador. A força de atrito é estimada através da análise de sinais não linear aplicada aos sinais de vibração medidos. As variações da força de atrito estimada são então comparadas às condições superficiais das amostras mostrando a eficiência da metodologia proposta. / Doutor em Engenharia Mecânica

Esse trabalho propõe uma metodologia de otimização no processo de aprovação de componentes estruturais submetidos a carregamentos cíclicos que já tiveram a primeira rodada de testes físicos e falharam sem atingir os critérios de aprovação previamente estabelecidos. Os estudos de caso utilizados na aplicação do método foram dois componentes de suspensão de veículos comerciais. A metodologia proposta tem em sua base diversos tópicos da engenharia, como o estudo dos materiais dos componentes, análise de tensão e fadiga via elementos finitos, medição e análise de sinal de deformação e força, teste de durabilidade acelerado, além de correlação entre simulação e realidade. No âmbito da fadiga, a análise foi efetuada em ambiente virtual, através de um programa capaz de importar as tensões da simulação numérica e medições estruturais. É utilizada a metodologia S-N (tensão vida), através da criação de curvas S-N locais sintéticas, alteradas da curva original via fatores de influência como gradiente de tensão, tensão média (via diagrama de Haigh), rugosidade superficial e também pela distribuição estatística das propriedades do material. Por se tratar de carregamentos cíclicos aleatórios, uma análise de proporcionalidade do sinal é feita, além da utilização da previsão de vida em fadiga abordando os conceitos da fadiga uniaxial (utilizando tensão principal e von Mises) e também no caso multiaxial (utilizando o método dos planos críticos e tensão normal escalonada). Um grande grau de correlação entre simulação de tensão e testes físicos foi encontrado (pelo menos 90%). A previsão de falha por fadiga para os dois casos teve seus melhores resultados utilizando o método dos planos críticos. Os dois componentes encontram-se homologados por essa metodologia e atualmente são utilizados por veículos comerciais de série sem falhas observadas em campo, mostrando uma tendência de assertividade do método. / This work proposes a methodology to optimize the approval of structural components subjected to cyclic loadings that have had the first round of physical testing and failed to achieve the approval criteria previously established process. The case studies used in the application of the method were two commercial vehicle suspension components. The proposed methodology has its base in various engineering topics such as the study of the component materials, stress analysis and fatigue via finite elements, measurement and signal analysis of deformation and strength, accelerated durability test, and correlation between simulation and reality. Within the fatigue, the analysis was performed in a virtual environment, through a software able to import the stresses of numerical simulation and structural measurements. The S-N method (stress life) is used, through the creation of local synthetic S-N curves. The curve is modified from the original via influence factors such as gradient stress, mean stress (via Haigh diagram), surface roughness and also the statistical distribution of material properties. Because of the random cyclic loading, an analysis of the proportionality sign is made, in addition of the use of the fatigue life prediction by uniaxial fatigue (using principal stress and von Mises) and also in the multiaxial case (using the critical plans method and normal scaled stress). A high degree of correlation between stress and physical simulation tests was found (at least 90%). The prediction of fatigue failure for the two cases had their best results using the critical plans method. The two components are approved by this methodology and are currently used by commercial vehicles series without failures observed in the field, showing an assertiveness trend of the method.

