An ultrasonic method for dynamic monitoring of fatigue crack initiation and growth

Attached ultrasonic sensors can detect changes caused by crack initiation and growth if the wave path is directed through the area of critical crack formation. Dynamics of cracks opening and closing under load cause nonlinear modulation of received ultrasonic signals, enabling small cracks to be detected by stationary sensors. A methodology is presented based upon the behavior of ultrasonic signals versus applied load to detect and monitor formation and growth of cracks originating from fastener holes. Shear wave angle beam transducers operating in through transmission mode are mounted on either side of the hole such that the transmitted wave travels through the area of expected cracking. Time shift is linear with respect to load, and is well explained by path changes due to strain combined with wave speed changes due to acoustoelasticity. During subsequent in situ monitoring with unknown loads, the measured time of flight is used to estimate the load, and behavior of the received energy as a function of load is the basis for crack detection. Results are presented from low cycle fatigue tests of several aluminum specimens and illustrate the efficacy of the method in both determining the applied load and monitoring crack initiation and growth.     

Cover Picture: Ann. Phys. 3'2013

Biological modulation using a femtosecond‐pulsed laser: When a femtosecond‐pulsed laser (yellow beam) is used to irradiate the cytosol of the cell (upper left), it generates free electrons (blue particles) in the focused area. Laser‐induced free electrons subsequently produce reactive oxygen species (ROS, red particles), which are amplified by inter‐mitochondrial networks. Amplified ROS signals can stimulate endoplasmic reticulum to release calcium ions (green particles). Femtosecond‐pulsed laser stimulation can modify blood vessel permeability (lower right). After short‐term laser irradiation, small chemicals (e.g., drugs) and proteins to which the intact blood vessel is impermeable can now flow out while red blood cells stay within the lumen. The cascade mechanism, which consists of low‐density plasma, ROS and calcium, is responsible for femtosecond‐pulsed laser‐induced biological modulation in both excitable and non‐excitable cells. J. Yoon et al., pp. 205‐214 in this issue     

Hyperbolic heat conduction effects caused by temporally modulated laser pulses

In non-destructive testing (NDT), the intensity of laser pulses may be temporally modulated to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of ultrasonic signals. The purpose of this work is to determine the time scale on which hyperbolic heat conduction effects are significant in ultrasonic displacements and stresses for temporally modulated laser pulses, under the assumption that the heat wave speed equals the longitudinal wave speed. A one-dimensional model with a finite train of heat flux pulses is investigated. Using the Green and Lindsay model, it is found that the critical modulation frequency in steel, above which hyperbolic heat conduction effects will become signficant, is 2.26 GHz. A dimensionless factor is given to calculate critical modulation frequencies in other isotropic materials. The signal enhancement potential of temporal intensity modulation is apparent in the numerical results.     

On preprocessing techniques for bandlimited parametric loudspeakers

The self-demodulation property of finite-amplitude ultrasonic waves can be applied with parametric loudspeaker to produce audible sound. A special characteristic of the reproduced sound waves using parametric loudspeaker is its high directivity. However, the demodulated signal from parametric loudspeaker suffers from high distortion. To reduce the distortion in the demodulated signal, preprocessing of the modulating signal is usually employed. To determine the effectiveness of the preprocessing technique, an important practical constraint on the bandwidth of the ultrasonic transducer of the parametric loudspeaker should be accounted. In this paper, we shall discuss a class of preprocessing techniques that is based on quadrature amplitude modulation. As compared to the conventional preprocessing methods used with bandlimited ultrasonic transducer, the demodulated signal from our proposed preprocessing techniques exhibits lower distortion.     

Probing of laser-induced crack modulation by laser-monitored surface waves and surface skimming bulk waves

All-optical monitoring of the nonlinear motion of a surface-breaking crack is reported. Crack closing is induced by quasi-continuous laser heating, while Rayleigh surface acoustic pulses and bulk longitudinal surface skimming acoustic pulses are also generated and detected by lasers. By exploiting the strong dependence of the acoustic pulses reflection and transmission efficiency on the state-open or closed-of the contacts between the crack faces, the parametric modulation of ultrasonic pulses is achieved. It is observed that bulk acoustic waves skimming along the surface can be more sensitive to crack motion than Rayleigh surface waves.     

