The thesis deals with the application of nondestructive testing methods (acoustic emission, electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction topography) to description and identification of stages in the fatigue process in aluminium alloys. The main contribution of this dissertation thesis consists of the approach and evaluation methodology of cyclic damage in the materials. It dealt especially with the verification of measured data by using data obtained using other nondestructive methods. The experimental results show that the field of nondestructive testing materials can fundamentally uncover the process of fatigue damage and improve current knowledge in this area. Combination of used methods has become a powerful tool for the identification and monitoring of the whole fatigue degradation process of materials.

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Strukturüberwachung und Condition Monitoring spielen in vielen Gebieten der Technik eine große Rolle. Zur Überwachung von Leichtbaustrukturen aus faserverstärkten Kunststoffen bietet sich hierfür besonders die Körperschall-Analyse an. Am Markt etabliert sind hierfür piezoelektrische Signalaufnehmer. Diese Arbeit stellt eine kostengünstige Alternative in Form von mikromechanischen Körperschall-Sensoren vor. Eine Besonderheit stellt hierbei das Prinzip des mechanischen Bandpasses dar. Es wird die Elektronik- und Gehäuseentwicklung sowie die experimentelle Untersuchung dargelegt. / Structural health monitoring is of vital importance in many technical fields. For monitoring of lightweight structures made from fiber reinforced plastics especially acoustic emission testing is used. Commercially available transducers utilize the piezoelectric effect. This thesis introduces a cost efficient alternative in form of micromechanical sensors, in particular sensors using the principle of a mechanical bandpass. The design of electronics and the packaging as well as experimental investigations are provided.

De nombreuses études ont été menées jusqu’ici afin d’analyser l’apport de la technique de génération acoustique par micro-ondes dans le domaine de l’évaluation et du contrôle non destructifs des structures mécaniques. Le caractère entièrement sans contact de cette nouvelle technique en ferait un moyen pouvant être adopté pour générer aisément des ondes acoustiques dans les matériaux diélectriques absorbants. Ce travail porte d’abord sur l’étude des vibrations latérales engendrées dans les barreaux viscoélastiques placés dans un guide d’ondes électromagnétiques contenant une ouverture sur l’une des faces latérales et soumis à de brèves excitations de micro-ondes. Un modèle paramétrique prédit la forme de l’élévation de la température à l’intérieur de l’échantillon. Ses résultats soulignent que l’utilisation des guides partiellement ouverts provoque une distribution asymétrique de la température générant ainsi des modes de flexion. Par ailleurs, un modèle numérique tridimensionnel par éléments finis a permis de mettre en évidence l’existence d’autres modes liés aux déformations des sections-droites lorsqu’elles sont soumises à une brusque dilatation thermique. Ensuite, l’élaboration de méthodes directes pour compléter l’évaluation des propriétés viscoélastiques des mêmes barreaux placés dans les guides conventionnels est considérée. Différents modèles analytiques sont construits pour analyser l’effet du coefficient de Poisson sur le rapport des vibrations induites dans les directions latérale et longitudinale d’une part, et sur la dispersion des ondes acoustiques de type traction compression d’autre part. Un algorithme d’optimisation permettant d’estimer le coefficient de Poisson et la partie réelle de la lenteur à valeurs complexes par une méthode inverse est élaboré puis appliqué dans le cas concret de deux barreaux polymériques. Enfin, une étude analytique et numérique par éléments finis est menée afin d’analyser les vibrations générées sur un défaut circulaire (trou) contenu dans une plaque et chauffé localement par des micro-ondes. Deux approches acoustiques sont construites pour prédire la forme de la zone chauffée par une température uniforme ou gaussienne. Une relation directe entre la taille du défaut et les fréquences de certains pics qui apparaissent sur les spectres des vibrations de la plaque ont été mises en évidence. Celle-ci conviendrait à l’élaboration d’une méthode inverse permettant de dimensionner ces types de défauts. / Many studies in the field of both nondestructive evaluation and testing of mechanical structures have been conducted so far by analyzing the contribution of the microwaves induce acoustic technique. This new non-contact technique can be easily adopted to generate acoustic waves in non-conducting materials. This work begins with studying the lateral vibrations generated