Lamb waves based fast subwavelength imaging using a DORT-MUSIC algorithm

Abstract

A Lamb wave-based, subwavelength imaging algorithm is developed for damage imaging in large-scale, plate-like structures based on a decomposition of the time-reversal operator (DORT) method combined with the multiple signal classification (MUSIC) algorithm in the space-frequency domain. In this study, a rapid, hybrid non-contact scanning system was proposed to image an aluminum plate using a piezoelectric linear array for actuation and a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) line-scan for sensing. The physics of wave propagation, reflection, and scattering that underlies the response matrix in the DORT method is mathematically formulated in the context of guided waves. The singular value decomposition (SVD) and MUSIC-based imaging condition enable quantifying the damage severity by a ‘reflectivity’ parameter and super-resolution imaging. With the flexibility of this scanning system, a considerably large area can be imaged using lower frequency Lamb waves with limited line-scans. The experimental results showed that the hardware system with a signal processing tool such as the DORT-MUSIC (TR-MUSIC) imaging technique can provide rapid, highly accurate imaging results as well as damage quantification with unknown material properties.