The interaction and the surface crack of single-crystal silicon induced by a millisecond laser

When the silicon material is irradiated by laser, it absorbs the laser energy leading to the temperature rise and the thermal stress. The damage effect includes melting, vaporation and thermal stress damage. Once the thermal stress exceeds the stress strength the crack will initiate. The silicon surface cracks induced by a millisecond laser are investigated. The experimental results show that three types of cracks are generated including cleavage crack, radial crack and circumferential crack. The cleavage crack is located within the laser spot. The radial crack and circumferential crack are located outside the laser spot. A two-dimensional spatial axisymmetric model of silicon irradiated by a 1064 nm millisecond laser is established. To assess what stresses generate and explain the generation mechanism of the different cracks, the thermal stress fields during laser irradiation and the cooling process are obtained using finite element method. The radial stress and hoop stress within the laser spot are tensile stress after the laser irradiation. The temperature in the center is the highest but the thermal stress in the center is not always highest during the laser irradiation. The cleavage cracks are induced by the tensile stress after the laser irradiation. The radial crack and the circumferential crack are generated during the laser irradiation.     

基于幅度调制的非线性超声相控阵成像方法*

超声相控阵是超声检测领域常用的材料缺陷定位和成像技术,可便捷快速地对裂纹、孔洞等缺陷进行成像。但是,传统超声相控阵方法对较小缺陷如闭合裂纹不太敏感。非线性超声信号因对材料性能退化以及微小缺陷敏感而广受关注。本文针对疲劳闭合裂纹检测,提出一种基于幅度调制的非线性超声相控阵成像方法,通过测量物理聚焦和虚拟聚焦两种聚焦模式下超声扩散场中的声能差,并将其作为非线性参量,实现疲劳裂纹闭合部分的定位成像和定量表征。将该法应用于7075铝合金试样疲劳裂纹的实验测量,并研究了扩散场信号延迟时间对非线性超声相控阵成像结果的影响。结果表明：相较于传统超声相控阵全聚焦法,基于幅度调制的非线性超声相控阵成像方法能够更准确地定位和成像疲劳裂纹闭合部分;延迟时间的选择对疲劳裂纹长度的表征精度影响较大,本文研究了该延迟时间的选择方法并实现了检测结果的优化。     

Theoretical Investigation of Tunable Goos-Hänchen Shifts in a Four-Level Quantum System

Goos-Hänchen (GH) shifts in the reflected and transmitted light have been discussed in a cavity with four-level quantum system. It is realized that the refraction index of intracavity medium can be negative by manipulating the external coherent laser fields. For the negative refraction index of intracavity medium, the GH shifts of reflected and transmitted light beams have been analyzed in a parametric condition. It is found that due to modulation of laser signals and relative phase between applied fields, large and tunable GH shifts in reflected and transmitted light beams can be obtained.     

Effect of an external mechanical load on elastic stresses near radial cracks in Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript>-SiC-TiC ceramics: Photoacoustic study

The variation of the photoacoustic signal near the mouths of radial cracks in Vickers-indented externally loaded Al₂O₃-SiC-TiC ceramics is studied. A theoretical model of a photoacoustic signal that is recorded near the mouths of vertical cracks is suggested. Indentation zones in Al₂O₃-SiC-TiC ceramics are visualized by laser scanning photoacoustic microscopy. The sensitivity of the photoacoustic method with piezoelectric detection of signals to both normal and shear stresses acting on a crack is demonstrated. Experimental and theoretical data for the effect of external stresses on the photoacoustic signal near the mouths of radial cracks are compared. For the ceramics under study, agreement is fairly good. It is shown that the strain coefficients near the mouths of vertical cracks can be determined from photoacoustic experimental data.     

Photoacoustic and evaporation pressure signals in water irradiated with erbium laser pulses

Pressure signals in water exposed to erbium laser pulses with a duration of 200 ns, a wavelength of 2.94 μm, and an intensity modulated with a period of ∼ 5 ns due to mode beats were studied. It was found that the amplitude of the high-frequency component of the pressure signal, caused by this modulation, reproduces the behavior of the smooth component of the laser pulse shape at low irradiation intensities. As the intensity increases, behavior of the high-frequency signal amplitude is more complicated, showing significant decrease at certain instants of laser pulse exposures. Such behavior can be caused by the simultaneous effect of photoacoustic and evaporation mechanisms of pressure generation in irradiated liquid.     

Acoustic emission monitoring of surface hardening by laser

The acoustic emission signals from the laser surface heating of En8 steel, a stainless steel, 0.25% C mild steel, an /β brass, and Al-4% Cu were analysed. The stainless steel was acoustically inactive but it was found that transformation processes in En8 and mild steel emitted a signal which could be used as part of a feedback loop to control the extent of the process. Similarly the process could be controlled in the case of the non-ferrous alloys by the monitoring of the emissions associated with one or more of the following: surface melting, cracking and an order-disorder transformation.

