This work developed a novel experiment in order to determine the operational effects on a Lithium-ion battery (LIB) when a test resulting in non-catastrophic damage is performed. Accepted industry standards were used as a basis to develop a nail penetration test that would puncture a cell approximately halfway through during normal cycling at a rate of 1C, then allow the cell to continue cycling to determine how its operation was affected. The cells under test continued cycling after the punctures, showing that the experiment would be able to provide useful information on the topic. The experiment was found to be successful in simulating the operation of a cell in an abusive environment, such as those seen in electric vehicles and aerospace applications.<div><br></div><div>The results of these experiments showed that a sharp increase in temperature is observed immediately after the puncture, similar to cells that underwent tests with full penetrations. The temperatures then slowly decreased during the first few cycles after the puncture as the generated heat was dissipated through convection. The experiments also showed that it is possible for a LIB under test to continue operating for a short time after being punctured. However, the capacity and useful life of the cells were greatly reduced. The initial capacity of each cell decreased by approximately 11% after the initial impact, then continued decreasing at an accelerated rate during the ensuing cycling. The lifetime of the cells was also greatly reduced, with each cell reaching its end of life within approximately 15-75 cycles after the punctures. An analysis of the incremental capacity curves of the cells indicated that accelerated aging occurred due to both a loss of active material and a loss of lithium inventory. The information gained from the experiments gives insight into the operation of cells that experience abusive environments and will be useful in designing improved control systems, as well as promoting the development of more robust testing and safety standards for different types of cells.<br></div>

Non-destructive testing is of great value in cases where a structure's future is investigated to find out what the best measure is. It is not always the best solution to demolish and build new. Many structures can be repaired and function several more years. In this thesis the main goal is to investigate some different non-destructive techniques and learn more about difficulties and strengths. The test subjects will be a cast T-beam in a laboratory environment as well as a case study of a railway bridge in Abisko.   The different testing equipment being used in this thesis is a covermeter, a rebound hammer and ultrasonic pulse velocity. For both the T-beam and the bridge the results are overall very good. The covermeter is proven to be both easy to use and very reliable and the ultrasonic pulse velocity was more to learn about and more difficult but is giving very good results as well.   Conclusions after the thesis project is that it requires a lot of experience of the user and time to make non-destructive testing useful and competitive in the society. Getting all the pieces together it is a powerful tool that hopefully is a sustainable asset in the future, regarding both economic and environmental issues.

L'évaluation et le contrôle non destructifs (E.C.N.D.) des matériaux et des structures sont une problématique industrielle très importante dans les domaines du transport, de l'aéronautique et du spatial, et dans le milieu médical. La thermographie infrarouge active est une technique d'E.C.N.D qui consiste à apporter une excitation extérieure afin d'entraîner une élévation de température dans le matériau, puis à évaluer le champ de température résultant à la surface. Cependant, les excitateurs thermiques utilisés (lampes flash, halogènes, lasers) agissent uniquement sur la surface du matériau. Plusieurs systèmes de conversion d'énergie peuvent en revanche mener à l'apparition de sources volumiques : on peut citer en particulier les phénomènes de thermo-acoustique, de thermo-induction, de thermomécanique ou de thermochimie. Par exemple, une excitation par ondes ultrasonores peut entraîner des sources thermiques volumiques si le matériau est viscoélastique ou s'il y a présence de défaut. La reconstruction de ces sources est donc la première étape permettant de remonter aux paramètres responsables de l'échauffement. Caractériser une source thermique consiste à reconstruire sa géométrie et la puissance qu'elle génère. Cependant, l'identification de sources thermiques volumiques par la mesure des champs de température de surface est un problème mathématiquement mal posé. Le caractère diffusif de la température en est le principal responsable. Dans ce travail, la reconstruction 3D des sources volumiques à partir du champ de température résultant à la surface, mesuré par InfraRouge, est étudié. Tout d'abord, une analyse du problème physique permet de spécifier les limites de la reconstruction. En particulier, un critère sur la résolution spatiale atteignable est défini et une limitation de reconstruction pour les sources en profondeur est mise en lumière. Ensuite, une méthode de reconstruction par approche probabiliste est proposée et comparée aux méthodes d'inversions existantes. Le temps d'exécution et la sensibilité au bruit de mesure sont étudiés pour chacune de ces méthodes. Des applications numériques et expérimentales seront enfin présentées pour illustrer les résultats. / Non Destructive Testing (N.D.T.) of materials and structures is a very important industrial issue in the fields of transport, aeronautics and space and in the medical domain. Active infrared thermography is a N.D.T. method that consists in providing an external excitation to cause an elevation of temperature field in the material and then to evaluate the resulting temperature field at the surface. However, thermal exciters used (flash lamps, halogen, lasers) act only on the surface of the sample. Several energy conversion systems can on the other hand lead to the generation of volumetric sources: the phenomena of thermo-acoustic, thermo-induction, thermomechanic or thermochemistry can be cited. For example, ultrasonic waves can generate volumetric heat sources if the material is viscoelastic or if there is a defect. The reconstruction of these sources is the first step for the quantification of parameters responsible of the heating. Characterizing a heat source means reconstructing its geometry and the power it generates. For example, a defect in a structure and / or the viscoelasticity of a material can be detected and quantified by this technique if it acts directly on temperature field. However, identification of volumetric heat sources from surface temperature fields is a mathematical ill-posed problem. The diffusive nature of the temperature is the main cause. In this work, the 3D reconstruction of the volumetric heat sources from the resulting surface temperature field, measured by InfraRed, is studied. First, an analysis of the physical problem enables to specify the limits of the reconstruction. In particular, a criterion on achievable spatial resolution is defined and a reconstruction limitation for in-depth sources is highlighted. Then, a probabilistic approach for the reconstruction is proposed and compared to existing inverse methods. The computation time and noise sensitivity are studied for each of these methods. Numerical and experimental applications will thus be presented to illustrate the results.

