Accept/reject decisions and failure prediction for structural ceramics: Application to failure from voids

A general probabilistic method for reaching accept/reject decisions and failure prediction based on nondestructive evaluation procedures is described. The method is illustrated for ceramic materials that fail by the activation of microcracks located at void surfaces. The inspection procedure used for the analysis is the long wavelength ultrasonic method. The analysis indicates influences on the decision level and on the false-reject probability of variations in the signal-to-noise ratio and in the preexistent void population. The ultrasonic inspection is shown to exert a relatively minor influence on the false-reject probability, even for low signal-to-noise ratios, low stresses, and a widely dispersed void population, because of the intrinsic variability of the selected failure process. More encouraging results concerning the utility of NDE are anticipated to apply to other failure mechanisms in ceramics.     

Non-contact ultrasonic measurements on steel at elevated temperatures

Non-contact ultrasonic measurements have been made on ferritic and austenitic steel specimens as a function of temperature from ambient to 1200°C, using a pulsed laser to generate and a reference beam laser interferometer to receive the ultrasound. The generation efficiency is found to remain surprisingly constant in both thermoelastic and ablation regimes over a wide temperature range. The sensitivity of the laser interferometer is also found to be temperature independent to a first approximation. However, it is typically reduced by 3–6 dB by convection currents above 900°C. Both the compression and shear velocities decrease with rising temperature. The former is measured with a precision of 1 in 10³, the latter rather less accurately with the present configuration. Compression wave attenuation increases steadily below 600°C in both materials. There is a peak in attenuation in ferritic steel between 600 and 750°C, which is absent in austenitic steel. It coincides with a steeper decrease in ultrasonic velocity and is believed to be due to the martensitic structural phase transformation.The attenuation rose more rapidly in both materials as 1000°C was approached. The material attenuation varied with heat treatment, a value in the range 1–1.5 dB cm⁻¹ being recorded at 1000°C. Complicated effects were observed during heat treatments at 1000°C and above. Both attenuation and forward scattering data were consistent with some annealing out of sub-structure, in addition to austenitic grain growth. Finally, there was evidence of lattice softening at the highest temperatures investigated. The data suggest that thicknesses of steel in the range 100–250 mm should be inspectable with a scaled-up system, depending upon various factors such as the presence of oxide scale, provided high power lasers are employed for generation and reception and an optimum bandwidth is chosen.     

碳纤维复合材料旋转超声钻孔装置研究

探索碳纤维复合材料旋转超声钻孔设备及工艺，换能器采用压电陶瓷材料，进给由步进电机驱动，从而使结构大为简化。单片机作为中心控制，实验预定轴向力进给加工，而且超声波发生器具有频率自动跟踪的能力。试验表明，此项研究可望作为一种有效的新工艺方法。     

Measurement of in-plane and out-of-plane ultrasonic displacements by optical heterodyne interferometry

An heterodyne optical probe, which permits one to measure out-of-plane and in-plane displacements at the surface of a specimen excited by ultrasound is presented. The principles at the basis of the two modes of operation are explained and the sensitivities for in-plane and out-of-plane detection are analyzed. The optical layout of the probe and the schematic of its demodulation circuitry are presented. Its accuracy is tested with Rayleigh surface waves. Examples of application to laser-generated Rayleigh and Lamb waves are also presented.     

单层和双层材料中的脉冲激光超声数值模拟

用有限元方法数值模拟激光热弹机制激发单层和双层材料中的超声波。分别建立激光在单层和双层材料中激发瞬态温度场和热弹机制激发超声波场的有限元模型，该模型考虑了激光作用过程中材料的热物理参数依赖于温度的特性。在单层铝板的厚度小于激光激发的超声波的中心波长时，数值模拟得到了兰姆波，主要是低频的非色散的对称模和色散的反对称模。随着铝板厚度的增加，更高阶的模式可以在板中传播，波形向表面波转化，得到了掠面纵波和瑞利波。进一步计算了Ni／Al和Al／Cu这两种双层材料中的不同接收距离处的垂直表面位移。由于表面波中的高频成分透入深度浅，在传播过程中受薄膜(涂层)的影响较大，而低频成分在传播过程中受基底的影响较大，因此在Ni／Al系统中得到了正常色散而在Al／Cu系统中得到了反常色散现象。     

Evaluation of Bonding Quality in the Carbon Fiber--Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) Composite Laminates by Measurements of Local Vibration Nonlinearity