The acoustic emission signals measured during laser cladding, in which powder is blown into the laser generated weld pool, were totally dominated by the noise from the powder striking the surface. These signals (in particular the RMS) appeared capable of being used to monitor the powder feed rate and the behaviour of any auxillary equipment such as an ultrasonic vibrator.

The acoustic signals from a cooling clad trace of Stellite 6 on En3 steel plate varied with the size of the deposit and the intensity of the residual stresses allowing a method of comparing the effect of vibration on residual stress in vibrated or non-vibrated specimens.     

Hybrid laser/broadband EMAT ultrasonic system for characterizing cracks in metals

Detection and characterization of defects in metal parts in industrial and commercial settings has typically been carried out by nondestructive ultrasonic inspection systems. Correct measurement of crack size is critical for lifetime prediction inspections. Normally, measurements are made based on far-field ultrasonic diffraction models and time-of-flight reflection signals making accurate measurements for parts less than approximately 25 mm in thickness impossible. In this work a hybrid noncontacting laser generation/broadband electromagnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT) detection system is used to characterize ideal cracks in aluminum in which the far-field condition for ultrasonic diffraction cannot be met. Time domain signals show that diffracted energy is measured in the geometrical shadow zone of the crack. Fourier transform methods are used to show that the frequency content of the diffracted signals is different than those from the waves that do not interact with the crack. Crack size measurements are made by using the frequency content of the ultrasonic signal rather than time-of-flight information.     

Controlling vibrational wave packet motion with intense modulated laser fields

Intense, nonresonant laser fields produce Stark shifts that strongly modify the potential energy surfaces of a molecule. A vibrational wave packet can be guided by this Stark shift if the laser field is appropriately modulated during the wave packet motion. We modulated a 70 fs laser pulse with a period on the time scale of the vibrational motion (approximately 10 fs) by mixing the signal and idler of an optical parametric amplifier. We used ionization of H2 or D2 to launch a vibrational wave packet on the ground state of H2(+) or D2(+). If the laser intensity was high as the wave packet reached its outer turning point, the Stark shift allowed the molecule to dissociate through bond softening. On the other hand, if the field was small at this critical time, little dissociation was measured. By changing the modulation period, we achieved control of the dissociation yield with a contrast of 90%.     

用于铝板缺陷无损检测的激光超声有限元模拟研究

激光超声技术能够在材料表面形成超声波，是实现材料缺陷无损检测的重要环节。借助Abaqus有限元分析工具，基于激光超声热弹机制建立了轴对称铝板的表面缺陷模型，模拟了激光激发产生的表面波在材料中的传播特性及其与铝板缺陷的相互作用过程。数值模拟实验表明，铝板表面缺陷的分布深度值越大，反射波越强，并且当缺陷深度达到一定程度时，反射波的幅值趋于稳定；但缺陷的分布宽度对于反射波的影响则十分有限。所得结论为基于激光超声的材料缺陷的定量检测及识别提供有效的理论依据。     

Elastic wave interactions as a principle of vibration measurement

It is known that ultrasound can be used to measure the constant in time deformations and residual stresses, through the acoustoelasticity effect. The method presented here is different from this principle. It is based on the non-resonant parametric interaction of elastic waves and enables measurement of the dynamic deformation in elastic media. The aim of this work is to investigate the interaction of waves in non-linear elastic media with the deformation fields in parametric approximation and to create a method that permits observation (in three-dimensions) of the dynamic stress-state of the opaque elements of a structure. In particular, interest in the solution of this problem arises for high-frequency non-stationary loading on the structure, when it is impossible to determine the internal stress-state of the elastic body by measurement of the vibration of its surface. The solution to this is found by using ultrasonic waves as a type of transducer that can freely penetrate the elastic body in the necessary direction.     

Interaction of fatigue crack with vibration and ultrasound in metallic rod and its use for quantitative characterization

According to the principle of synchronous demodulation,the modulation information in the output signal of vibro-acoustic modulation test was investigated and the nonlinear interaction of sound and vibration with the crack interface in a metallic rod was analyzed.A swept signal excitation was used to obtain a proper high frequency parameter in the test of aluminum rod samples with different sizes of cracks and the modulation information in the output signal was analyzed.It was found that the ultrasound wave in the structure can be separated into two parts.One is the wave which passes through the crack interface modulated by the low frequency vibration,and other wave has no any changes.The nonlinear modulation model was modified and a quantitative method for crack detection was proposed.It is demonstrated by comparing with the ultrasonic C-scanning that this method can be used to estimate the fatigue crack size in the metallic rod.     

