On the Reliability of a Solitary Wave Based Transducer to Determine the Characteristics of Some Materials

Abstract

In the study presented in this article we investigated the feasibility and the reliability of a transducer design for the nondestructive evaluation (NDE) of the stiffness of structural materials. The NDE method is based on the propagation of highly nonlinear solitary waves (HNSWs) along a one-dimensional chain of spherical particles that is in contact with the material to be assessed. The chain is part of a built-in system designed and assembled to excite and detect HNSWs, and to exploit the dynamic interaction between the particles and the material to be inspected. This interaction influences the time-of-flight and the amplitude of the solitary pulses reflected at the transducer/material interface. The results of this study show that certain features of the waves are dependent on the modulus of elasticity of the material and that the built-in system is reliable. In the future the proposed NDE method may provide a cost-effective tool for the rapid assessment of materials’ modulus.

Remote wireless monitoring of localized corrosion using compact solitary waves

“…The above principles represent the foundation of the application of solitary wave for NDE and SHM applications. To this end, the use of highly nonlinear solitary waves (HNSWs) has been proved effective at identifying the mechanical properties of linear elastic media, 30,33,38 composites, 39–41 and geomaterials 42,43 ; measuring thickness 32,33,40 ; monitoring cement and concrete hydration 31,44,45 ; detecting defects in elastic solids and composites 46–52 ; assessing adhesive joints, 53 orthopedic and dental implants 54,55 and bone microstructure 56,57 ; inferring axial stress 33,58–60 ; and measuring intraocular pressure. 61…”

“…The above principles represent the foundation of the application of solitary wave for NDE and SHM applications. To this end, the use of highly nonlinear solitary waves (HNSWs) has been proved effective at identifying the mechanical properties of linear elastic media, 30,33,38 composites, [39][40][41] and geomaterials 42,43 ; measuring thickness 32,33,40 ; monitoring cement and concrete hydration 31,44,45 ; detecting defects in elastic solids and composites [46][47][48][49][50][51][52] ; assessing adhesive joints, 53 orthopedic and dental implants 54,55 and bone microstructure 56,57 ; inferring axial stress 33,[58][59][60] ; and measuring intraocular pressure. 61 The study presented in this article investigated the application of HNSWs to monitor corrosion in metallic structures using wired transducers, designed and assembled by our research group in past studies, and novel wireless transducers recently designed and assembled in our laboratory.…”