Structural Health Monitoring of Large Structures Using Acoustic Emission-Case Histories

Acoustic emission (AE) techniques have successfully been used for assuring the structural integrity of large rocket motorcases since 1963 [...

Effects of viscosity and external constraints on wave transmission in blood vessels

Viscosity and external constraints studied for effects on wave transmission in blood vessel

Identification of shear wave parameters of viscoelastic solids by laboratory measurements of Stoneley-Scholte waves

International audienceThis paper deals with the problem of viscoelastic solid characterization by acoustical means and in particular with the recovery of the shear wave parameters. It has been previously shown, in the Underwater Acoustics field, that the shear wave parameters of the sea floor could be recovered by using inverse techniques applied to propagation characteristics of interface waves such as Stoneley-Seholte waves, which can propagate in water/sedi ment configurations. The goal of the study presented in the paper is then to test models, commonly used for seabed identification, on media whose properties arc well-controlled by laboratory tank experiments, contrary to in situ bottoms. It is shown that the viscoelastic medium parameters can also be identified from the characteristics of interface waves, generated experimentally in laboratory on very attenuating synthetic materials. The paper presents results about the estimated shear wave parameters obtained from both numerical and experimental data by applying Brent's method on the characteristics of the interface waves. The observation and the discussion of differences between theoretical and experimental results are the goa] of the paper. The study presented here validates the forward model previously developed and it can be considered as a first step towards the direction of acoustic classification of sea bottoms

Viscoelastic impact between a cylindrical striker and a long cylindrical bar

International audienceAxial impact between a cylindrical striker of finite length and a long cylindrical bar, both of linearly viscoelastic materials, is considered under uni-axial conditions. General results are derived for the impact force, the particle velocity and the strain in the bar in terms of closed-contour integrals suitable for numerical evaluation. Such results are derived also for the transfer of momentum and energy from the striker to the bar. Numerical results for elastic and viscoelastic impact of a striker and a bar with different cross-sectional areas are compared. In viscoelastic impact, unlike elastic impact, the duration of impact may be finite but larger than two transit times for a wave front through the striker due to the for-mation of a tail after the main pulse. Furthermore, repeated contacts and separations of the striker and the bar may occur within a range of striker-to bar characteristic impedance ratios smaller than one. In viscoelastic impact, the duration of impact is at least as long and the momentum and energy transferred are at most as large as in elastic impact. Strains measured at three locations of a PMMA bar impacted by PMMA strikers of three different lengths agree well with the theoretical results

Noise-Corrected Estimation of Complex Modulus in Accord With Causality and Thermodynamics: Application to an Impact Test.

International audienceMethods for estimation of the complex modulus generally produce data from which discrete results can be obtained for a set of frequencies. As these results are normally afflicted by noise, they are not necessarily consistent with the principle of causality and requirements of thermodynamics. A method is established for noise-corrected estimation of the complex modulus, subject to the constraints of causality, positivity of dissipation rate and reality of relaxation function, given a finite set of angular frequencies and corresponding complex moduli obtained experimentally. Noise reduction is achieved by requiring that two self-adjoint matrices formed from the experimental data should be positive semidefinite. The method provides a rheological model that corresponds to a specific configuration of springs and dashpots. The poles of the complex modulus on the positive imaginary frequency axis are determined by a subset of parameters obtained as the common positive zeros of certain rational functions, while the remaining parameters are obtained from a least squares fit. If the set of experimental data is sufficiently large, the level of refinement of the rheological model is in accordance with the material behavior and the quality of the experimental data. The method was applied to an impact test with a Nylon bar specimen. In this case, data at the 29 lowest resonance frequencies resulted in a rheological model with 14 parameters. The method has added improvements to the identification of rheological models as follows: (1) Noise reduction is fully integrated. (2) A rheological model is provided with a number of elements in accordance with the complexity of the material behavior and the quality of the experimental data. (3) Parameters determining poles of the complex modulus are obtained without use of a least squares fit

Investigation and modeling of viscoelastic moduli for multilayered polymeric systems using high frequency ultrasonic waves

Mechanical characterization of both the bulk and individual layer properties of layered polymer stacks provides important information for their use in novel applications. A single technique to measure both the bulk and layer properties is atempted. Ultrasonic testing provides an opportunity to determine the mechanical characteristics for layered samples in the form of the complex mechanical moduli. These moduli express the viscoelastic properties of the materials. Using ultrasound, this can be done for the bulk and the layers in a single test. With ultrasound, the ability to determine the complex moduli in single layers has been demonstrated. The moduli were determined within the expected range. The ultrasonic testing has also allowed the determination of the speed of sound of the individual layers in a 2 layer sample consisting of layers of Polycarbonate and Poly(methyl methacrylate). Internal interference limited the ability to measure attenuation. To attempt to allow for analysis of these complex waveforms, a secondary technique for waveform analysis has been proposed and developed. This method employs a finite element simulation to replicate the experiment. By deriving a simulation with the complex moduli as inputs, it is possible to use the simulation results to measure the moduli of multilayered samples. This is done comparatively through iteration of the simulation inputs. When a set of inputs creates a simulated result matching the experimental scans, a solution has been found. A preliminary version of the simulation is presented and demonstrated

Dynamic Deformation and Mechanical Properties of Brain Tissue

Traumatic brain injury is an important medical problem affecting millions of people. Mathematical models of brain biomechanics are being developed to simulate the mechanics of brain injury and to design protective devices. However, because of a lack of quantitative data on brain-skull boundary conditions and deformations, the predictions of mathematical models remain uncertain. The objectives of this dissertation are to develop methods and obtain experimental data that will be used to parameterize and validate models of traumatic brain injury. To that end, this dissertation first addresses the brain-skull boundary conditions by measuring human brain motion using tagged magnetic resonance imaging. Magnetic resonance elastography was performed in the ferret brain to measure its mechanical properties in vivo. Brain tissue is not only heterogeneous, but may also be anisotropic. To characterize tissue anisotropy, an experimental procedure combining both shear testing and indentation was developed and applied to white matter and gray matter. These measurements of brain-skull interactions and mechanical properties of the brain will be valuable in the development and validation of finite element simulations of brain biomechanics