Nonlinear ultrasonic wave modulation for online fatigue crack detection

This study presents a fatigue crack detection technique using nonlinear ultrasonic wave modulation. Ultrasonic waves at two distinctive driving frequencies are generated and corresponding ultrasonic responses are measured using permanently installed lead zirconate titanate (PZT) transducers with a potential for continuous monitoring. Here, the input signal at the lower driving frequency is often referred to as a ‘pumping’ signal, and the higher frequency input is referred to as a ‘probing’ signal. The presence of a system nonlinearity, such as a crack formation, can provide a mechanism for nonlinear wave modulation, and create spectral sidebands around the frequency of the probing signal. A signal processing technique combining linear response subtraction (LRS) and synchronous demodulation (SD) is developed specifically to extract the crack-induced spectral sidebands. The proposed crack detection method is successfully applied to identify actual fatigue cracks grown in metallic plate and complex fitting-lug specimens. Finally, the effect of pumping and probing frequencies on the amplitude of the first spectral sideband is investigated using the first sideband spectrogram (FSS) obtained by sweeping both pumping and probing signals over specified frequency ranges.     

基于OPO脉冲激发的血糖光声检测影响因素研究

构建了一套基于侧向模式的光学参数振荡(optical parameter oscillator,OPO)脉冲激光激发-超声传感的血糖光声检测系统,并且将激发波长、激光能量、探测频率和温度等对血糖光声检测的影响,在系统结构上进行了有效融合。然后,以不同浓度的葡萄糖溶液作为测试样品,实验研究了几个因素(激发波长、激光能量、探测频率和温度等)对葡萄糖光声检测和浓度预测的影响。实验得到了不同浓度葡萄糖溶液在不同影响因素条件下的葡萄糖实时光声信号和光声峰峰值,同时,为了得到不同因素对葡萄糖光声值和浓度预测的影响规律,通过线性回归算法建立了葡萄糖光声峰峰值与各因素变化,以及不同因素下光声峰峰值与浓度梯度的映射关系模型。实验和模型预测结果表明：相比1 200和1 300 nm波长而言,1 064 nm波长下的葡萄糖光声峰峰值与浓度梯度模型预测效果最好,模型相关系数达到0.986;葡萄糖光声峰峰值随着脉冲激光输出能量的增大呈线性增大趋势,且葡萄糖浓度预测准确度随着激光输出能量增大有所提高;根据不同探测频率的超声探测器捕获的葡萄糖光声峰峰值与浓度梯度建模效果来看,响应频率为1 MHz的超声探测器相比2.5和10 MHz的超声探测器,在葡萄糖光声信号探测上具有更好的探测效果;最后,实验发现,葡萄糖光声峰峰值随着温度和浓度的增大均呈线性增大趋势,且浓度预测误差随着温度的升高逐渐增大。     

闭合裂纹非共线混频超声检测试验研究

针对结构中微裂纹检测难题,发展了一种闭合裂纹非共线混频超声检测方法。在对非共线混频超声检测机理分析基础上,进行了结构中疲劳裂纹混频非线性超声检测实验。对有无裂纹试件中检测信号进行了滤波和时频分析,结果表明,可根据信号滤波后时域波形中是否存在明显的混频波包或时频分析中是否存在明显的和频分量,实现有无闭合裂纹的判识;通过移动激励探头的位置,控制两列入射声波在试件中的交汇位置,实现试件中不同深度位置的混频非线性检测。并根据测得的混频非线性系数沿试件深度方向上分布,实现了闭合裂纹沿深度方向上长度的测量。研究工作为结构中微裂纹定量评价做了有益探索。      

Laser ultrasonic diagnostics of residual stress

Ultrasonic NDE is one of the most promising methods for non-destructive diagnostics of residual stresses. However the relative change of sound velocity, which is directly proportional to applied stress, is extremely small. An initial stress of 100 MPa produces the result of deltaV/V approximately 10(-4). Therefore measurements must be performed with high precision. The required accuracy can be achieved with laser-exited ultrasonic transients. Radiation from a Nd-YAG laser (pulse duration 7 ns, pulse energy 100 microJ) was absorbed by the surface of the sample. The exited ultrasonic transients resembled the form of laser pulses. A specially designed optoacoustic transducer was used both for the excitation and detecting of the ultrasonic pulses. The wide frequency band of the piezodetector made it possible to achieve the time-of-flight measurements with an accuracy of about 0.5 ns. This technique was used for measuring of plane residual stress in welds and for in-depth testing of subsurface residual stresses in metals. Plane stress distribution for welded metallic plates of different thicknesses (2-8 mm) and the subsurface stress distribution for titanium and nickel alloys were obtained. The results of conventional testing are in good agreement with the laser ultrasonic method.