a b s t r a c tGlass fiber-reinforced composite laminates in polyetherimide resin have been studied via terahertz imaging and ultrasonic C-scans. The forced delamination is created by inserting Teflon film between various layers inside the samples prior to consolidating the laminates. Using reflective pulsed terahertz imaging, we find high-resolution, low-artifact terahertz C-scan and B-scan images locating and sizing the delamination in three dimensions. Furthermore, terahertz imaging enables us to determine the thicknesses of the delamination and of the layers constituting the laminate. Ultrasonic C-scan images are also successfully obtained; however, in our samples with small thickness-to-wavelength ratio, detailed ultrasonic B-scan images providing quantitative information in depth cannot be obtained by 5 MHz or 10 MHz focused transducers. Comparative analysis between terahertz imaging and ultrasonic C-scans with regard to spatial resolution is carried out demonstrating that terahertz imaging provides higher spatial resolution for imaging, and can be regarded as an alternative or complementary modality to ultrasonic C-scans for this class of glass fiber-reinforced composites.

We present a novel FastSLAM approach for a robotic system inspecting structures made of large metal plates. By taking advantage of the reflections of ultrasonic guided waves on the plate boundaries, it is possible to recover, with enough precision, both the plate shape and the robot trajectory. Contrary to our previous work, this approach takes into account the dispersive nature of guided waves in metal plates. This is leveraged to construct beamforming maps from which we solve the mapping problem through plate edges estimation for every particle, in a FastSLAM fashion. It will be demonstrated, with real acoustic measurements obtained on different metal plates, that such a framework achieves better results in terms of convergence and accuracy, while the complexity of the algorithm is sensibly reduced.

The Hellenistic theater of Epidaurus, on the Peloponnese in Greece, attracts thousands of visitors every year who are all amazed by the fact that sound coming from the middle of the theater reaches the outer seats, apparently without too much loss of intensity. The theater, renowned for its extraordinary acoustics, is one of the best conserved of its kind in the world. It was used for musical and poetical contests and theatrical performances. The presented numerical study reveals that the seat rows of the theater, unexpectedly play an essential role in the acoustics--at least when the theater is not fully filled with spectators. The seats, which constitute a corrugated surface, serve as an acoustic filter that passes sound coming from the stage at the expense of surrounding acoustic noise. Whether a coincidence or not, the theater of Epidaurus was built with optimized shape and dimensions. Understanding and application of corrugated surfaces as filters rather than merely as diffuse scatterers of sound, may become imperative in the future design of modern theaters.

We investigate modal conversion at the boundary between a homogeneous incident medium and a phononic crystal, with consideration of the impact of symmetry on the excitation of Bloch waves. We give a quantitative criterion for the appearance of deaf Bloch waves, which are antisymmetric with respect to a symmetry axis of the phononic crystal, in the frame of generalized Fresnel formulas for reflection and transmission at the phononic crystal boundary. This criterion is used to index Bloch waves in the complex band structure of the phononic crystal, for directions of incidence along a symmetry axis. We argue that within deaf frequency ranges transmission is multi-exponential, as it is within frequency band gaps.

Terahertz imaging is applied to characterize a hybrid fiber-reinforced composite laminate subject to low-velocity impact in this study. The hybrid fiberreinforced composite laminate comprises unidirectional glass/epoxy and carbon/epoxy plies with a cross-ply stack pattern. Both impact-induced intraand inter-laminar damages are successfully detected, and the damage evolution throughout the thickness is also evaluated. The interaction between the terahertz polarization and carbon-fiber orientation is investigated in detail.Inter-laminar damage at the interface and the intra-laminar damage close to the same interface can be differentiated via polarization-resolved imaging.With a parameter fitting method based on multiple regression analysis, delamination is characterized quantitatively. Terahertz C-and B-scan images

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It is known that a handclap in front of the stairs of the great pyramid of Chichen Itza produces a chirp echo which sounds more or less like the sound of a Quetzal bird. The present work describes precise diffraction simulations and attempts to answer the critical question what physical effects cause the formation of the chirp echo. Comparison is made with experimental results obtained from David Lubman. Numerical simulations show that the echo shows a strong dependence on the kind of incident sound. Simulations are performed for a (delta function like) pulse and also for a real handclap. The effect of reflections on the ground in front of the pyramid is also discussed. The present work also explains why an observer seated on the lowest step of the pyramid hears the sound of raindrops falling in a water filled bucket instead of footstep sounds when people, situated higher up the pyramid, climb the stairs.

Polarization-sensitive terahertz imaging is applied to characterize subsurface damage in woven carbon fiberreinforced composite laminates in this study. Terahertz subsurface spectral imaging based on terahertz deconvolution is tailored and applied to detect, in a nondestructive fashion, the subsurface damage within the first ply of the laminate caused by a four-point bending test. Subsurface damage types, including matrix cracking, fiber distortion/fracture, as well as intra-ply delamination, are successfully characterized. Our results show that, although the conductivity of carbon fibers rapidly attenuates terahertz propagation with depth, the imaging capability of terahertz radiation on woven carbon fiber-reinforced composites can nonetheless be significantly enhanced by taking advantage of the terahertz polarization and terahertz deconvolution. The method demonstrated in this study is capable of extracting and visualizing a number of fine details of the subsurface damage in woven carbon fiber-reinforced composites, and the results achieved are confirmed by comparative studies with X-ray tomography.