Uniform circular arrays (UCAs) with 360° azimuthal coverage are very useful for structural health monitoring (SHM) of large planar structures. Difficulties encountered when working with Lamb waves include their dispersive and multi-modal nature. In this article three different methods for estimating the direction-of-arrival (DOA) of incoming Lamb waves are compared and verified using simulated and experimental data. The previously proposed phase-mode excitation-based beamformer is compared with two high-resolution spectral estimation techniques, the Capon method and the multiple signal classification method. Design consideration and guidelines for UCAs are presented. To experimentally evaluate the performance of the considered DOA methods a prototype array consisting of 16 separate pinducers arranged in a ring was constructed. The array was provided with an analog multiplexer that enabled recording signals received by the individual elements using a digital oscilloscope. The array was used for the reception of ultrasonic pulses sent by broadband piezoelectric transmitters and propagating in an aluminum plate. A selection of simulation and experimental results is presented showing the superior performance of the Capon beamformer.

Abstract-Lamb waves are considered a promising tool for the monitoring of plate structures. Large areas of plate structures can be monitored using active arrays employing beamforming techniques. Dispersion and multiple propagating modes are issues that need to be addressed when working with Lamb waves. Previous work has mainly focused on standard delay-and-sum (DAS) beamforming while reducing the effects of multiple modes through frequency selectivity and transducer design. This paper presents a minimum variance distortionless response (MVDR) approach for Lamb waves using a uniform rectangular array (URA) and a single transmitter. Theoretically calculated dispersion curves are used to compensate for dispersion. The combination of the MVDR approach and the two-dimensional array improves the suppression of interfering Lamb modes.The proposed approach is evaluated on simulated and experimental data and compared with the standard DAS beamformer. It is shown that the MVDR algorithm performs better in terms of higher resolution and better side lobe and mode suppression capabilities. Known issues of the MVDR approach, such as signal cancellation in highly correlated environments and poor robustness, are addressed using methods that have proven effective for the purpose in other fields of active imaging.

Lamb waves have proven to be very useful for plate inspection because large areas of a plate can be covered from a fixed position. This capability makes them suitable for both inspection and structural health monitoring (SHM) applications. During the last decade, research on the use of active arrays in combination with beamforming techniques has shown that a fixed array can be used to perform omni-directional monitoring of a plate structure. The dispersion and multiple propagating modes are issues that need to be addressed when working with Lamb waves. Previous work has mainly focused on conventional, delay-and-sum (DAS) beamforming, while reducing the effects of multiple modes through frequency selectivity and transducer design.The paper describes an adaptive beamforming technique using a minimum variance distortionless response beamforming (MVBF) approach for spatial Lamb wave filtering with multiple-transmitter-multiple-receiver arrays. Dispersion is compensated for by using theoretically calculated dispersion curves.Simulations are used for evaluating the performance of the technique for suppression of interfering Lamb modes, both with and without the presence of mode conversion using different array configurations. A simple simulation model of the plate is used to compare the performance of different sizes of active arrays. An aluminum plate with artificial defects is used for the experimental evaluation.The results show that the MVBF approach performs a lot better in terms of resolution and suppression of interfering modes than the widely used standard beamformer.

Phased array with all-azimuth angle coverage would be extremely useful in structural health monitoring (SHM) of planar structures. One method to achieve the 360 • coverage is to use uniform circular arrays (UCAs). In this paper we present the concept of UCA adapted for SHM applications. We start from a brief presentation of UCA beamformers based on the principle of phase mode excitation. UCA performance is illustrated by the results of beamformer simulations performed for the narrowband and wideband ultrasonic signals. Preliminary experimental results obtained with UCA used for the reception of ultrasonic signals propagating in an aluminum plate are also presented.

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