Quality control and quality assurance of pavements is today primarily based on core samples. Air void content and pavement thickness are parameters that are evaluated. However, no parameter connected to the stiffness is evaluated. There is a need for fast and reliable test methods that are truly non-destructive in order to achieve an effective quality control and quality assurance of pavements. This licentiate thesis presents surface wave testing using air-coupled microphones as receivers. The measurements presented in this work are performed in order to move towards non-contact measurements of material stiffness. The non-contact measurements are compared to conventional accelerometer measurements in order to compare the noncontact measurements to a “reference test”. The two appended papers are focused on evaluating one parameter in each paper. In the first paper all equipment needed to perform non-contact measurements are mounted on a trolley in order to enable measurements while rolling the trolley forward. It is shown that rolling measurements can provide rapid and reliable measurements of the Rayleigh wave velocity over large areas. However, the measurements are shown to be sensitive to misalignments between the microphone array and the measured surface. An uneven surface can thus cause major errors in the calculated results. The second paper presents an alternative method to evaluate the thickness resonance frequency of a concrete plate. It is demonstrated how the established Impact Echo method can give erroneous results when aircoupled microphones are used as receivers. Instead a method based on backward wave propagation is introduced. It is demonstrated how waves with negative phase velocities can be identified in a narrow frequency span close to the thickness resonance. / <p>QC 20141128</p>

currently operational non-destructive testing methods for pavements have many drawbacks that need improvement. This thesis investigates the possibility of utilizing the normal incidence reflection coefficient of acoustic waves in characterizing and studying of porous granular materials. The reflection coefficient of acoustic waves carries information about the physical parameters of materials. The fouling process in ballast layer and the compaction progress in sand and road base layers are the main focus of this study. Simplified fluid equivalent models are used to characterize and study the granular porous layers. The Delany- Bazley and Johnson- Allard models which require few non-acoustical material parameters are used in this analysis. A one dimensional problem which involves a porous layer backed by an infinite impedance surface has been solved in Matlab. The results from the two models have been compared and parametric studies of non-acoustical parameters have been also done. The study concludes the possibility of a new non-contact non –destructive testing method for unbound granular layers which utilize the reflection coefficient of acoustic waves.