There is an ever increasing demand for higher spectral usage in wireless communication, radar and imaging systems. Higher spectral efficiency can be achieved using components that are aware of system environment and adapt suitably to the operating conditions. In this regard, radio frequency (RF) signal analysis is of paramount interest. Emergence of dispersive delay networks (DDN) has led to the significant development of microwave analogue-signal processing (ASP) and analysis. DDN causes displacement of spectral components in time domain, relative to the frequency dependant group delay response. The main challenge in the design of DDN in this context is in achieving broad bandwidth with high group delay dispersion (GDD). In this regard, all-pass networks (APN) have been explored as a potential wide-band DDN owing to the possibility of controlling the magnitude of loss characteristics without affecting the dispersion in group delay response. The synthesis procedure of lumped element APN using approximation methods is well known at audio frequencies. Most of these use operational amplifier and cannot be extended directly to RF. There is no generalised closed form analytical procedure at RF for the synthesis of APN with the required GDD. In this regard, this dissertation presents the design and implementation of all-pass networks as wide-band dispersive delay networks at radio frequencies. In this work, we begin by analysing the signal propagation through a DDN with a linear group delay response over a broad bandwidth. It is found that the signal experiences expansion of pulse width, reduction of its peak amplitude and a temporal displacement of the spectral components. Analytical expressions derived help initial synthesis of group delay response required for various ASP applications. As the first step towards implementation at RF, a single stage APN is designed using surface mount devices (SMD). This design approach takes into account practical issues such as parasitic due to mounting pads, available component values, physical dimensions, self-resonance frequency (SRF) and finite Q factor of the components used. Full wave simulation of the design with transmission line pads and components is carried out. This implementation is useful for frequencies up to the component SRF, generally about 5 GHz. This design approach makes the circuit footprint independent of frequency and the performance is limited only by the Q factor of the adopted technology. The Q factor affects the loss characteristics with a negligible effect on group delay response in the frequency band of interest. In order to extend the APN design for high group delay, a novel board level implementation is developed consisting of both lumped SMD components and distributed elements. The implementation results in a lower sensitivity of group delay performance to the commercially specified component value tolerances than the approach using all SMD components. It has been experimentally verified that the measured group delay is 2.4 ns at 1.85 GHz, which is thrice that reported in other approaches. The implementation has a reduced circuit footprint and is attractive in practical applications as it is a single layer micro strip realisation with less complex fabrication procedure and fewer components to assemble. As an extension of this towards wideband cascaded APN, an iterative design procedure is developed to achieve a monotonous group delay response over a broad bandwidth. The approach facilitates cascading of multiple stages of lumped APN with different resonance frequency and peak group delay to obtain linear and non-linear group delay responses with both positive and negative GDD. Circuits with both positive and negative GDD are required for various ASP applications such as compressive receivers and the present approach is unique in obtaining both the responses, not possible with many other RF dispersion techniques. Circuit models have been simulated by cascading transfer function responses of the individual APNs. The design is further extended for SMD implementation. To validate the above approach, a two stage APN is designed in the frequency range [0.5 - 1] GHz for a linear GDD of ±6 ns/GHz. Two negative GDD APNs are further cascaded to obtain a four stage implementation with an overall GDD of -12 ns/GHz. The experimental results are compared with full wave simulations for validation. The design using lumped SMD components has greatly improved the performance in terms of GDD with a reduced circuit footprint and lower insertion loss than previously reported approaches. As practical examples, the ASP modules are experimentally demonstrated using the fabricated APN. Frequency discrimination of two input frequencies with a frequency resolution of 500 MHz is demonstrated. Higher GDD results in higher separation of frequency components in time domain. Pulse compression and magnification is also demonstrated for different wideband LFM input signals. The dispersion effects of amplitude reduction, pulse width expansion and frequency chirping are thereby validated experimentally. In summary, the approaches presented in this dissertation enable the design of wideband all-pass networks to introduce dispersion delays over wide bandwidths, opening up the possibility for their use in analogue signal processing at radio frequencies. Some of these applications have been experimentally demonstrated and validated using time frequency analysis.

