Temperature Effects on Guided Ultrasonic Wave Sensing for Dry Cast Storage Health Monitoring

Abstract

This paper discusses the temperature effects of using guided ultrasonic wave sensing in damage detection for structural health monitoring (SHM) for nuclear dry cast storage system (DCSS). The sensing capability of GUW under temperature effect is investigated and presented in this paper. Two types of sensors are studied: (a) piezoelectric wafer active sensor (PWAS) and (b) optical fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors. Temperature effect on the free sensors was first tested in experiments. Pristine specimens instrumented with PWAS are then investigated through sensing tests at selected temperatures. Parameters in wave modes are obtained and evaluated for changes in the waveforms at different temperatures. The investigation continues to evaluate the damage detection capability of GUW under temperature influence. The potential of using GUW for damage detection with temperature effect applied for DCSS application is discussed and concluded in the end, as well as suggestions for further work.