Nonlinear modal methods for crack localization

Abstract

A nonlinear method for locating defects in solid materials is discussed that is relevant to nonlinear modal tomography based on the signal cross-modulation. The scheme is illustrated by a theoretical model in which a thin plate or bar with a single crack is excited by a strong low-frequency wave and a high-frequency probing wave (ultrasound). A crack is considered as a small contact-type defect which does not perturb the modal structure of sound in linear approximation but creates combinational-frequency components whose amplitudes depend on their closeness to a resonance and crack position. Using different crack models, including the hysteretic ones, the nonlinear part of its volume variations under the given stress and then the combinational wave components in the bar can be determined. Evidently, their amplitude depends strongly on the crack position with respect to the peaks or nodes of the corresponding linear signals which can be used for localization of the crack position. Exciting the sample by sweeping ultrasound frequencies through several resonances (modes) reduces the ambiguity in the localization. Some aspects of inverse problem solution are also discussed, and preliminary experimental results are presented.