Abstract
Understanding the amount of degradation using nondestructive evaluation (NDE) methods provides an effective way of determining the fitness to service and the residual life of structural components. Due to uncertainties introduced by the single NDE method, a combined damage index using multi-sensor data increases the reliability of damage assessment. In this paper, the outputs of three NDE methods including acoustic emission (AE), linear ultrasonics (LUT), and nonlinear ultrasonics (NLUT) are merged to identify the amount of plastic deformation in aluminum 1100. The sensitivities of individual and combined methods to microstructural changes are evaluated. The coupon samples are loaded up to different strain levels and then unloaded. AE data is recorded in real time and ultrasonic data is recorded from the unloaded samples. The major features combined in the damage index are cumulative AE absolute energy and nonlinear coefficient. The microstructural state is verified with microscopic analysis and hardness testing. The developed damage index can nondestructively assess the amount of plastic deformation with higher reliability.
Highlights
Aluminum is the second-most used metal due in part to its superior mechanical performance and versatility [1]
acoustic emission (AE) data is recorded in real time and ultrasonic data is recorded from the unloaded samples
The plastic deformation is mainly attributed to the grain change in the tensile test; in addition, the acoustic nonlinearity is attributed to the grain morphology
Summary
Aluminum is the second-most used metal due in part to its superior mechanical performance and versatility [1]. The applications of this metal have been especially widespread and common within the aerospace and automobile industries. The failure of the aluminum usually starts from the accumulation of microdefects due to complex loading [2]. Aluminum 1100 has higher aluminum contents than other aluminum alloys and the evolution of the damage mostly shows ductile behavior and involves plastic strain accumulation [3]. It is very important to find appropriate methods to detect the changes of microdefects within the material, while quantifying the evolution of damage, from the time during its manufacture through its service life. Though microstructure assessment techniques (e.g., scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) etc.) are powerful and provide quantitative tools in failure analysis, the rigorous requirement of sample preparation, complex devices, destructive
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