Localization of Multiple Contact-Type Failures Using Structural Intensity of Low-Frequency Vibration Caused by Frequency Down-Conversion

Abstract

Abstract The contact-type failure, e.g. fatigue crack in early stage, delamination of composite material and adhesive failure, leads to the serious accidents. When the object with the contact-type failure vibrates due to ultrasonic vibrations of different frequencies, the interaction of the contact interfaces of failure occurs. As the result of this interaction, the low-frequency vibration, of which frequency is the difference frequency of ultrasonic vibrations, generates (Frequency down-conversion). The detection, evaluation and localization by measurement of structural intensity of low-frequency vibration caused by frequency down-conversion has been proposed. In this paper, the performance of the proposed method in the case of multiple contact-type failures is investigated. Firstly, the detection method of contact-type failure based on frequency down-conversion of elastic vibrations is introduced. Overview of frequency down-conversion and the example of detection of contact-type failure is shown. Secondly, the proposed method for single failure is explained. By the measurement result of structural intensity of the low-frequency vibration caused by frequency down-conversion, it is confirmed that the contact-type failure can localize as the excitation point of low-frequency vibration. Finally, the influence of other failures on the localization accuracy is investigated. From these results, it is clarified that the contact-type failure, of which the excitation force of low-frequency vibration is the largest, only localizes.