within viscoelastic bars hold inside grooved electromagnetic waveguides and subjected to short microwave irradiations. A parametrical model is established in order to predict the shape of the temperature rise within the sample. Results emphasize the fact that these types of waveguides generate a sudden asymmetric temperature rise, which produces some flexural modes. Besides, the development of a 3D numerical model allow the prediction of new vibration modes which are related to the deformations of the bar cross-sections during the sudden thermal heating. Then, direct methods are developed to complete the assessment of the viscoelastic properties of bars placed inside conventional electromagnetic waveguides. Different analytical models are proposed to study the effects of the Poisson ratio either on the ratio between lateral and longitudinal vibrations or on the dispersion of longitudinal waves. An optimization algorithm that allows the Poisson ratio and the real part of the complex slowness evaluation by means of dispersion curves is elaborate before being applied in the specific case of two polymeric bars. Finally, analytical and numerical finite element methods are conducted to analyze the acoustic waves generated by a circular defect (hole) contained in a plate and heated locally by microwaves. Two acoustic approaches are performed to predict the temperature rise form. Furthermore, a nondestructive testing method is highlighted by a direct relationship between the size of the defect and the frequencies of some peaks that appear on the velocity spectra of the plate. This method could be applied to set up an inverse procedure that can be used to size these kinds of defects.

Cette thèse s’inscrit dans le contexte des contrôles non destructifs du béton par ultrasons. Nous focalisons notre étude sur les mesures en acoustique non linéaire qui permettent d’ausculter le béton à l’échelle mésoscopique où les ondes interagissent avec les microfissures et le réseau de porosité. Les paramètres associés sont connus comme étant beaucoup plus sensibles que ceux issus des mesures linéaires. Le béton est un matériau hétérogène et complexe, ce qui présente un comportement fortement non linéaire croissant avec l’état endommagé.Nous développons dans cette thèse un type de mesure non linéaire : Dynamic Acousto-Elastic Testing (DAET). Cette technique fondée sur le principe d’une excitation dynamique du matériau, utilise les ondes ultrasonores pour suivre la variation du comportement élastique en fonction de l’amplitude d’excitation. Nous focalisons notre étude sur le problème du béton d’enrobage qui tient un rôle essentiel dans la durée de vie d’une structure de génie civil. Nous étudions l’interaction des mesures non linéaires par DAET avec les ondes de Rayleigh qui se propagent dans le béton d’enrobage. Nous montrons la sensibilité importante de l’évolution de paramètres non linéaires en fonction de l’endommagement thermique et de la carbonatation.Par la suite, nous proposons une nouvelle méthodologie de la mesure DAET, dans laquelle la vibration transitoire est générée par un impact et les ondes sont générées en continue. Nous présentons différentes applications de la méthode proposée, incluant le cas des éprouvettes de grandes dimensions. Cette approche ouvre de larges possibilités de transposer les mesures pour une application sur site. / This thesis is related to the field of nondestructive evaluation of concrete by ultrasound. We focus our study on nonlinear acoustic-based measurements that allow the concrete auscultation at mesoscopic scale where waves interact with microcracks and porosity network. The nonlinear parameters are known to be much more sensitive than those from linear measurements. Concrete is a heterogeneous and complex material. Its behavior is highly nonlinear with increasing damaged state.We develop in this thesis a type of nonlinear measurement: Dynamic Acousto-Elastic Testing (DAET). This technique is based on the principle of a dynamic excitation of the material, using ultrasounds to follow the variation of the elastic behavior depending on the excitation amplitude. We focus our study on the problem of concrete cover which holds a key role in the life of a civil engineering structure. We study the interaction of the DAET measurement with the Rayleigh waves which propagate in the concrete cover. We show the high sensitivity evolution of non-linear parameters in function of thermal damage and carbonation.Subsequently, we propose a new methodology of DAET measurement, in which the transient vibration is generated by an impact and ultrasounds are generated continuously. We present different applications of the proposed method including the case of large specimens. This approach opens broad possibilities of transposing measurements for on-site application.

