Thesis (Ph. D. in Civil Engineering)--Vanderbilt University, May 2007. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis evaluates a particular ultrasonic nondestructive testing (NDT) system in order to determine its capabilities and limitations in locating defects in concrete structures; specifically tunnel linings, bridge decks, and pavements. The device, a phased-array ultrasonic tomography (UST) system that utilizes shear waves, is a significant advancement in NDT systems. Consequently, there is a need in structural engineering to verify new technologies by assessing their flaw-detecting capabilities in a variety of structural applications. The UST technique does not currently have a testing methodology that is field-ready. In order to develop a methodology, the system was evaluated based on its ability to detect simulated defects, then taken to the field to evaluate natural structural defects on public tunnels, pavements, and airport runways. Types of concrete defects the system is used to detect and localize include air- and water-filled voids, vertical cracks, horizontal delaminations, and abnormalities such as clay lumps. The device is also used to determine reinforcement depth and spacing as well as concrete thickness measurements. This research concludes that the UST system is exceptional at locating horizontal delaminations ranging from 0.05-2.0 mm (0.002-0.079 in.), and is able to differentiate between fully debonded and partially-bonded areas. Vertical cracks could only be detected once they begin to form parallel to the testing surface; however, omission of surface details was found to be a strong indicator of crack presence. Backwall surfaces up to a depth of 762 mm (30 in.) were successfully and accurately determined. Air- and water-filled voids as well as reinforcement details such as layout and depth were also successfully determined and located. With the exception of some medium-sized clay lumps (with a diameter of approximately 102 mm, or 4 in.) surrounding reinforcement, all clay lumps tested were also highly successful.

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Overhead transmission lines are periodically inspected using both on-ground and helicopter-aided visual inspection. Factors including sun glare, cloud cover, close proximity to power lines and the rapidly changing visual circumstances make airborne inspection of power lines a particularly hazardous task. In this research, a finite element model is developed that can be used to create the theoretical dispersion curves of an overhead transmission line. The complex geometry of the overhead transmission line is the primary reason for absence of a theoretical solution to get the analytical dispersion curves. The numerical results are then verified with experimental tests using a non-contact and broadband laser detection technique. The methodology developed in this study can be further extended to a continuous monitoring system and be applied to other cable monitoring applications, such as bridge cable monitoring, which would otherwise put human inspectors at risk.

Abstract The objective of this research is to develop a vibration wave technique for pipeline inspection globally. It is known that the pipeline systems are widely used in chemical industry, petroleum company, or nuclear power plant. In addition, the pipeline systems are also very danger since they usually carry high pressure, high temperature, or even highly corrosive fluids. Therefore, the need for careful nondestructive testing on frequent base to determine the damage of the pipeline and the need for repair arise. The nondestructive testing methods usually used to evaluate the cracks in a pipeline are liquid penetrant method, eddy current testing, ultrasonic testing, acoustic emission method, and radiographic inspection, and etc. Technicians will usually apply one of or the combination of the methods to get the testing job done. However, the above-mentioned techniques (except for acoustic emission) can only inspect a small area or spot of the pipeline, which is very time consuming for evaluating the whole pipeline. The error will also build up easily since the technicians have to perform the measurement repeatedly. To overcome the above-mentioned problems, this research proposes a vibration wave technique to measure the resonant frequency and the vibration mode of the whole or a long pipeline. The experimental results can be used to characterize the damage in the pipeline. The knowledge obtained from the research can also be used to define the criteria of inspection or repair procedures and life cycles of the pipeline.

ABSTRACT Eddy Current Test (ET) is one of the widely-used method in the nondestructive testing (NDT). It is used to examine thinner sheet metal. According to the theory of electromagnetic induction, the researcher used a coil to make the surface of the metal pipe bring much eddy current. In addition, he investigated the variations of the coil impendence by the interaction between the coil magnetic field and the eddy current magnetic field. By observing the variations of the phase angle and the impendence plane diagram, the researcher also found factors for different defects. The purpose of this study is to research the influence of the diversity of the geometry when examining metal pipe. According to Eddy Current Test, the magnetic field is a major factor in testing. So the researcher generalized a 3-D electromagnetic model with software and analyzed the results of the magnetic field by the finite element method. By drawing the impendence plane diagram, evaluating curves and by observing the variations of the influence by diversity of the geometry, the researcher found the possibility of preventing the inaccuracy and errors in testing with a 3-D electromagnetic model. Later on, he found some influential factors, confirmed the tendency, and then increased the accuracy in examining thin sheet metal.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-101). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-101). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M. S.)--Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009. / Committee Chair: Ume, I. Charles; Committee Member: Kalaitzidou, Kyriaki; Committee Member: Mayor, J. Rhett. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

Identifying damage of a bridge from a vehicle moving over it is an attractive idea especially for those bridges without structural health monitoring systems as it is faster than putting sensors on the bridges. Many parts of highways and railways have been constructed on bridges and it is important to ensure that they are in good conditions. Therefore a large amount of bridges need to be monitored and for the sake of economy the monitoring should be efficient. If an instrumented vehicle can identify the occurrence and locations of damage by running over the bridges, it would save a lot of labor and time. As acceleration is easier to acquire, it is used as the main signal for damage detection. Research in this area is relatively little, not to mention the need to take into account road surface roughness and experimental verification. Frequencies can be conveniently extracted from the vehicle response. The damage can hence be identified based on the relationship between the change of frequencies and the fractional change of strain energy. A vehicle-bridge interaction system is used to simulate the process of a vehicle running over a bridge and obtain the vehicle response for investigation. The proposed method can identify damage of simply supported and multi-span continuous bridges taking into account road surface roughness and measurement noise. They are also validated in the laboratory where a simply supported bridge is modeled using an aluminum beam and the vehicle is modeled with aluminum vehicles. This method can limit the damage location to two potential locations. The multi-level multi-pass strategy makes use of the identification from the above method, applies genetic algorithm and lets the vehicle run over the bridge at various speeds. The unique damage location can then be identified. A numerical study for simply supported bridges and multi-span continuous bridges has verified its effectiveness. Continuous wavelet transform (CWT) can identify local changes in a signal as damage is assumed to cause local change to the vehicle response, which makes it suitable for damage detection from vehicle response. However, the road surface roughness and measurement noise often mask the information about damage. Smoothing technique and damage indicators are proposed to help with the identification. By validating the method with a numerical vehicle-bridge interaction system and model tests in the laboratory, the damage can be correctly identified. Additional masses and sinusoidal excitation force can help with the identification too. Repeated application of CWT involves applying the CWT to the coefficients of continuous wavelet again and again, which can also improve the results. If CWT is treated as a mathematical microscope, repeated application of CWT is like amplifying the signal several times. The effectiveness of the method has been verified numerically and experimentally. In summary, a convenient and efficient technique to test the conditions of bridges by putting sensors on a moving vehicle is proposed and the method is verified by numerical and experimental studies. It can provide an alternative or a useful complement to conventional structural health monitoring systems. / published_or_final_version / Civil Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy