Semiempirical Electromagnetic Modeling of Crack Detection and Sizing in Cement-Based Materials using Near-Field Microwave Methods

Detection and characterization of cracks in cement-based materials is an integral part of damage evaluation for health monitoring of civil structures. Microwave signals are able to penetrate inside of dielectric materials (e.g., cement-based materials) and are sensitive to local, physical, geometrical, and dielectric variations in a structure. This makes microwave nondestructive testing and evaluation (NDT&E) techniques suitable for inspection and health monitoring of civil structures. Near-field microwave NDT&E techniques offer the added advantage of providing high spatial resolution, requiring simple hardware that may be portable, low power, fast, real time, and robust. Additionally, these techniques are noncontact and one-sided. Besides the need for robust detection, electromagnetic modeling of a microwave probe response to a crack is also an important issue. Such a model can be used to obtain optimal measurement parameters and serve as the foundation for extracting important crack information such as its width and depth. In this paper, the utility of open-ended rectangular waveguide probes for detecting surface-breaking cracks in cement-based materials is discussed. Subsequently, the development of a semiempirical model capable of simulating the crack response is presented. The model described here translates the magnitude and phase of the reflection coefficient as a function of scanning distance into the complex reflection plane and takes advantage of the common shape of these signals for predicting a similar signal from an unknown crack. Finally, this empirical model is used to estimate crack dimensions from a set of measurements

Microwave Imaging Technique for Detection of Multiple Line Cracks in Concrete Material

Nowadays, many concrete structures are exposed to higher loads than they are designed for due to the increase in human population and uncertain environmental conditions. This leads to a faster deterioration of the structure for example formation of cracks. Cracks provide significant signs for the health and residual strength of a civil structure. Though they appear at times in form of lines, they cannot be easily identified or detected by traditional methods and techniques. For example, manual inspection is too costly in terms of time and effort; meanwhile, other non-destructive techniques are bounded by each unique weaknesses. This research proposes a microwave imaging technique with ultra-wideband (UWB) signal in detecting multiple line cracks. Various crack scenarios were first simulated using Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) to see the performance of the proposed technique. Delay-And-Sum algorithm is used for image reconstruction. This technique was able to detect single, double, three and multiple line cracks on single brick of size 2 mm accurately. Notwithstanding, more than three cracks on a single brick could not be detected as they appear as a clutter. In conclusion, the proposed technique is useful for crack detection in building and man-made structures

Microwave tomography application and approaches - a review

The objective of this paper is to review microwave tomography based on its field, application and antennas approaches. Researches on microwave tomography system have been done unceasingly for several decades especially in determine the dielectric properties for the material. Firstly, the dielectric properties and its influencing factors will be briefly described. Besides, although it has the potential to overcome other process tomography system, it still have some drawbacks. So, the general advantages and disadvantages are listed. Next, survey on the application of microwave tomography and type of antennas used will be discussed. Followed by the trend for the future

Electromagnetic Imaging Of Dielectric Rough Interfaces

Tez (Yüksek Lisans) -- İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi, Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü, 2008Thesis (M.Sc.) -- İstanbul Technical University, Institute of Science and Technology, 2008Bu çalışmada, engebeli dielektrik arayüzlerin elektromanyetik görüntülenmesi üzerinde çalışılmıştır. Konu iki bölümde ele alınmıştır: İlk olarak mükemmel iletken düzlem üzerindeki dielektrik yüzeyin elde edilmesi problemi incelenmiştir, ikinci olarak ise üzerinde dielektrik katmanlar bulunan dielektrik yüzeyin elde edilmesi problemi aynı metot ile incelenmiştir. Tek boyutta değişimlerin olduğu yüzeylerin sabit frekanslı düzlemsel dalgalar tarafından aydınlatıldığı durum göz önüne alınmıştır. Hesaplanacak yüzeyin üzerinde kalan bölgede ve yüzeye paralel bir çizgi üzerindeki saçılan alan ölçümleri problemin çözümünde kullanılacaktır. Saçılan alan Fourier Dönüşümü ve Taylor Açılımı ile ifade edilir; problemin çözümü sınır koşulları kullanılarak elde edilen lineer olmayan denklem sisteminin çözümüne indirgenir. Denklem sisteminin çözümünde ise Newton Metodu yinelemeli bir şekilde uygulanırken regularizasyon uygulanmasını gerektirir. Bu çalışmada Tikhonov Regularizasyonu uygulanmıştır. Ayrıca, daha doğru sonuçlar elde edilmesi için kimi durumlarda En Küçük Kareler Yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Benzetim sonuçları, problemde kullanılan parametrelerin etkisine bağlı olarak incelenmiştir. Sonuç olarak iki problem için de dalgaboyu/200 genlikli hasarların bile tespit edilebildiği gösterilmiştir ve kullanılan metodun; ters saçılım problemlerinde önemli bir konu olan ve çok geniş kapsamlı pratik uygulamalara sahip tahribatsız muayene için etkili olduğu gösterilmiştir.In this study, electromagnetic imaging of dielectric rough interfaces is presented with simulation results. The subject is presented in two cases: First, dielectric rough surface located over a perfectly conducting plane is reconstructed and second, dielectric surface beyond a layered media is reconstructed using the same method. Considering surfaces having variation only in one space dimension, plane electromagnetic wave with a fixed frequency is used for excitation. Scattered field measurements on a paralel line above the surface to be reconstructed are used and a special representation of the scattered field in terms of Fourier Transform and Taylor expansion is used in boundary conditions which leads to the solution of a system of nonlinear equations where Newton Method is applied iteratively with some kind of regularization. In this study, Tikhonov regularization is applied. In addition, in some cases, least square regularization is applied in order to get more accurate results. The simulation results are discussed with the effects of parameters used in the problems. Finally it can be shown that, satisfactory results are obtained in reconstructing the defects on the surfaces with the amplitude of wavelength/200 in both problems and the method can be effectively used in non-destructive testing of materials which is an important subject in the inverse scattering theory with its wide range of practical applications.Yüksek LisansM.Sc

Microwave nondestructive evaluation of aircraft radomes

As the aviation industry continues to experience increased demand on maintenance turn-around time with decreased budgets, the airlines in particular seek advances in cost and efficiency for inspection technology. Such improvements not only increase aviation safety, but also lead to significant cost savings and avoidances. One particular inspection need is that of aircraft radomes, often found as the nosecone such as that seen in Figure 1.1, housing the plane\u27s weather radar. This structure, fabricated out of low-loss/permittivity composite materials (such as fiberglass), must appear as electrically transparent as possible to the radar. Like a window to the human eye, any variations (in the form of changes in the radome\u27s electrical permittivity) or excess material will make sensing the outside world through the structure difficult. Defects such as water ingression, excess paint, and impact damage hinder the radar\u27s ability to sense accurately. No field-ready technique exists to evaluate the electrical properties or electrical consistency of the radome

A wireless system for crack monitoring in concrete structures

The formation of cracks in concrete is a normal phenomenon. However, effective control and prevention of the formation of cracks is the key for successful life of concrete structures. Specifically, cracks represent a path of least resistance for moisture and corrosive ionic agents from de-icing salts to reach embedded steel in concrete. Commercial wireless sensor networks utilizing crack gauge sensors can be applied for crack monitoring in the common concrete structure. The crack sensors circuits\u27 boards, which are used to stimulate the cracks, are currently unavailable for the SG-Link module platform. The SG-Link module is an ultra-low-power module for use in sensor networks, monitoring applications and rapid application prototyping. Therefore, a crack sensor circuit board for the SG-Link module platform has been developed. The development of a smart wireless sensor network for the crack monitoring system is divided into four parts: a crack gauge sensor, signal conditioning, the SG-Link module, and a base station unit. The signal conditioning module consists of a crack gauge sensor, a wheatstone bridge, an amplifier, and a filter. The SG-Link module consists of an analog to digital converter (ADC), a microcontroller unit (MCC), and a transmitter with an antenna. The base station unit includes an antenna and a receiver module connected to the base station or computer. In this study, cracks are monitored based on the change of the electrical resistance between the sensor\u27s two terminals that are taken from the simulation model of the crack sensor board consisting of a crack gauge sensor and signal conditioning. This thesis looked at the effectiveness of a wireless system for crack monitoring in concrete structures. Tests were conducted in a laboratory to monitor the cracks in the structures and explore the validity and reliability of the monitoring mechanism and data transmission

Advanced microwave embedded sensors for infrastructure health monitoring

Microwave sensor systems have been widely investigated for many applications due to their ability to provide non-destructive, noncontact, one-sided and wireless testing. Among these applications infrastructure health monitoring of bridges, building, and dams using microwave sensors, which are mounted on or embedded in composite structures of infrastructure has been attracting an increasing interest. One of the current needs of infrastructure health monitoring includes the detection and monitoring of disbonding and gaps in concrete-based structures, which are also required for simultaneous characterization of concrete. A recently proposed microwave sensor technique exploiting a relatively simple waveguide sensor embedded in a concrete-metal structure such as a concrete-filled steel tube exhibited great potential. However, it suffers from a few drawbacks that need to be solved. This thesis aims to develop and investigate advanced microwave embedded sensors to solve main problems in the current microwave sensory technique including characterization of concrete in concrete-based structures at different stage of its life, size of the interface under inspection, detection and monitoring of a small gap between concrete and dielectric material surfaces and sensitivity to gaps. To achieve this aim the following five research contributions have been made: The first contribution is the methodology for the determination of the complex dielectric permittivity of concrete using both measurement data and simulation results at different stages (fresh, early-aged and dry) of its life. Firstly, it is developed and tested for a single flanged open-ended waveguide sensor with a hardened concrete specimen, and then the methodology is modified for the developed sensors embedded in concrete-based composite structures with fresh, early-age and dry concrete. Modern computational tool CST Microwave Studio and a performance network analyser are used for simulation and measurement, respectively, throughout this research work. The second contribution is a dual waveguide sensor, which is proposed, designed and applied for the detection and monitoring of a small gap in concrete-metal composite structures. It consists of two waveguide sections and a metal plate and uses the transmission of electromagnetic waves along gap when it occurs between the metal plate and concrete surfaces. It provides more measurement data than the single waveguide sensor for characterising concrete-metal structures such as transmission properties of guided waves along the gap and reflection properties of the metal–concrete interface at two different places at the same stage of concrete. As a result, the proposed sensor increases the size of the interface under inspection and sensitivity to the gap using the magnitude of reflection coefficient and magnitude of transmission coefficient together and/or independently. The third contribution is the design and application of a dual waveguide sensor with rectangular dielectric insertions that is proposed and tested for the characterisation of concrete–metal structures at different stages of the concrete life including its fresh stage. The dielectric insertions are designed and implanted in the waveguide sections in such a way that they create the resonant response of the sensor and prevent water and concrete entering the sections. The resonant properties of the sensor allow long-term monitoring of the concrete hydration, including the detection of the transition from fresh to hardened concrete on its first day. The proposed sensor along with the modified algorithm provides the determination of the complex dielectric permittivity of fresh concrete. The fourth contribution is a dual waveguide sensor with tapered dielectric insertions. Each tapered dielectric insertion is designed with a tapered part and rectangular part to reduce wave reflection from the insertions over an entire frequency band. The proposed sensor has improved performance at the resonant responses of a quarter-wavelength resonator formed by an open end at the tapered part and shorted end at the rectangular part of each insertion. The last contribution is the development of dual waveguide sensors with attached dielectric layer and their application for the detection and monitoring of gap between dielectric materials and concrete in metal-dielectric layer-concrete composites as well as the determination of complex dielectric permittivity of concrete at different stages of its life. One of the most attractive designs is the sensor with empty waveguide sections due to its simplicity and robustness, and capability of the layer for preventing penetration of the obstacles and water, and for optimization of the sensor. On the other hand, the sensors with dielectric insertions and the layer demonstrate a significantly higher magnitude of transmission coefficient. The proposed DWSs can be applied to characterise fresh concrete in a dielectric mould or on-line, and to investigate the shrinkage of different categories of concrete

Aeronautical engineering: A continuing bibliography with indexes (supplement 245)

This bibliography lists 537 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in October, 1989. Subject coverage includes: design, construction and testing of aircraft and aircraft engines; aircraft components, equipment and systems; ground support systems; and theoretical and applied aspects of aerodynamics and general fluid dynamics

Aeronautical engineering: A continuing bibliography with indexes (supplement 225)

This bibliography lists 429 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in March, 1988

Bibliography of Lewis Research Center technical publications announced in 1992

This compilation of abstracts describes and indexes the technical reporting that resulted from the scientific and engineering work performed and managed by the Lewis Research Center in 1992. All the publications were announced in the 1992 issues of STAR (Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports) and/or IAA (International Aerospace Abstracts). Included are research reports, journal articles, conference presentations, patents and patent applications, and theses