En sciences et dans l’industrie pour limiter le nombre de maquettes expérimentales dans les projets R&D afin de mieux comprendre et de bien interpréter les phénomènes ultrasonores complexes observés sur site, des simulations de contrôles ultrasonores sont effectuées. Ces simulations sont d’autant plus réalistes que la description des structures à contrôler est précise, en particulier au niveau des constantes d’élasticité et d’atténuation intrinsèque. Les objectifs de cette étude sont d’améliorer d’une part les connaissances sur l’influence des caractéristiques métallurgiques des matériaux anisotropes et hétérogènes sur la propagation ultrasonore et d’autre part les performances des codes de calcul (logiciel ATHENA d’EDF) qui nécessitent de disposer des données d’entrée pertinentes, notamment en ce qui concerne les constantes d’élasticité et l’atténuation ultrasonore. Cette étude est dédiée à la caractérisation des matériaux à gros grains, comme les aciers austéno-ferritiques moulés par centrifugation et les soudures en acier inoxydable austénitique ou en alliages à base nickel. Un système expérimental unique permettant de mesurer les constantes d’élasticité et l’atténuation en incidence oblique à été mis au point. Le point fort de ce dispositif est qu’il permet de travailler au-delà de l’angle critique longitudinal et donc de mesurer les propriétés d’atténuation des ondes transversales. Les constantes d’élasticité sont déduites des vitesses ultrasonores à partir d’un processus d’optimisation basé sur la résolution de problème inverse. Nous avons montré les potentialités d’algorithmes d’optimisation globaux tels que les algorithmes génétiques moins susceptibles de converger vers des minima locaux de la fonction à minimiser. Les résultats obtenus à partir des mesures expérimentales sont en accord avec la littérature. Des résultats de l’atténuation des ondes longitudinales et transversales par décomposition du faisceau en spectre d’ondes planes sont présentés. / In industry, to limit the number of experimental models in R&D projects, to better understand and to well interpret the complex ultrasonic phenomena observed du ring controls on site, simulations of ultrasonic controls are carried out. These simulations are all the more realistic as the description of structures to control is accurate, especially in terms of elastic constants, and intrinsic attenuation. The objectives of this study are firstly to improve knowledge about the influence of the metallurgical properties of anisotropie and heterogeneous materials on the ultrasonic propagation and secondly the performance of the computation codes (software ATHENA EDF) which need to have the relevant inputs, particularly as regards the elastic constants and ultrasonic attenuation. This study is dedicated to the characterization of coarse materials such as austenitic-ferritic steel centrifugally cast and the welding in steel austenitic stainless or in alloy nickel-based. A unique experimental system for measuring the elastic constants and attenuation at oblique incidence has been developed. The strong point of this device is that it can work beyond the longitudinal critical angle and thus to measure the attenuation properties of transversal waves. The elastic constants are deduced from ultrasonic speed from an optimization process based on the resolution of Inverse problems. We have shown the potential of global optimization algorithms such as genetic algorithms Jess likely to converge to local minima of the function to minimize. The results obtained from experimental measurements are in agreement with literature. Results of the attenuation of the longitudinal and transverse waves by beam decomposition into spectrum of plane waves are represented.

There has been increasing interest in evaluating the performance of existing reinforced concrete (RC) bridges just after natural disasters or man-made events especially when the defects are invisible, or in quantifying the improvement after rehabilitations. In order to obtain an accurate assessment of the reliability of a RC bridge, it is critical to incorporate information about its current structural properties, which reflects the possible aging and deterioration. This dissertation proposes to develop an adaptive reliability analysis of RC bridges incorporating the damage detection information obtained from nondestructive testing (NDT). In this study, seismic fragility is used to describe the reliability of a structure withstanding future seismic demand. It is defined as the conditional probability that a seismic demand quantity attains or exceeds a specified capacity level for given values of earthquake intensity. The dissertation first develops a probabilistic capacity model for RC columns and the capacity model can be used when the flexural stiffness decays nonuniformly over a column height. Then, a general methodology to construct probabilistic seismic demand models for RC highway bridges with one single-column bent is presented. Next, a combination of global and local NDT methods is proposed to identify in-place structural properties. The global NDT uses the dynamic responses of a structure to assess its global/equivalent structural properties and detect potential damage locations. The local NDT uses local measurements to identify the local characteristics of the structure. Measurement and modeling errors are considered in the application of the NDT methods and the analysis of the NDT data. Then, the information obtained from NDT is used in the probabilistic capacity and demand models to estimate the seismic fragility of the bridge. As an illustration, the proposed probabilistic framework is applied to a reinforced concrete bridge with a one-column bent. The result of the illustration shows that the proposed framework can successfully provide the up-to-date structural properties and accurate fragility estimates.