Le projet ASTRID, réacteur nucléaire français de 4ème génération refroidi au sodium, est en cours de développement par le CEA. Dans ce projet, le développement de techniques de surveillance est identifié comme un problème majeur pour augmenter la sécurité du réacteur. L'utilisation de techniques de mesure par ultrasons est considérée comme un puissant outil d'inspection en raison de l'opacité du sodium liquide.A l'intérieur d'un circuit de refroidissement, l'hétérogénéité du milieu se produit du fait de l'état d'écoulement complexe, et les effets de cette hétérogénéité sur la propagation des ondes acoustiques ne sont pas négligeables. Ainsi, il est nécessaire d'effectuer des expériences de vérification, sachant que de telles expériences peuvent être des expériences à grande échelle. C'est pourquoi les méthodes de simulation numérique sont essentielles. L'objectif de l'étude de ma thèse est à appliquer la technique numérique des éléments spectraux, qui peut modéliser nos objets d'étude de manière plus précise que les méthodes de simulation plus classiques. Nous étudierons d'abord le potentiel de développement de la thermométrie ultrasonique similaire à celui d'un réacteur rapide refroidi au sodium avec simulation 2D. Un processus aléatoire Gaussien aura appliqué pour générer une fluctuation de la température.Afin d'étudier l'hétérogénéité en 3D et des champs de température plus réalistes dans le milieu, nous effectuerons une seconde étude numérique. Pour représenter l'hétérogénéité du sodium liquide, nous appliquerons un champ de température 4D (3D spatiale et 1D temporelle) calculé par modélisation numérique en dynamique des fluides avec LES réalisée par CEA STMF. / The ASTRID project, a french sodium-cooled nuclear reactor of 4th generation, is currently under development by the french alternative energies and atomic energy center (CEA). In this project, development of monitoring techniques is identified as an important issue to improve the plant safety. The use of ultrasonic measurement techniques is regarded as a powerful inspection tool due to the opacity of liquid sodium. Inside a cooling circuit, heterogeneity of the medium occurs because of a complex flow state, and then the effects of this heterogeneity on acoustic wave propagation are not negligible. Thus, it is necessary to carry out verification experiments, and such kind of experiments using liquid sodium may be large-scale. This is a reason why numerical simulation methods are essential. The objective of the study in the thesis is to apply a 3D spectral-element method, that we will show to be suitable to our targets more accurately than more classical numerical simulation methods.We will first study the development potential of ultrasonic thermometry in a liquid fluctuating sodium environment similar to that present in a sodium-cooled fast reactor with 2D simulation. Gaussian random process will be applied to generate fluctuations of temperature. To investigate 3D heterogeneity and more realistic temperature fields in the medium, in a second part of the thesis we will carry out a numerical study for 3D models of the reactor core. To represent the heterogeneity of liquid sodium, a four-dimensional temperature field (three spatial and one temporal dimension) calculated by computational fluid dynamics based on a large-eddy simulation performed by CEA STMF will be applied.

This diploma thesis focuses on diagnostics of bridge structures. First part of this diploma thesis will focus on theoretical knowledge about bridge structures and common diagnostic techniques suited for examining material priperties of samples taken from structure. Second part of this thesis will focus on practical use of experiments used in diagnostic branch. I will be doing visual observation of concrete structure followed by experiments on core samples. End of thesis will be evaluating structure from global perspective and will deliver specific sugestions for renovation.

The objective of this research was to assess the condition of four decommissioned bridge decks treated with waterproofing membranes and asphalt overlays following the completion of their service lives. Large samples were cut from each of the bridge decks immediately prior to demolition and taken to the Brigham Young University Highway Materials Laboratory, where extensive sampling and testing was performed. Methods used to evaluate the condition of the bridge deck samples included visual inspection, hammer sounding, Schmidt rebound hammer testing, resistivity testing, half-cell potential testing, linear polarization testing, cover depth measurement, and chloride concentration measurement. The samples were removed from four concrete bridge decks along the Interstate 15 corridor in Provo, Utah. One bridge deck was constructed in 1937, two were constructed in 1964, and one was constructed in 1984. Each of the bridge decks was constructed using conventional cast-in-place methods. With the exception of the 1984 bridge deck, which had epoxy-coated rebar, all of the bridge decks were reinforced with black bar. A waterproofing membrane was installed on each of the bridge decks in 1984, meaning each waterproofing membrane had been in service for 26 or 27 years at the time of sampling. With the exception of one of the bridges, which was in good condition after 26 years of service, each of the bridge decks sampled had successfully served for at least 46 years. Aside from asphalt maintenance, no rehabilitation was needed on any of the bridge decks following installation of the waterproofing membranes. Without the application of the waterproofing membranes, the chloride concentrations in the bridge decks likely would have been much higher. Additional exposure to chloride ions from deicing salts would have quickly increased the chloride concentration in the concrete above critical levels, which would have led to significant corrosion and bridge deck deterioration, prematurely. While the application of membranes as a bridge deck maintenance procedure has mostly been replaced by the use of epoxy-based polymer overlays, many bridge decks protected with membrane systems are still in service today. The research findings suggest that application of waterproofing membranes and asphalt overlays in a timely manner, before the accumulation of excessive amounts of chlorides within a deck, can be an effective approach for concrete bridge deck preservation.

