Sensors 2014, 14(5), 8528-8546; https://doi.org/10.3390/s140508528
Numerical Simulation of Nonlinear Lamb Waves Used in a Thin Plate for Detecting Buried Micro-Cracks
1
School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China
2
State Key Laboratory for Manufacturing System Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China
3
The Smart Engineering Asset Management Laboratory (SEAM), Department of Systems Engineering and Engineering Management (SEEM), City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong 999077, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 3 December 2013 / Revised: 14 April 2014 / Accepted: 17 April 2014 / Published: 15 May 2014
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ultrasonic Sensors and Transducers for Applications in Biology, Medicine and NDT)
Abstract
Compared with conventional linear ultrasonic inspection methods, which are sensitive only to severe defects, nonlinear ultrasonic inspection methods are better for revealing micro-cracks in thin plates. However, most nonlinear ultrasonic inspection methods have only been experimentally investigated using bulk or Rayleigh waves. Numerical studies, especially numerical simulations of Lamb ultrasonic waves, have seldom been reported. In this paper, the interaction between nonlinear S0 mode Lamb waves and micro-cracks of various lengths and widths buried in a thin metallic plate was simulated using the finite element method (FEM). The numerical results indicate that after interacting with a micro-crack, a new wave-packet was generated in addition to the S0 mode wave-packet. The second harmonics of the S0 mode Lamb waves and the new wave-packet were caused by nonlinear acoustic effects at the micro-crack. An amplitude ratio indicator is thus proposed for the early detection of buried micro-cracks. View Full-TextKeywords:
finite element method; simulation; micro-crack; nonlinear Lamb waves; contact acoustic nonlinearity effect; second harmonic; amplitude of second harmonic; amplitude ratio
▼
Figures
Graphical abstract
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0).
Share & Cite This Article
MDPI and ACS Style
Wan, X.; Zhang, Q.; Xu, G.; Tse, P.W. Numerical Simulation of Nonlinear Lamb Waves Used in a Thin Plate for Detecting Buried Micro-Cracks. Sensors 2014, 14, 8528-8546.