Aerospace structures comprising of metals and composites are exposed to extreme loading and environmental conditions which necessitates regular inspection and maintenance to verify and monitor overall structural integrity. The timely and accurate detection, characterization and monitoring of structural cracking, corrosion, delaminating, material degradation and other types of damage are of major concern in the operational environment. Along with these, stringent requirements of safety and operational reliability have lead to evolutionary methods for evaluation of structural integrity. As a result, conventional nondestructive evaluation methods have moved towards a new concept, Structural Health Monitoring (SHM). SHM provides in-situ information a bout the occurrence of damage if any, location and severity of damage and residual life of the structure and also helps in improving the safety, reliability and confidence levels of critical engineering structures. While the concepts underlying SHM are well understood, development of methods is still in a nascent stage which requires extensive research that is challenging and has been the main motivating factor for undertaking the work reported in the thesis. Under the scope of the investigations carried out in this thesis, an integrated approach using Ultrasonic (active) and Acoustic Emission (passive) methods has been explored for SHM of metallic and composite plate structures using a distributed array of surface bonded circular piezoelectric wafer active sensors(PWAS). In ultrasonic method, PWAS is used for actuation and reception of Lamb waves in plate structures. The damage detection is based on the interaction of waves with defects resulting in reflection, mode conversion and scattering. In acoustic emission (AE) technique, the same sensor is used to pick up the stress waves generated by initiation or growth of defects or damage. Thus, both the active and passive damage detection methods are used in this work for detection, location and characterization of defects and damage in metallic and composite plates with complex geometries and structural discontinuities. And, thus the strategy adopted is to use time-frequency analysis and time reversal technique to extract the information from Lamb wave signals for damage detection and a geodesic based Lamb wave approach for location of the damage in the structure. To start with experiments were conducted on aluminum plates to study the interaction of Lamb waves with cracks oriented at different angles and on a titanium turbine blade of complex geometry with a fine surface crack. Further, the interaction of Lamb wave modes with multiple layer delaminations in glass fiber epoxy composite laminates was studied. The data acquired from these experiments yielded complex sets of signals which were not easily discern able for obtaining the information required regarding the defects and damage. So, to obtain a basic understanding of the wave patterns, Spectral finite element method has been employed for simulation of wave propagation in composite beams with damages like delamination and material degradation. Following this, time-frequency analysis of a number of simulated and experimental signals due to elastic wave scattering from defects and damage were performed using wavelet transform (WT) and Hilbert-Huang transform(HHT).And, a comparison of their performances in the context of quantifying the damages has given detailed insight into the problem of identifying localized damages, dispersion of multi-frequency non-stationary signals after their interaction with different types of defects and damage, finally leading to quantification. Conventional Lamb wave based damage detection methods look for the presence of defects and damage in a structure by comparing the signal obtained with the baseline signal acquired under healthy conditions. The environmental conditions like change in temperature can alter the Lamb wave signals and when compared with baseline signals may lead to false damage prediction. So, in order to make Lamb wave based damage detection baseline free, in the present work, the time reversal technique has been utilized. And, experiments were conducted on metallic and composite plates to study the time reversal behavior ofA0 andS0Lamb wave modes. Damage in the form of a notch was introduced in an aluminum plate to study the changes in the characteristics of the time reversed Lamb wave modes experimentally. This experimental study showed that there is no change in the shape of the time reversed Lamb wave in the presence of defect implying no breakage of time reversibility. Time reversal experiments were further carried out on a carbon/epoxy composite T-pull specimen representing a typical structure. And, the specimen was subjected to a tensile loading in a Universal testing machine. PWAS sensor measurements were carried out at no load as also during different stages of delamination due to tensile loading. Application of time reversed A 0 and S0 modes for both healthy and delaminated specimens and studying the change in shape of the time reversed Lamb wave signals has resulted in successful detection of the presence of delamination. The aim of this study has been to show the effectiveness of Lamb wave time reversal technique for damage detection in health monitoring applications. The next step in SHM is to identify the damage location after the confirmation of presence of damage in the structure. Wave based acoustic damage detection methods (UT and AE) employing triangulation technique are not suitable for locating damage in a structure which has complicated geometry and contains structural discontinuities. And, the problem further gets compounded if the material of the structure is anisotropic warranting complex analytical velocity models. In this work, a novel geodesic approach using Lamb waves is proposed to locate the AE source/damage in plate like structures. The approach is based on the fact that the wave takes minimum energy path to travel from the source to any other point in the connected domain. The geodesics are computed numerically on the meshed surface of the structure using Dijkstra’s algorithm. By propagating the waves in reverse virtually from these sensors along the geodesic path and by locating the first inter section point of these waves, one can get the AE source/damage location. Experiments have been conducted on metallic and composite plate specimens of simple and complex geometry to validate this approach. And, the results obtained using this approach has demonstrated the advantages for a practicable source location solution with arbitrary surfaces containing finite discontinuities. The drawback of Dijkstra’s algorithm is that the geodesics are allowed to travel along the edges of the triangular mesh and not inside them. To overcome this limitation, the simpler Dijkstra’s algorithm has been replaced by a Fast Marching Method (FMM) which allows geodesic path to travel inside the triangular domain. The results obtained using FMM showed that one can accurately compute the geodesic path taken by the elastic waves in composite plates from the AE source/damage to the sensor array, thus obtaining a more accurate damage location. Finally, a new triangulation technique based on geodesic concept is proposed to locate damage in metallic and composite plates. The performances of triangulaton technique are then compared with the geodesic approach in terms of damage location results and their suitability to health monitoring applications is studied.