There has been an urge for increasing the efficiency in advanced gas turbine engines. To fulfill these needs the inlet gas temperatures should be increased in the gas turbine engines, thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) have gained significant applications in increasing the gas inlet temperatures. Insulating characteristics of ceramic TBCs allow the operation at up to 150~250 ˚C higher gas temperatures. Because of the severe turbine engine operating conditions that include high temperature, steep temperature gradient, thermal cycling, oxidation and hot-corrosion, TBCs can fail by spallation at the interface between the metal and ceramic. The lack of understanding in failure mechanisms and their prediction warrant a development of non-destructive evaluation technique that can monitor the quality and degradation of TBCs. In addition, the development of NDE technique must be based on a robust correlation to the characteristics of TBC failure. The objective of this study is to develop electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) as a Non-destructive evaluation (NDE) technology for application to TBCs. To have a better understanding of the multilayer TBCs using EIS they were divided into individual layers and EIS were performed on them. The individual layers included polycrystalline ZrO2-7~8 wt.%Y2O3 (YSZ) (topcoat) of two different densities were subjected to sintering by varying the sintering temperature and holding time for three different thickness and hot extruded NiAl alloy buttons which were subjected to isothermal oxidation with varying temperature and time. NiAl is as similar to the available commercial bondcoats used in TBCs. Then degradation monitoring with electrolyte penetration was carried out on electron beam physical vapor deposited (EB PVD) TBCs as a function of isothermal exposure. Quality control for air plasma sprayed TBCs were carried out as a function of density, thickness and microstructure. Dense vertically cracked TBCs were tested as a function of vertical crack density and thickness. Electrochemical impedance response was acquired from all specimens at room temperature and analyzed with an AC equivalent circuit based on the impedance response as well as multi-layered structure and micro-constituents of specimens. Physical and microstructural features of these specimens were also examined by optical and electron microscopy. The EIS measurement was carried out in a three-electrode system using a standard Flat Cell (K0235) from Princeton Applied Research™ and IM6e BAS ZAHNER™ frequency response analyzer. The electrolyte employed in this investigation was 0.01M (molar) potassium Ferri/Ferro Cyanide {(K3Fe(CN)6/K4Fe(CN)6·3H2O)}. The thickness and density were directly related to the resistance and capacitance of the polycrystalline YSZ with varying thickness and open pores. As the effective thickness of the YSZ increased with sintering time and temperature, the resistance of the YSZ (RYSZ) increased proportionally. The variation in capacitance of YSZ (CYSZ) with respect to the change in porosity/density and thickness was clearly detected by EIS. The samples with high porosity (less dense) exhibited large capacitance, CYSZ, compared to those with less porosity (high density), given similar thickness. Cracking in the YSZ monoliths resulted in decrease of resistance and increase in capacitance and this was related to the electrolyte penetration. Growth and spallation of TGO scale on NiAl alloys during isothermal oxidation at various temperatures and holding time was also correlated with resistance and capacitance of the TGO scale. With an increase in the TGO thickness, the resistance of the TGO (RTGO) increased and capacitance of the TGO (CTGO) decreased. This trend in the resistance and capacitance of the TGO changed after prolonged heat treatment. This is because of the spallation of the TGO scale from the metal surface. The parabolic growth of TGO during high temperature oxidation was inversely proportional to the capacitance of TGO, excluding the abrupt changes associated with the failure. As a function of isothermal exposure for EB-PVD TBCs, initial increase in the resistance of YSZ with thermal exposure was observed perhaps due to the high temperature sintering of YSZ. The parabolic growth of TGO during high temperature oxidation was inversely proportional to the capacitance of TGO. An explanation based on electrolyte penetration into sub-critical damage is proposed for the gradual decrease in the resistances of YSZ and TGO with prolonged thermal exposure. Observation of exposed metallic bond coat surface on the fracture surface, which readily provides conduction, was related to the abrupt and large increase in the capacitance of YSZ and TGO. A direct relation between the resistance of the YSZ (RYSZ) and density of the YSZ was observed for APS TBCs with varying topcoat density. APS TBCs with varying topcoat chemistry and thickness were tested and directly related to resistance of topcoat. With the increase in the topcoat thickness, the capacitance decreased and the resistance increased. The higher values of CCAT and RCAT compared to that of CYSZ and RYSZ were related to the higher dielectric constant and resistivity of CaTiO3. Dense vertically cracked TBCs were tested with varying crack density were tested and the variation in the resistance was related indirectly to the cracks and directly to the difference in the thickness of the topcoat. EB-PVD TBCs with varying density (dense and columnar) were tested and the variation in resistance was attributed to the dense structure and columnar structure of the topcoat with columnar structure having lower resistance because of more electrolyte penetration through the columnar structure. From this study, EIS showed a potential as a NDE technique for quality assurance and lifetime remain assessment of TBCs. Future work should continue on developing a mathematical model to study the impedance curves and come up with a model for individual layers of TBC and then sum them up to get the multilayered TBC response. The flexible instrument probe of EIS needs to be designed and tested for field evaluation of TBCs.

