Damage Assessment With Nonlinear Vibro-Acoustic Modulation Technique

Assessment of structural deterioration due to in-service and environmental loads is an essential element in ensuring safety, operability and long life of various structures and structural components. There is an increasing need for technologies that could allow for monitoring material degradation at the micro/meso scale before the onset of the macro-scale fracture. In this contribution, we report results of the real-time monitoring of the material micro/meso scale degradation using the nonlinear acoustic vibro-modulation technique. The technique explores nonlinear acoustic interaction of high frequency ultrasound and low frequency structural vibration at the site of the incipient damage. It is shown that micro/meso scale degradation increases the material nonlinearity leading to modulation of the high frequency ultrasonic signal by low frequency vibration, quantified by the nonlinear acoustic damage index (DI). The correlation of DI measured for hundreds of test coupons with material degradation was confirmed using traditional ultrasonic and SEM examinations.