Ce travail présente les développements récents réalisés sur le pénétromètre PANDA 3. Il s'agit d'un pénétromètre dynamique instrumenté qui permet à partir de la mesure puis du découplage des ondes créées par l’impact sur l’appareil, d’obtenir pour chaque coup une courbe charge-enfoncement σp-sp du sol ausculté. L’exploitation de cette courbe permet de déterminer des paramètres de résistance (résistance de pointe qd), de déformation (module dynamique Ed P3), des caractéristiques d’amortissement Js et de célérité d'ondes (CsP3 et CpP3) des sols auscultés en fonction de la profondeur tout au long du sondage. Cependant, et bien que la méthode soit très intéressante, celle-ci est restée au stade d’un prototype de laboratoire. Il est donc nécessaire de réaliser une étude plus approfondie sur l'essai lui-même et sur l’information contenue dans la courbe σp-sp en vue de fiabiliser la mesure et d’améliorer son exploitation. Dans un premier temps, nous présentons un bref aperçu sur les techniques de reconnaissance géotechnique et plus particulièrement celle des essais de pénétration dynamique. Le principe général du PANDA 3 est également présenté. La deuxième partie est consacrée au développement d'un nouveau prototype de pénétromètre PANDA 3. Ce développement s’appuie sur plusieurs études visant à valider la qualité des informations recueillies, leur bonne reproductibilité et le traitement des signaux d’acquisition. De même, un modèle numérique discret du battage pénétrométrique développé à l’aide du logiciel Particle Flow Code (Itasca) est présenté permettant de valider la technique de mesure. La troisième partie traite d'une étude comparative des résultats obtenus avec le PANDA 3 et d’autres techniques d'auscultation in situ afin de valider les résultats obtenus et l’utilisation de l’appareil dans des conditions réelles. Par ailleurs l’extension de cette technique de mesure au cas des pénétromètres lourds est appliquée dans le but de mesurer l'énergie transmise et d’étalonner le système de battage. Enfin, la dernière partie est consacrée à l'interprétation et l'exploitation des signaux en pointe afin d'affiner le modèle d'interprétation de la courbe charge-enfoncement. L'analyse de l'ensemble des signaux enregistrés au laboratoire a permis d’approcher une méthodologie d'exploitation de la courbe. L'application de la méthode proposée a été réalisée pour différents sols aussi bien au laboratoire que sur le terrain. Les résultats obtenus ont été confrontés avec d'autres types d’essais. / This work presents the recent developments made on the penetrometer PANDA®3. The instrumented dynamic penetrometer allowing, from the measurement and the decoupling of waves created by the impact, to obtain the load-penetration curve σp-sp of the soil. The exploitation of this curve allows determining the failure parameter (tip resistance qd), deformation (dynamic modulus EdP3), damping characteristics (Js) and wave speed (CsP3 and CpP3) of the investigated soil according to depth all along the sounding. However, although the proposed method is very interesting, it has remained at the stage of a laboratory prototype. It is therefore necessary to conduct a more thorough study of the test itself and the information provided from the σp-sp curve in order to obtain reliable measurement and improve their exploitation. First of all, we are presenting a brief overview of the geotechnical in-situ testing particularly that of the dynamic penetration tests as well as the general principle of PANDA 3 is presented. The second part is devoted to the development of a new prototype of the PANDA 3 penetrometer. This development is based on several studies aiming at validating the quality of the information, good reproducibility and treatment of the acquisition signals. Similarly, a discrete numerical model of the penetrometer developed using the Particle Flow Code software (Itasca) is presented to validate the measurement technique. The third part deals with a comparative study of the results obtained with the PANDA 3 and other in situ investigation techniques to validate the obtained results and the use of the device in real conditions. Moreover, the extension of this measurement technique in the case of heavy penetrometer is applied in order to measure the transmitted energy and to calibrate the driving system. The last part is devoted to refining the interpretation and exploitation of the load-penetration curve. The analysis of all the signals recorded in the laboratory allowed to approach a methodology of curve exploitation. The application of the proposed method was carried out for different soils both in the laboratory and on field. The results were confronted with other types of tests.