<p> This thesis presents solutions to several inverse problems m electromagnetism and microwave engineering. In general, these inverse problems belong to two applications: breast cancer diagnosis using microwave imaging and defect characterization in metallic structures using magnetic flux leakage (MFL). </p> <p> Our contribution in microwave imaging for breast tumor detection can be divided into three parts. First, we propose a novel ultra-wide band (UWB) antenna that can operate in direct contact with the breast without the need for coupling liquids. This antenna is designed such that more than 90% of the radiated power is directed toward the tissue from its front aperture over the UWB. The performance of the antenna is investigated via simulation and measurement of the following parameters: return loss, near-field directivity, efficiency, fidelity, and group velocity. Overall, the results show that the antenna is a good candidate for frequency and time-domain imaging techniques. </p> <p> Second, we have proposed an aperture raster scanning setup that benefits from the features of our novel antenna. In this scanning setup, the breast tissue is compressed between two rectangular plates (apertures) while two antennas perform two-dimensional (2-D) scan by moving together on both sides of the compressed tissue. For each scanning step, the transmission S-parameter between the two antennas is recorded at several frequencies within UWB. Then, the modulus of the calibrated transmission S-parameter is plotted at each frequency to provide a 2-D image of the interior of the breast. The images are enhanced using a de-blurring technique based on blind de-convolution. This setup provides real time images of strong scatterers inside the normal tissue. </p> <p> Third, we propose 2-D and three-dimensional (3-D) holography algorithms to further improve the quality of the images obtained from the proposed planar scanning setup. These techniques are based on the Fourier transforms of the collected data to provide an image of a 2-D target (when collecting data at a single frequency) or a 3-D target (when collecting wide-band data). These techniques are fast and very robust to noise. The capability of the 2D and 3-D holographic imaging techniques is examined via simulation results. </p> <p> For defect characterization in metallic structures using MFL technique, we propose fast and reliable methodologies to invert the measured MFL response to the defect's shape parameters. First, we present a procedure to estimate the shape parameters of rectangular cracks which are the most common type of defects in the metallic structures. The procedure consists of estimating orientation, length, and depth of the cracks, consecutively. We validate this procedure via estimating the shape parameters of pre-known cracks from the simulated and measured MFL responses. Then, we present a methodology based on space mapping (SM) optimization for defect characterization. We examme the efficiency of this methodology for two types of defects: rectangular cracks and cylindrical pits. </p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)