Ultrasonic guided wave imaging methods offer a cost-effective mechanism to perform in situ structural health monitoring (SHM) of large plate-like structures, such as commercial aircraft skins, ship hulls, storage tanks, and civil structures. However, current limits in imaging quality, environmental sensitivities, and implementation costs, among other things, are preventing widespread commercial adoption. The research presented here significantly advances state of the art guided wave imaging techniques using inexpensive, spatially distributed arrays of piezoelectric transducers. Novel adaptive imaging techniques are combined with in situ estimation and compensation of propagation parameters; e.g., dispersion curves and transducer transfer functions, to reduce sensitivity to unavoidable measurement inaccuracies and significantly improve resolution and reduce artifacts in guided wave images. The techniques can be used not only to detect and locate defects or damage, but also to characterize the type of damage. The improved ability to detect, locate, and now characterize defects or damage using a sparse array of ultrasonic transducers is intended to assist in the establishment of in situ guided wave imaging as a technically and economically viable tool for long-term monitoring of plate-like engineering structures.

This thesis is about using structural-dynamics based methods to address the existing challenges in the field of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM). Particularly, new structural-dynamics based methods are presented, to model areas of damage, to do damage diagnosis and to estimate and predict the sensitivity of structural vibration properties like natural frequencies to the presence of damage. Towards these objectives, a general analytical procedure, which yields nth-order expressions governing mode shapes and natural frequencies and for damaged elastic structures such as rods, beams, plates and shells of any shape is presented. Features of the procedure include the following: 1. Rather than modeling the damage as a fictitious elastic element or localized or global change in constitutive properties, it is modeled in a mathematically rigorous manner as a geometric discontinuity. 2. The inertia effect (kinetic energy), which, unlike the stiffness effect (strain energy), of the damage has been neglected by researchers, is included in it. 3. The framework is generic and is applicable to wide variety of engineering structures of different shapes with arbitrary boundary conditions which constitute self adjoint systems and also to a wide variety of damage profiles and even multiple areas of damage. To illustrate the ability of the procedure to effectively model the damage, it is applied to beams using Euler-Bernoulli and Timoshenko theories and to plates using Kirchhoff's theory, supported on different types of boundary conditions. Analytical results are compared with experiments using piezoelectric actuators and non-contact Laser-Doppler Vibrometer sensors. Next, the step of damage diagnosis is approached. Damage diagnosis is done using two methodologies. One, the modes and natural frequencies that are determined are used to formulate analytical expressions for a strain energy based damage index. Two, a new damage detection parameter are identified. Assuming the damaged structure to be a linear system, the response is expressed as the summation of the responses of the corresponding undamaged structure and the response (negative response) of the damage alone. If the second part of the response is isolated, it forms what can be regarded as the damage signature. The damage signature gives a clear indication of the damage. In this thesis, the existence of the damage signature is investigated when the damaged structure is excited at one of its natural frequencies and therefore it is called ``partial mode contribution". The second damage detection method is based on this new physical parameter as determined using the partial mode contribution. The physical reasoning is verified analytically, thereupon it is verified using finite element models and experiments. The limits of damage size that can be determined using the method are also investigated. There is no requirement of having a baseline data with this damage detection method. Since the partial mode contribution is a local parameter, it is thus very sensitive to the presence of damage. The parameter is also shown to be not affected by noise in the detection ambience.

