Abstract
In this paper, a novel 2D analytical model based on the Huygens’s principle of wave propagation is proposed in order to predict the directivity patterns of contact type ultrasonic transducers in the generation of guided waves (GWs). The developed model is able to estimate the directivity patterns at any distance, at any excitation frequency and for any configuration and shape of the transducers with prior information of phase dispersive characteristics of the guided wave modes and the behavior of transducer. This, in turn, facilitates to choose the appropriate transducer or arrays of transducers, suitable guided wave modes and excitation frequency for the nondestructive testing (NDT) and structural health monitoring (SHM) applications. The model is demonstrated for P1-type macro-fiber composite (MFC) transducer glued on a 2 mm thick aluminum (Al) alloy plate. The directivity patterns of MFC transducer in the generation of fundamental guided Lamb modes (the S0 and A0) and shear horizontal mode (the SH0) are successfully obtained at 80 kHz, 5-period excitation signal. The results are verified using 3D finite element (FE) modelling and experimental investigation. The results obtained using the proposed model shows the good agreement with those obtained using numerical simulations and experimental analysis. The calculation time using the analytical model was significantly shorter as compared to the time spent in experimental analysis and FE numerical modelling.
Highlights
The ultrasonic guided wave (UGW) technology is widely used for structural health monitoring (SHM) and non-destructive testing (NDT) of elongated structures [1,2]
A prior information about the directivity pattern of a transducer before its usage can contribute to choosing a suitable excitation frequency at which a transducer must be excited and appropriate wave mode for the analysis of defects using ultrasonic non-destructive testing (NDT)
In order to demonstrate the model for practical applications, the macro-fiber composite (MFC) transducer manufactured by Smart Material Corporation [29] was analyzed to estimate the directivity patterns by the proposed analytical model
Summary
The ultrasonic guided wave (UGW) technology is widely used for structural health monitoring (SHM) and non-destructive testing (NDT) of elongated structures [1,2]. A prior information about the directivity pattern of a transducer before its usage can contribute to choosing a suitable excitation frequency at which a transducer must be excited and appropriate wave mode for the analysis of defects using ultrasonic non-destructive testing (NDT). A simplified, versatile and fast processing analytical model in order to predict the directivity pattern of any contact-type ultrasonic transducer in any medium of know dispersive characteristics was required to improve the ultrasonic NDT and SHM of the structures. The objective of the presented research work was to develop an efficient and fast processing 2D analytical model for the estimation of directivity pattern of contact-type ultrasonic transducer by knowing the behavior of a transducer and dispersive characteristics of the propagating medium.
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