Effect of particle grading on fracture behavior and thermal shock resistance of MgO-C refractories

Two types of MgO-C refractories with tight particle grading and non-tight particle grading were prepared according to Andreasen's continuous packing theory. Fracture behaviors were investigated using wedge splitting tests combined with digital image correlation method and acoustic emission techniques. The results indicated that MgO-C refractory with non-tight particle grading treated at 1400 ℃ had more in situ phases (e.g., AlN and MgAl₂O₄) and exhibited less brittleness than specimens with tight particle grading even though they had similar nominal tensile strengths. In contrast, specimens with non-tight particle grading had greater horizontal strain under various loading stages, reflecting their better ability to resist rupture deformation. In addition, more microcracks were initiated earlier in the pre-peak region, and more energy was consumed. The decrease in coarse particles and corresponding increase in fine powder content increased the interface between particles, benefiting for reducing the local stress concentration and improving the thermal shock resistance of refractories.     

Experimental study on the application of a compressed-sensing (CS)-based deblurring method in x-ray nondestructive testing and its image performance

We investigated the compressed-sensing (CS)-based deblurring framework incorporated with the total-variation (TV) regularization penalty for effective image deblurring of high accuracy in x-ray imaging. We implemented the proposed algorithm and performed a systematic experiment to demonstrate its viability for image deblurring in x-ray nondestructive testing. We obtained x-ray images of several selected electronic components at an x-ray tube condition of 80 kV_p and 1.25 mAs and investigated the imaging characteristics in terms of the noise power spectrum and the modulation. We expect the proposed deblurring method to be applicable to improve the image characteristics considerably in x-ray nondestructive testing.     

Analytical solution for interaction of an arbitrary frequency curved rectangular inducer with a transverse ring shaped groove surrounding a long conductive cylinder

Field distributions around a transverse flaw surrounding a conductive cylinder which is excited by a three-dimensional inducer at arbitrary frequency are presented analytically. The solution is obtained by developing a two-dimensional Fourier series model and using Bessel functions in the third dimension. The metal is assumed as a lossy material and all possible field components in the conductor are expanded. After applying the mode-matching technique, a linear system of AX=B is solved to obtain the unknown coefficients. The accuracy of the proposed modeling technique is confirmed by comparing our results with those obtained by CST finite integration code.     

Using microwave near-field reflection measurements as a non-destructive test to determine water penetration depth of concrete

A non-destructive version of a standard test for concrete permeability has been demonstrated. The method is based on water penetration depth estimation from near-field microwave measurements using an open-ended rectangular waveguide. In particular, water penetration is determined from the differential measurement of reflection coefficient in the S-band before and after injection of water under pressure. Experimental results show a good correlation between the standard destructive test and the new method. Microwave measurements simplify the standard test avoiding the need of drilling out a sample from the structure and thus reducing both the cost and time needed in the analysis.     

Development of Whole and Ground Seed Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Calibrations for Oil,Protein, Moisture,and Fatty Acids in Salvia hispanica

Chia (Salvia hispanica) is an ancient crop that has experienced an agricultural resurgence in recent decades owing to the high omega 3 fatty acid (ω-3) content of the seeds and good production potential. Analysis of 563 lots of chia grown in Kentucky and 10 lots from Arizona, Australia, Mexico, and Peru was performed. All of these lots were assessed for fatty acid, oil, and protein content, while a subset of 120 samples were assessed for amino acids, fiber, minerals, and trace elements. The mean oil content was 31.3%, ranging from 21.4% to 35.3%. The protein content averaged 22.8%, ranging from 18.2% to 28.2%, and the ω-3 FA α-linolenic acid (ALA) averaged 61.3%, ranging from 33.9% to 69.9%. Using these seed lots, nondestructive near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) calibrations were developed for whole and ground seed oil, protein, moisture, and the six major fatty acids. The R² and SE of cross-validation (SECV) values for oil were 0.78 and 0.95, respectively, while those for protein were 0.75 and 1.05, respectively. The NIRS calibrations for fatty acid had R² and SECV greater than 0.6 and less than 10% of actual values for all major fatty acids, respectively. An R² of 0.99 was established for moisture content of whole seeds within the range of 3–10% moisture content. The precision and accuracy of these calibrations is adequate for use by breeders, growers, and food quality experts to quantitatively assess these major constituents without the need for costly and time-consuming chemical analysis.     

An SVM approach with electromagnetic methods to assess metal plate thickness

Eddy current testing (ECT) is a non-destructive technique that can be used in the measurement of conductive material thickness. In this work ECT and a machine learning algorithm (support vector machine – SVM) are used to determine accurately the thickness of metallic plates. The study has been made with ECT measurements on real specimens. At a first stage, a few number of plates is considered and SVM is used for a multi-class classification of the conductive plate thicknesses within a finite number of categories. Several figures of merit were tested to investigate the features that lead to “good” separating hyperplanes. Then, based on a SVM regressor, a reliable estimation of the thickness of a large quantity of plates is tested.Eddy currents are induced by imposing a voltage step in an excitation coil (transient eddy currents – TEC), while a giant magnetoresistance (GMR) is the magnetic sensor that measures the transient magnetic field intensity in the sample vicinity. An experimental validation procedure, including machine training with linear and exponential kernels and classification errors, is presented with sets of samples with thicknesses up to 7.5 mm.     

Characterization and spatial resolution of cracks using lock-in vibrothermography

We present a method to characterize vertical cracks that combines lock-in vibrothermography experiments and a stabilized inversion algorithm. We analyze its capability to retrieve the shape and location of square flaws buried at increasing depths and its ability to resolve two square buried cracks by inverting synthetic data. The predictions on the reconstruction of single and double cracks are checked by inverting experimental data obtained from metallic samples containing calibrated cracks at low excitation powers. Experimental results confirm that the method is able to reconstruct square heat sources whose depth is twice the lateral dimension.     

Non-uniformity correction and sound zone detection in pulse thermographic nondestructive evaluation

An important requirement in the thermographic nondestructive evaluation is the identification of actual sound zone or the base line with which the defective areas are compared to determine the actual temperature contrast and the corresponding defect severity. In a part under inspection, the actual sound zone is not known a priori and various approximations have been used in the past to serve as this unknown base line. Determination of actual sound zone in a defective test object is still a challenge. A related issue before the identification of this base line pixel is in the elimination of non-uniformity in the temperature distribution across the specimen surface which is unrelated to the actual defects. This spurious contrast is often introduced by the limitations of the instrumentation or the test procedure and it has to be eliminated before pixels in the sound zone can be located. This paper presents an automated procedure for simultaneously eliminating spurious contrast and locating sound zone pixels, directly from experimental data in a thermographic nondestructive evaluation. Location of actual sound zone pixels facilitates accurate thermal contrast computations, extraction of thermal properties such as break time and thermal diffusivity. In addition, based on the actual sound zone temperature profile it is possible to normalize experimental thermographic results in such a way that they can be directly correlated with results from numerical simulations.     

Investigation into eddy current pulsed thermography for rolling contact fatigue detection and characterization

This paper reports on the use of eddy current pulsed thermography (ECPT) for detection and characterization of rolling contact fatigue (RCF). Detection mechanisms with eddy currents and heat propagation effects were discussed with RCF modeled as a simple angled defect. Two different angled defects were studied through numerical simulations and experimentally by using uniform magnetic field (UMF) excited by Helmholtz coils. Finally, a rail sample with RCF defects was inspected using UMF excitation. It is shown that ECPT with UMF excitation provides an efficient and robust method to detect angled defects, compared with nonuniform magnetic field (NUMF) excitation.