A new approach to monitoring the quality of adhesive bonding in the carbon fiber--reinforced polymer (CFRP) is developed by using a local nonlinear response of the laminate. It is shown that a degraded (contaminated) boundary layer of the adhesive contributes to an overall nonlinear response of the laminate that enables to evaluate and quantify bonding quality caused by various types and levels of single contaminations. In the context of aviation applications, two typical stages during the life of a structural part for which the adhesive properties of a bonding joint could be degraded were considered: the production process and the maintenance/repair scenario. All kinds of single contaminations studied result in enhancement of the nonlinear response of the CFRP laminate, which is an indication of deterioration of the bonding quality. The effect of multiple contaminations confirms a cumulative decline of adhesion caused by increase of the contents of single contamination components.     

Effect of ultrasonic excitation on the porosity of glass ionomer cement: a scanning electron microscope evaluation

Background: Ultrasonic excitation (US) was applied to glass ionomer cement (GIC) during early set time to increase the advantageous properties of this material. Purpose: The aim of this in vitro study was to assess the inner porosity of GIC after US. Study design: A total of 16 specimens, for each material, were prepared from high‐viscosity GIC Fuji IX GP, Ketac Molar, and Ketac Molar Easymix. Half of these specimens (n = 8) received 30 s of US during the initial cement setting. After completion of the material setting, specimens were fractured and observed by scanning electronic microscopy to quantitatively assay porosity inside the material using Image J software. Results: Statistical data analysis revealed that US reduced the porosity for all tested materials (P ≤ 0.05). The following reductions (expressed in percentages) were achieved: Fuji IX—from 3.9% to 2.8%; Ketac Molar Easy Mix—from 4.4% to 2.6%, and Ketac Molar—from 2.4% to 1.6%. Conclusion: Under the tested conditions, US was an effective method for porosity reduction inside the material. Microsc. Res. Tech. 74:54‐57, 2011. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Elastic wave diffraction by elliptical cracks: Theory and experiment

Analytical solutions to the diffraction of elastic waves by elliptical cracks in titanium are compared with experimental results. The analysis is based on physical elastodynamic theory and is valid forka1 and in the far field. A digitized ultrasonic spectrum analysis system is used to measure the frequency components of broadband waves diffracted from elliptical cracks with aspect ratios (ratio of major to minor axes) ranging from 1 to 8. The amplitude spectra show good agreement between experiment and theory.     

Analysis of nonlinearly viscoelastic behavior of adhesive bonds

The purpose of this paper is to provide a theoretical framework to study the nonlinear viscoelastic behavior of adhesive layers. The stress-strain behavior of the adhesive material in shear is assumed to have a nonlinear elastic part and a linear viscoelastic part, i.e., _yx =f( _yx )+K _myx. To measuref( _yx ) andK _m by an ultrasonic technique, it is proposed to prestress the adhesive layer in the nonlinear range and to superimpose a small amplitude ultrasonic signal. The reflected field is used to obtain the wave speed and hencedf( _yx )/d _yx as a function of the pre-stress. The viscoelastic parameter is obtained from the amplitude decay. By repeating this procedure for various values of prestress and using numerical integration, the stress-strain behavior of the adhesive layer can be reconstructed.     

Elastic wave propagation with kinematic discontinuity along a non-ideal interface between two isotropic elastic half-spaces

The problem of wave propagation along the interface between two elastic, isotropic, and homogeneous half-spaces is studied when the half-spaces are coupled through a vanishingly thin layer of Voigt material. It is assumed that the separation, 2H, between the half-spaces, and the complex rigidity-modulus, , of the layer are both vanishingly small, but the complex quantity /2H remains finite.In a series of experiments in which two blocks of elastic materials with or without lubricant/couplant at the interface are subjected to an external load normal to the interface, the variation of the speed and attenuation of interfacial waves, generated and detected by piezoelectric transducers, was measured as a function of external load. Assuming a nonlinear relation between external load and /2H, the experimental data is interpreted theoretically, and the best-fit parameters of the nonlinear relation are determined.For the 13 cases of interfaces studied, with or without lubricant/couplant, satisfactory agreement was found between experiment and theory, except in one case. Even in this case, the agreement is satisfactory in the lower range of load. It is hoped that this study will be useful in developing nondestructive methods of testing the bonding conditions at an interface between elastic materials by means of interfacial wave properties.