Die zerstörungsfreie Ultraschallprüfung von akustisch anisotropen Werkstoffen stellt auch heute noch eine Herausforderung dar. Die Gefügestruktur in solchen Materialien beeinflusst die Wellenausbreitung derart, dass es zum einen zu starken Streuungen durch die großflächigen Korngrenzen und zum anderen, aufgrund der akustischen Anisotropie, zu einer Richtungsabhängigkeit der Schallgeschwindigkeiten kommt. In den vergangenen Jahren wurden bereits Lösungsansätze zur mathematischen Modellierung der Schallausbreitung in anisotropen Materialien vorgestellt. Diese basieren in der Regel auf FEM- bzw. FIT- Algorithmen, die durch die Diskretisierung des gesamten Volumens einen hohen Rechenaufwand erfordern und in der täglichen Prüfpraxis aufgrund ihrer Komplexität bei der Parametrierung nur bedingt einsetzbar sind. Aus diesem Grund wird hier ein Ansatz zur Schallfeldberechnung gewählt, der auf die praktische Anwendung von Gruppenstrahler-Prüfköpfen zugeschnitten ist. Während sich andere Verfahren auf einzelne Wellenanteile und monofrequente Lösungen beschränken, um den Rechenaufwand zu reduzieren, können mit diesem Ansatz die reale Signalform des Prüfkopfes sowie alle auftretenden Wellenanteile in homogenen transversalisotropen Medien berücksichtigt werden. Durch entsprechende Optimierungen im Berechnungsalgorithmus lässt sich das gesamte vierdimensionale Schallfeld eines Gruppenstrahler-Prüfkopfes im Halbraum in kürzester Zeit berechnen. Die analytische Lösung der Wellengleichung für den Halbraum in Form einer Greenschen Funktion wird dabei in eine Gleichung umgeformt, die hier als vierdimensionale Punktrichtwirkung bezeichnet wird. Dieser Modellansatz ermöglicht es, die Parameter eines Gruppenstrahlersystems in der praktischen Anwendung zu überprüfen und durch iterative Rechnungen zu optimieren. Mit Hilfe einer einfach zu handhabenden Visualisierungstechnik ist es möglich diesen Modellansatz mit realen Schallfeldmessungen zu vergleichen. Dazu werden mit elektrodynamischen Sonden die einzelnen Komponenten des dreidimensionalen Vektors der Teilchenverschiebung an der Oberfläche von Festkörpern abgetastet. Die an den Messpunkten ermittelten Zeitfunktionen des Verschiebungsvektors werden dann dem berechneten Zeitverlauf der Wellenausbreitung gegenübergestellt. Die berechneten und gemessenen Schallfelder stimmen in der Phasenlage und im Amplitudenverlauf gut überein. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass mit dem verwendeten Rechenmodell alle in der Realität auftretenden Wellenanteile vollständig berücksichtigt werden und dreidimensionale Problemstellungen aus der Praxis mit diesem Modell korrekt berechnet werden können. / The non-destructive ultrasonic testing of acoustic anisotropic materials is an important challenge. The texture of these materials causes a strong scattering of the sound wave by the extensive grain boundaries and a direction dependent sound velocity by the acoustic anisotropy. Several approaches for the modelling of the sound propagation in anisotropic materials were presented in the last years. These approaches are normally based on FEM or FIT algorithms using a discretisation of the complete volume. Their calculation needs extensive time and a very complex parameterisation. Thus these algorithms are not suitable in practice of ultrasonic testing. In this work an approach is presented that is optimised for the application of phased array transducers. The new approach considers the real frequency spectrum of the transducer as well as all occurring wave modes in homogeneous transversely isotropic media, whereas other approaches are limited to solutions for single wave modes and single frequencies to reduce the calculation effort. The appropriate optimisations of the mathematical algorithm allow the fast calculation of the complete four-dimensional transient wave field of a phased array transducer in the half-space. The Green’s functions are derived by an analytical solution of the elastodynamic wave equation for the half-space. These functions will be transformed into an equation which will be referred to in this work as four-dimensional directivity pattern. This approach allows the verification of the parameters of a phased array system and their optimisation by iterative calculations in the practical application. To get accurate results in these calculations, the experimental verification of the applied mathematical model for the wave propagation is an essential task. The technique presented in this work applies electrodynamic probes, which provides a simple use. The probes can detect the particle displacement at a solid surface in all three spatial directions. The measured time-functions of the wave field will be compared with the calculated time-functions. They show a good accordance in the phase and the amplitude. This confirms that the applied mathematical model considers completely all in practice occurring wave modes. The results further show that three-dimensional problems in practice can be calculated correctly with this model.