In this paper, a technique called 'excitelet' is presented for the imaging of damage in structures using the correlation of the signals measured at elements of piezoceramic arrays with dispersed versions of the excitation signal. This approach is presented as an extension of classical imaging techniques and takes advantage of the chirplet-based matching pursuit algorithm. The applicability for sparse and compact arrays is investigated experimentally on an aluminum plate and comparison with the existing embedded ultrasonic structural radar (EUSR) algorithm is performed for A0 and S0 modes for three frequency ranges of interest. Significant improvement of imaging quality is demonstrated with respect to imaging techniques using time-of-flight (ToF) and group velocity considerations for both sparse and compact piezoceramic array arrangements.

This paper aims at providing a framework for assessing the detection and localization performance of guided wave-based structural health monitoring (SHM) imaging systems. The assessment exploits a damage identification metric (DIM) providing a diagnostic of the structure from an image of the scatterers generated by the system, allowing detection, localization, and size estimation of the damage. Statistical probability of detection (POD) and probability of localization (POL) curves are produced based on values of the DIM for several damage sizes and positions. Instead of relying on arduous measurements on a significant number of structures instrumented in the same way, a model-based approach is considered in this paper for estimating POD and POL curves numerically. This approach is first illustrated on a simplistic model, which allows characterizing the robustness of the SHM system for various levels of noise in test signals. An experimental test case using a more realistic case with an artificial damage is then considered for validating the approach. A good agreement between experimental and numerical values of the DIM and derived POD and POL curves is observed.

This article investigates metrics to assess and compensate for the degradation of the adhesive layer of surface-bonded piezoceramic transducers for structural health-monitoring applications. Capacitance, resonance frequency, and modal damping parameters are derived from admittance curves using a lumped parameter model to monitor the degradation of the transducer adhesive layer. A pitch-catch configuration is then used to discriminate the effect of bonding degradation on actuation and sensing. It is shown that below the first mechanical resonance frequency of the piezoceramic transducers, the degradation causes a decrease in the amplitude of the transmitted and received signals, while above resonance, in addition to a decrease in the amplitude of the transmitted and received signals, a linear phase shift is observed. A signal-correction factor is proposed to adjust signals based on adhesive degradation evaluated using the measured modal damping. The benefits of the signal-correction factor are demonstrated in the frequency domain for both the A 0 and S 0 modes.

The compensation of the degradation of the bonding layer of piezoceramics used in structural health monitoring is addressed in this article. A simple admittance model is first used to measure and extract the variation of admittance parameters using the same acquisition chain which is used by the structural health monitoring system for damage monitoring. More precisely, the method uses measurable changes in physical transducer modal damping at frequencies around piezoceramic resonance to estimate the extent of degradation. Then, a finite element model is used to obtain calibration curves linking the variations in transducer modal damping to amplitude and phase of the ultrasonic signals generated or measured by the piezoceramics. Such calibration curves are obtained by simulating with the FEM the effect of varying the bonding layer coverage area and Young's modulus on (a) admittance and (b) amplitude and phase of the ultrasonic signals. From this, a signal correction factor is developed for the dominant bonding layer coverage area degradation failure mode to compensate for the changes in amplitude and phase of guided waves generated and measured by degraded piezoceramic transducers. The measured modal damping determines the amount of bonding layer degradation from the simulated modal damping calibration curves and then the quantified bonding layer degradation amount selects the amplitude and phase correction to be applied to measured signals from the calibration curves. The benefits of the signal correction factor are demonstrated below piezoceramic resonance to improve damage imaging and localization using the Embedded Ultrasonic Structural Radar algorithm (delay and sum method) when a single transducer in a sparse array of transducers fixed to an aluminum plate is damaged due to the close proximity of drop-weight impacts. Up to a certain damage extent, the signal correction factor could allow an extension of the service life of the structural health monitoring system.

Non-destructive testing and structural health monitoring systems based on ultrasonic guided waves propagation are particularly used in civil engineering or aerospace applications. Guided waves are commonly employed as they propagate through large distances and can inspect the entire cross-section of the structure. In order to optimize the sensitivity to a specific damage type, it is often preferable to generate a carefully selected pure mode. Although single-mode generation has been achieved for Lamb waves in infinite plate-like structures, such generation is much harder in a rectangular bar since less conventional modes propagate in finite cross-section waveguides. This article presents a general methodology for mode selective generation in a finite cross-section waveguide, using multiple transducers. Obtaining modal identification through conventional spatial Fourier transform on a longitudinal scan has proven to be inconvenient for waveguides with a two-dimensional cross-section. An alternative technique is proposed, consisting in the decomposition over the modal basis of the three displacement components measured across the bar width at the bar surface. The methodology is applied to the single-mode generation within an aluminum bar instrumented with eight piezoelectric transducers bonded to the surface. The modal basis is obtained with a semi-analytical finite element method. Numerical simulations and experiments using a three-dimensional laser Doppler vibrometer are conducted in order to validate the methodology.